Resources for Military Biography Research
How to Get Important Factual Information for Military Life Stories
Sep 23, 2008
There are a wealth of military men and women which would inspire many to write their biography. From the little known relatives of the writer who took part in wars and battles to the more well known figure of Napoleon, to people famous for other things who spent time in the military such as Elvis Presley. So how does a biography writer begin to research the subject's time in the military?
Preparation for Research
The writer may not have any information at all about the person they are going to research but the more you start off with the easier it will be. If possible the writer should try to start their research with the subject's full name, the country or countries they served for, the wars or battles they fought in, one or more of the places they were stationed in, his/ her regiment and number, the branch of the military they were part of, the years they remained in service and the year they enlisted.
The most basic things to begin with to avoid following the wrong path are the person's full name, the branch of military they served in and the approximate period of service. Possible places to find out this information are the awards or medals given to the person, newspaper articles, discharge certificates and photographs.
There are many potential pitfalls when researching a person's military history. The most common one to watch out for is researching the wrong person – picking up on the wrong trail at some point due to several military people having the same name can lead the researcher to get a lifetime of information on the wrong person. Writers can avoid this by getting as much information as possible before beginning research.
Where To Begin
An excellent place to start is right here. For articles on weaponry, many different wars and battles, guerilla campaigns, naval history and much more try the Military History section of Suite 101. This will give you some great ideas to help you decide on what to concentrate with the rest of your research.
Adding the Personal Touch
When writing about the past it can be hard to move a book from being an encyclopaedic factual account to a more personal and emotive life story. To add the human aspect to your book try doing some research on the following websites;
An essential website to visit is "Eye Witness to History" (.com) which is a website which has eyewitness acounts and stories of history from the ancient world right through to modern day. There are a wealth of military accounts along with some video footage
This entymology website Is a great site to use for finding out about insects and diseases in military history
If you type into your search engine “army wives stories" and the country you are interested in, you will also get a new perspective which could be weaved into your book (though depending upon the period you write about you may not always find exact matches).
The Nitty Gritty
Just as important as the personal touch is the factual detail which will give your book it's authenticity. Websites which may help are;
The website "On War" (.com) is the site to visit for all of the background information you may need to know. On this website there are detailed specifications on weaponry and vehicles, articles on the principles behind various battles and wars and women at war and much more.
The Imperial War Museum website (iwm..org.uk) has information on military history of the twentieth century and in particular Corps history
For the history of the British Army and the Indian Army before independence in 1947 try the National Army Museum
For Roman military history try the Roman Military History Society
For Canadian military history try the Canadian Military History Society
For U.S. Military history try this free book from the U.S. Army Center of Military History
For information on the military during the Napoleonic era the New York Public Library has a great beginner's guide
The "German Culture" (.com) website is a good source of information on German military history
The National Archives website (UK) and Ancestry website (co.uk) are good sites to find out information on someone who died or was discharged before 1922. The National Archives also hold many details of medals won and copies of war diaries.
