Forces War Records Reviews 

1,195
TrustScore 2 out of 5

1.9

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The search options are poorly constructed. Nothing works as a result. This has all the signs of techies who don't understand what they are being asked to achieve, which maps back to whoever thinks t... See more

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

You keep sending me the wrong people. I have my Father's A.S.C. M2-034550 number. Just interested in which battles he supplied driving a munitions truck or where he was quartered with families... See more

Company replied

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

As with other comments, most information is generic, and I didn't find anything new about 4 family members in all 3 services from WW1,WW2, and the 1940/50s. Indeed 1 member who served 10yrs in the Roy... See more

Company replied

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Tracing my grandfather's cousin has proved elusive but eventually I found him in the wounded lists. I guess his unit records may be among the burned records that did not survive. Finding my grandfathe... See more

Company replied

Company details

  1. Genealogist

Written by the company

With over 650 million military records, and military genealogy experts waiting to hear from you, we are the starting point for your military family history research.


Contact info

1.9

Poor

TrustScore 2 out of 5

1k reviews

5-star
4-star
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1-star

No recent history of asking for reviews

This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative

Replied to 75% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 1 week

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1.9

All reviews

(1,195)

10 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 4 out of 5 stars

it was all good but i no longer need…

it was all good but i no longer need your services

6 September 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

I can see from your account that you have turned off your auto-renewal and your account access will expire 29th September 2022.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Handy source for basic searches

Handy source for basic searches. I was expecting more in-depth information like Australian and New Zealand records produce, for free.

5 September 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

The Records we hold are from specific Collections.

Each Collection will hold different information. You can view our collections and the type of information held from that collection via the following page:

https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/collections/ where you can also filter our collections by Service Period.

Please bear in mind that the specific information you may require, may not always be available.

An example is WW1 Records. Sadly over 60% of WW1 Records were lost during WW2. The Public Records Office storage facility was bombed during the London Blitz of WW2, these records were lost due to the resulting fire and to water damage from the water used to douse the flames.
The WW2 The Full Service Records are still restricted and only available from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Service records held by the MoD date from:

- 1750 for Foot Guards (not including Scots Guards)
- 1920 for the RAF
- January 1921 for British Army soldiers if their service ended after January 1921
- April 1922 for British Army officers if their service ended after April 1922
- 1926 for Royal Navy including Royal Marines

Each service record may include:

- surname, first name, service number, rank and regiment or corps
- place and date of birth
- date they joined and left the armed forces
- date of death, if they died in service
- good conduct medals
- details about their career, for example the units they served in
If you are interested in finding out more about the two World Wars and the events that unfolded please visit the following links to our Timelines:

WW1
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/great-war-timeline-detailed-history-of-wwi

WW2
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/world-war-two-timeline-of-events-1939

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Great site but..

Due to the amount of records available & the fact I have very little military knowledge regarding my ancestors, I find it difficult to pinpoint them exactly

31 August 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

Please contact us via your account, we have experts on hand to help with your search.

However. it can be a difficult search if you do not know any information to narrow down your search.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I forgot just how difficult it is to…

I forgot just how difficult it is to get the information I'm looking for on this site. should have just gone for the monthly subscription. Even entering full names throws up thousands of results.

31 August 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

We are sorry to hear that you were disappointed.

We would like to work with you to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, however we are unable to identify your account from the name provided on this review. We have contacted you via Trust Pilot for more details.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Trying to find my father who did his…

Trying to find my father who did his National Service attached to a Maltese regiment

23 August 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

I see from your account that you have contacted us and we have assisted you with your search.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This is a scam site

This is a scam site. They suck you into taking a free trial then make it impossibly difficult to cancel the subscription.
I have at last found that by clicking on £ pages and scrolling to the very bottom almost hidden is a small blue line saying cancel auto renew. I only found this by reading the other reviews posted about how terrible it was to cancel.
So one visit to the site which discovered nothing cost me almost £80 in subscriptions.
PLEASE STAY CLEAR

23 August 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

I am very sorry to hear that you have had an issue managing your subscription. I can see from your account that you have now turned off your auto renewal, but we have had no contact from you regarding the difficulties you have faced.

We are not a scam site and would like to work with you to resolve your issues and so will contact you via your account to attempt to resolve the matter to your satisfaction.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Waste of £8.95

Waste of £8.95. Cannot find my dad’s war records. The information is very very limited. Hardly any detail for any entry. Very disappointed

20 August 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

We are sorry to hear that you were disappointed with the information available. Forces War Records does hold over 27 million records, but of course no website can guarantee to hold every record ever created, nor guarantee as to what information will be available, they can only provide what is recorded on the records they hold.

However, we never like to leave customers disappointed and so will contact you via your account to try and resolve the issue to your satisfaction.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

As with other comments, most information is generic, and I didn't find anything new about 4 family members in all 3 services from WW1,WW2, and the 1940/50s. Indeed 1 member who served 10yrs in the Royal Navy as a P.O could not be found.Cancelled after 1 month but refund refused.Suppose it depends what you're after, and maybe you need prior research experience, but for me it was disappointing.

