WWII Enlistment File

The up-to-date version of this post will be maintained at: http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/wwii-enlistment-file.html

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New at NARA - World War II Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File - 9 million records

The NARA website says:

This series has records on about nine million men and women who enlisted during World War II in the United States Army, including Army Reserves and the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. NARA scanned War Department microfilmed punch cards on enlistments to support the reconstruction of the military personnel records at its National Personnel Record Center. Because of the microfilm's poor condition, approximately 1.5 million records could not be scanned. Also, the file has no records for Army officers, members of other services or enlistments for other time periods. In general, each record has the serial number of a soldier, person's name, state and county of residence, place of enlistment, date of enlistment, grade, branch, term of enlistment, place of birth, year of birth, race, education, civilian occupation, marital status, and component. These records present unique searching challenges.

WWII Army Serial Number Records can be found at the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) http://aad.archives.gov/aad/

Click on the Genealogy/ Personal History > Military Personnel, and then World War II Army Enlistment Records, created, 6/1/2002 - 9/30/2002, documenting the period ca. 1938 - 1946 - Record Group 64, the top search button.

Thanks to Joe Beine for sending notice of this database to the APG list.

Here is a sample record, for my father, Ted Cowan (Theodore E.):

Column Title         Value         Meaning         Notes
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER   39481520
NAME                 COWAN#THEODORE#E########
RESIDENCE: STATE     97            WASHINGTON
RESIDENCE: COUNTY    033           KING          
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT  9742          FT LEWIS WASHINGTON
DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY    11
DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH  11
DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR   44
GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION  PVT#     Private
GRADE: CODE          8             Private
BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION          NO#           No branch assignment
BRANCH: CODE         02            No branch assignment
FIELD USE AS DESIRED          #
TERM OF ENLISTMENT   5             Enlistment for the duration of the War or other
emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
LONGEVITY          ###
SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL    0      Civil Life
NATIVITY             97            WASHINGTON
YEAR OF BIRTH        26
RACE AND CITIZENSHIP  1            White, citizen
EDUCATION             4            4 years of high school
CIVILIAN OCCUPATION   760          AUTOMOBILE SERVICEMAN
MARITAL STATUS        6            Single, without dependents
COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 7            Selectees (Enlisted Men)
CARD NUMBER          #
BOX NUMBER            1441
FILM REEL NUMBER      7.12#

Military Record Requests (SF-180) from NARA (National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO): http://www.archives.gov/facilities/mo/st_louis/military_personnel_records/standard_form_180.html


Australian WWII Nominal Roll: http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/
WWII Service Records: http://www.naa.gov.au/the_collection/defence/conflicts/ww2/ww2.html

Canadian Military Records and Service Files (all wars): http://www.collectionscanada.ca/02/020203_e.html

Commonwealth War Graves Commission (both World Wars, all of the Commonwealth): http://www.cwgc.org


So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself. - Florence Nightingale