War Office: First World War Representative Medical Records of Servicemen and Servicewomen

MH 106

1910-1926

The records in this series are a representative selection of several types of medical records from various theatres of war. The records include admission and discharge registers from hospitals and casualty clearing stations, field ambulances, an ambulance train and a hospital ship. There are also medical case sheets, selected to illustrate the diversity of diseases contracted, injuries received and treatments prescribed and medical cards relating to individuals in selected regiments.

This series predominantly contains records of Servicemen, however it does contain some records relating to Servicewomen (approximately 1.5%).

Digital images of the admission and discharge registers can be searched online through our partner website, FindMyPast in the collection British Armed Forces, First World War soldiers' medical records. Records from Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital before the First World War, dating from 1910 can also be found here.

There are also five volumes in the series that relate to the use of the original collection of medical records, of which MH 106 is a sample of, when they were being used by the Ministry of Pensions. This includes registers as well as volumes containing information on the provenance and use of the original collection.

Catalogue descriptions for this series were enhanced as part of a project financed by the Wellcome Trust, 2017-2020. Catalogue descriptions for the remaining medical case sheets are being enhanced as part of a volunteer project financed by the Friends of The National Archives. Records with later creation dates may be found within this series. It is believed that these were not created in the context of this series.

Public Record(s)

2389 volume(s)

Subject to 75 year closure

Records within this series were brought together by the Medical Research Committee and the British Museum during and immediately after the 1914 to 1918 War for use in statistical studies of the treatment for injuries sustained, and diseases contracted, by British troops. The records were later used by the Ministry of Pensions, which inherited them, and subsequently by the War Pensions Branches of its successor departments, to verify claims for war disability pensions.

The records in this series are a representative selection of the original collection and were prepared after the destruction of the 1914-1918 War Medical Records. The destroyed Medical War Records were sent for pulping between April and July 1975, and filled 16,524 sacks, weighing 275 tons. The surviving sample weighs 2½ tons.