British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials

Each result will provide you with a transcript with a combination of the following facts. The details in each transcript will vary depending on the nature of the record. Many records will also provide an image. We recommend viewing the image as it can provide even more detail about your ancestor.

• Name

• Birth year

• Death year

• Burial date

• Place

• County and country

• Type

• Source

• War

• Document type

• Records year range

• Archive reference and archive

Within this collection, you will find individuals who died while serving in the armed forces, civilians who died while travelling or working abroad, and individuals who died at sea. The collection brings together records from The National Archives and the General Register Office. Below we have provided a full list of all the available sources. In most cases, any death of a British civilian abroad usually resulted in a notification being sent to the relevant British Consul or the UK High Commission, which will allow you to find their details within the General Register Office (GRO) consular indices.

Within this collection you will find some of the following records:

• Registrations of British armed forces (including serving members who were not British nationals) posted overseas.

• Regimental registers and chaplains' returns for army deaths which took place in the British Isles.

• A card index of naval officers who were killed between 1914 and 1920, including some Royal Marines and Naval Reserve officers, as well as officers of the Canadian and Australian navies.

• A card index of ships lost from 1914 to 1919.

• A war graves roll from 1914 to 1919.

• Statistical casualty books 1914-1933.

• Registers and indexes of births, deaths, and marriages at sea from 1891 to 1972 maintained by the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen. The registers include both British and foreign subjects, passengers and seamen.

Please note that it is common for the place of death field to be missing or to include the names of vessels as well as the names of cities and ports.

Many of the records found in this collection have been available on Findmypast as separate record sets: British nationals died overseas 1818-2005, British nationals armed forces deaths 1796-2005, and Deaths at sea. The various record sets have been pulled together, along with new additions from The National Archives, to create this extensive collection of death and burial records.

General Register Office

ARO2 - GRO War Death Army Officers Indices (1939 to 1948)

ARR1 - GRO War Death Army Other Ranks (1914 to 1921)

ARR2 - GRO War Death Army Other Ranks (1939 to 1948)

D1995ONWARDS - GRO Deaths Abroad Indices (1995 to 2005)

AIRD - GRO Air Death Indices (1947 to 1965)

AIRM - GRO Air Death Missing Persons Indices (1947 to 1965)

ARO1 - GRO War Death Army Officers Indices (1914 to 1921)

ARO2 - GRO War Death Army Officers Indices (1939 to 1948)

ARR1 - GRO War Death Army Other Ranks (1914 to 1921)

ARR2 - GRO War Death Army Other Ranks (1939 to 1948)

DABR - GRO Death Abroad Indices (1966 to 1994)

DABR - GRO Death Abroad Indices (1966 to 1994)

DARM - GRO Army Death Indices (1881 to 1955)

DCHA - GRO Army Chaplains Death Indices (1796 to 1880)

DCON - GRO Consular Death Indices (1849 to 1965)

DINC - GRO Ionian Islands Chaplains Returns Death (1818 to 1864)

DIMN - GRO Ionian Islands Military Registration Death (1818 to 1864)

DINV - GRO Ionian Islands Civil Registration Death (1818 to 1864)

DMR1 - GRO Marine Death Indices (1837 to 1846)

DMR2 - GRO Marine Death Indices (1846 to 1902)

DMR3 - GRO Marine Death Indices (1903 to 1965)

DSRV - GRO Service Departments Death Indices (1956 to 1965)

HCD1 - GRO High Commission Death Indices (up to 1955)

HCD2 - GRO High Commission Death Indices (1956 to 1965)

INDI - GRO War Death Indian Services (1939 to 1948)

NATA - GRO Natal & South African Forces Death (1899 to 1902)

NAVO - GRO War Death Naval Officers Indices (1939 to 1948)

NAVR - GRO War Death Naval Ratings Indices (1939 to 1948)

NAVY - GRO War Death Navy All Ranks Indices (1914 to 1921)

RAFA - GRO War Death R.A.F. All Ranks (1939 to 1948)

