Tuesday 30 October 2012

World War Research - 3 week online course

I've been asked to flag up an online course from Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd (www.pharostutors.com) which may be of interest, and which still has some availability. It is World War Research, taught by military historian Simon Fowler, which commences on November 6th. Simon knows his stuff - one of his books on naval ancestry has been on my desk for the last three weeks, as I seem to have had a spate of naval enquiries recently! This is a great introduction to the whole genre of military research for the two wars - here's the blurb from the site:

World War Research

Almost everybody has ancestors and family who fought in the two world wars. This three-week course will help you find out about their service whether they spent their time in a cookhouse at Catterick or, in Winston Churchill’s words” at the sharp end”.

We look at online resources available from The National Archives, the commercial data providers, and those maintained by enthusiasts. Offline, we examine original records at Kew and consider resources available at the Imperial War Museum and other military museums across Britain, as well as how best to use these records. Women’s war service records are included and records for men from the Dominions who came to the aid of the Mother Country during both world wars. This course will answer your questions about: service records, where to find them and how to interpret them; medal records, including how to discover more about why they were awarded; casualty records, including researching how and why a man lost his life and also operational records, which give you a good idea of a man’s career in the services.

Two of the three weeks will be spent looking at the major resources for the First World War and suggesting alternatives where there are gaps in the records. The last lesson will concentrate on the Second World War, where there are many records which are rarely used by family historians. For both conflicts research strategies will be offered, together with tips to speed your research along.

Instructor: Simon Fowler

WWI – The basics: Service records, Medal cards, Resources online, The Fallen
WWI – Advanced: War diaries, RAF, Royal Navy, Women, Commonwealth
WWII – How to use the records: Service records, Medals, Operational records, the Home Front
Each lesson includes exercises and activities; a minimum of 1 one-hour chat session per week. See How the Courses Work.

Relevant Countries: Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada

To sign up for the course, which costs £33.99, please visit www.pharostutors.com/coursesmainsd.php

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

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