19 August 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

We are sorry to hear that you were disappointed.

We would like to work with you to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, however we are unable to identify your account from the name provided on this review. We have contacted you via Trust Pilot for more details.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Extremely helpful

Extremely helpful to have received an email this morning advising me that this record was now available.

19 August 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

We are always pleased to hear when a new record added email assists a customer to make a discovery.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

A very useful site

A very useful site. It provided a wealth of information and clues that led to to all sorts of unexpected discoveries. Thank you.

5 August 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for a great review.

We are so pleased to have helped you with your discoveries.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

A good site

A good site. Keeps me well updated about what is available. Pleased to renew my subscription each year.

3E42FD4B

31 July 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

That is great to hear. Thanks for your review.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Like all of these types of site you…

Like all of these types of site you have to learn how to use them to get the best results. I am happy with my yearly subscription and have found plenty of information to validate and confirm medal purchases. As the site themselves state, they don’t hold all information and not all info held by the national archives can be accessed. That is more though to do with the national archives own storage, as a lot is not stored onsite at Kew or has even been digitised. I will honestly say that this site is no worse than any other.

25 July 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your great review of Forces War Records.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Forces War Records is full of excellent resources

Forces War Records is a really helpful site with tons and tons of records to search until your heart is content. It is helpful to find service numbers of your ancestors to aid your search in building your family tree.

16 July 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your great review of Forces War Records.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Simple to use

Simple to use, with searched delivering reliable and informative answers

13 July 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Be careful of what you think you are getting.

I paid for access to the site last year and got very scant information. It was, however, of some interest for the person who asked me to look for it. I didn't realise at the time that I had taken a subscription. Now I am not able to find how the once-only payment I thought I had made turned into a monthly subscription. When I noticed it (which I should have done long ago) I cancelled the subscription. Anyone thinking of taking a subscription should be aware that it is not a one month’s subscription but one that lasts until it is cancelled.

7 July 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

I can see that you contacted us to cancel your account with us on 10th June 2022 and no payments have been taken after that date. Your access expired on 5th July.

We have contacted you directly regarding this to hopefully resolve this to your satisfaction.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Total waste of money

Total waste of money. I paid for a monthly subscription in order to view more information and the only information I could find was exactly the same as on the front page. They refuse to refund my money. I feel that not just a waste of money but a total scam.

7 July 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

I am very sorry to hear that you were disappointed. I can assure you that Forces War Records is not a Scam we hold over 27 million records, but of course no website can guarantee to hold every record ever created, nor guarantee as to what information will be available, they can only provide what is recorded on the records they hold.

We would like to work with you to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, however we are unable to identify your account from the name provided on this review. We have contacted you via Trust Pilot for more details.

Update: We have now identified your account and have responded to you to provide the refund as we never like to leave customers dissatisfied.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Frustratingly and uninformative

A frustratingly uninformative experience - it claims to give me individual war records, I see names, units, potential dates - but when I click, all I see is generic information about the regiment and nothing specific to the person I'm searching for, I was tempted back because I had a bunch of emails telling me that "new records had been released" but - I haven't found anything other than basic info about the regiment he was in. I have yet to find anything even vaguely related to the person I'm looking for. Waste of my time and money so far.

4 July 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

One of our Customer Support staff contacted you for more details of your search and has assisted you in your quest for more information.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

I find this site difficult to navigate…

I find this site difficult to navigate - it's ok if you have all of your relatives details but I don't...my grandfather lied about his age, but he was a big lad so he got in, he was sent abroad and within four years became an officer, I believe he was in military intelligence between the two world wars and family legend had it he was a senior officer in the home guard during WW2...I don't have his service number, and the only thing in the family is a document that says 'for services to the crown' he was a quartermaster / sergeant at arms for the military section of the Free Masons...that's the only record I have, he also doesn't appear in any family photos...he died in 1963 at the age of 77...when I was 8 yrs old...i don't seem to be able to find the info i'm looking for from the info I have?? not through Forces War Records anyway...

4 July 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

Please contact us via your account, we have experts on hand to help with your search, if you know which regiment he was likely to have been in that may help.

However. it can be a difficult search if you do not know any information to narrow down your search.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I did not ask for ongoing subscription…

I did not ask for ongoing subscription and cancelling has taken many months and is not straightforward

23 June 2022
Unprompted review
Forces War Records logo

Reply from Forces War Records

Thanks for your review.

I am very sorry to hear that you have had an issue managing your subscription.

We would like to work with you to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, however we are unable to identify your account from the name provided on this review. We have contacted you via Trust Pilot for more details.

Edit: thank you for providing your details, we have contacted you via your account to resolve the issue, hopefully to your satisfaction.

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