The National Archives

ADM 242 - Royal Navy officers killed 1914-1920

ADM 80 - Dead men's wages from the Royal Greenwich Hospital 1787-1809

BT 153 - Registers of Wages and Effects of Deceased Seamen, 1852-1889

BT 156 - Monthly Lists of Deaths of Seamen, 1886-1890

BT 157 - Registers of Seamen's Deaths, Classified by Cause, 1882-1888

BT 334 - Deaths at sea 1891 1972

CO 386 - Register of deaths of emigrants at sea, 1847-1869

CUST 67 - Register of deaths at sea, Falmouth, 1892-1918

ADM 1/8465/194 - Deaths on board HM Ships

ADM 102/374 - Haslar Royal Naval Hospital: deaths of seamen

ADM 102/842 - Death certificates from Naval hospitals & hospital ships

ADM 104/127-139 - Registers of reports of deaths: Naval ratings

ADM 305/103-114 - Haslar Royal Naval Hospital burial register

ADM 73/460-465 - Royal Hospital Greenwich burial register

BT 158/1-10 - Registers of births, deaths & marriages of passengers at sea

BT 26/71/39 - SS Pennland travelling from Philadelphia to Liverpool. Embarking at Philadelphia. Official Number: [No official number listed]. List of passengers disembarking at Queenstown & Liverpool. [Passengers included one child that died during the voyage]. [Passengers included one female that was born during the voyage. Nationality: British. No date of birth given].

BT 85/74/65 - SS India (British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd) travelling from Brisbane to London. Embarking at Brisbane, Rockhampton, Townsville, Cairns, Cooktown & Aden. Official Number: 85861. List of passengers disembarking at Plymouth & London. [Passengers included one male child born during the voyage. Nationality: British. No date of birth given]. [Passengers included two individuals that died during the voyage].

FO 1045/3 - Re-interment of British dead at Shuhogahara Cemetery, Kobe, Japan

FO 128/454 - British cemetery at Bahia, Brazil

FO 141/441 /4 - Members of the Egyptian Labour Corps who died in service & the registration of graves in military cemeteries & elsewhere, Egypt

FO 170/1222 - Testaccio Cemetery, Rome, Italy

FO 174/390 - British cemetery at El Jadida, Morocco

FO 177/542 - British Cemetery at Iquitos, Peru

FO 179/548 - St George's Church & cemetery, Lisbon, Portugal

FO 185/1777 - British cemetery at Madrid, Spain

FO 195/2486/617 - British cemetery at Alexandretta, Turkey

FO 195/2723 - Crimean Cemetery at Haidar-Pasa, Turkey FO 211/633/31/190 - Denmark Embassy, Consulate & Legation: death certificates

FO 211/673 - Embassy, Consulate & Legation: Denmark: War graves, Allied Air Force personnel buried in Denmark

FO 233/210 - British Cemetery at Tsingtao, China: plans & correspondence

FO 233/212 - China: Plans, correspondence & register of graves of Weihsien Cemetery.

FO 233/213 - China: Amoy: Kulangau Cemetery, Hospital Trust, Foochow: restoration of St John's Church.

FO 233/214 - British Cemetery at Tsingtao, China: register & photograph album of graves

FO 286/1393 - Anglo-French Crimean Cemetery at New Phaleron, Greece

FO 299/22 - Consulate Leipzig, Saxony: death register

FO 332/17 - British cemetery at Malaga, Spain

FO 369/2515 - Protestant cemetery at Aleppo, Syria

FO 369/2544 - Protestant cemetery at Aleppo, Syria

FO 369/3844 - Madeleine cemetery at Courtrai, Belgium

FO 369/4440 - International cemetery at Hankow, China

FO 369/4942 - Protestant cemetery at Luanda (Angola) Portuguese Africa; transfer of remains to new municipal cemetery

FO 369/5045 - Anglo-American Cemetery in Romania

FO 369/5053 - Protestant Cemetery at Iskenderun,. Turkey

FO 369/5068 - British cemetery at Aleppo, Syria

FO 369/5222 - British graves in the Foreigners' Cemetery at Managua

FO 369/5428 - Removal of British & US graves from Luwan (formerly Lokawai) to Chian Cemetery, China

FO 369/5441-5442 - Removal of graves from Abeno Foreign Cemetery, Japan

FO 369/5721 - British war cemeteries at Murmansk & Archangel, Russia

FO 371/21899 - British cemeteries at Henjam & Basidu, Iran

FO 371/67822 - British church property & cemeteries at Leghorn

FO 371/98722 - List of persons buried in the Christian Cemetery at Khorramshuh; damage to graves in the cemetery

FO 375/4 - Consulates Luanda & Sao Tome, Portuguese West Africa: death register

FO 376/2 - Consulate Aux Cayes, Haiti: death register

FO 377/4 - Consulate Riga, Russian empire: death register

FO 378/8 - Consulate Leningrad/St Petersburg: death register

FO 378/9 - Consulate Leningrad/St Petersburg: death register

FO 383/137 - Belgium: prisoners, including William F Lee formerly interned at Wittenberg Camp, Germany & Arthur G Slater interned at Ruhleben Camp, Germany

FO 440/10 - Consulate Libau, Latvia: death register

FO 443/16 - European cemetery in Morocco

FO 45/731 - Protestant Cemetery at Rome, Italy

FO 45/921-923 - British burial ground at Naples

FO 509/4 - Consulate Konigsberg, Germany: death register

FO 514/8-9 - Consulate Tallinn, Estonia: death register

FO 518/4 - Consulate Moscow, Russia: death register

FO 532/2 - Consulate Drammen, Norway: death register

FO 559/1 - Consulate Ponta Delgada, Portugal: Register of deaths, births, marriages & burials

FO 560/1 - Bushire, Iran: register of Births, Baptisms, Marriages & Deaths

FO 564/14 - Legation Peking, China: death register

FO 604/2 - District of Dusseldorf consulate: death register

FO 604/7 - District of the Vice-consulate at Aix la Chapelle: death register

FO 604/8 - Christ Church, Dusseldorf: baptism register

FO 617/5 - Consulate Jerusalem, Ottoman Empire: death register

FO 625/3 - Consulate & Embassy Bucharest, Romania: death register

FO 637/86 - British Cemetery at Port Mahon, Balearic Islands

FO 65/15 - Russian Empire: British cemetery at Messina

FO 661/5 -Consulate Libau, Latvia: death register

FO 663/89-92 - Consulate Amoy, China: death register

FO 665/5-6 - Consulate Foochow, China: death register

FO 667/4 - Consulate Ichang, China: death register

FO 670/3 - Consulate Ningpo, China: death register

FO 671/577-578, 581 - Foreign cemeteries in China

FO 672/2 - Consulate Shanghai, China: death register

FO 673/10 - Consulate Ningpo, China: death register

FO 676/491 - Cemeteries in China

FO 687/5 - Consulate Papeete, French Polynesia: birth, marriage & death register

FO 701/13 - United States consulate Galveston: death reports

FO 712/1 - Consulate Dieppe, France: birth register

FO 712/1 - Consulate Dieppe, France: death register

FO 712/3 - Consulate Dieppe, France: death register

FO 713/2 - Consulate Le Treport, France: death register

FO 716/2 - Embassy & consulate Darmstadt, Germany (formerly Hesse): death register

FO 72/2158 - British Cemetery at Bilbao, Spain

FO 723/2 - Embassy & legation Mexico City: death register

FO 723/92 - British Cemetery at Mexico City: burial notices

FO 736/3 - Consulates Cartagena & Santa Marta, Colombia: death register

FO 743/12-13, British cemetery at Parà, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

FO 748/27 - Legation Stockholm, Sweden: deaths notified by local authorities

FO 748/32 - Legation Stockholm, Sweden: deaths notified by local authorities

FO 748/39 - Legation Stockholm, Sweden: deaths notified by local authorities

FO 748/45 - Legation Stockholm, Sweden: deaths notified by local authorities

FO 748/49 - Legation Stockholm, Sweden: deaths notified by local authorities

FO 748/58 - Legation Stockholm, Sweden: deaths

FO 748/66 - Legation Stockholm, Sweden: deaths notified by local authorities

FO 748/73 - Legation Stockholm, Sweden: deaths notified by local authorities

FO 748/83 - Legation Stockholm, Sweden: deaths notified by local authorities

FO 748/86 - Legation Stockholm, Sweden: deaths notified by local authorities

FO 796/187 - Urakami Cemetery, Nagasaki, Japan

FO 796/236 - Consulate Nagasaki, Japan: death register

FO 83/1493 - Marriages abroad, miscellaneous

FO 83/1582 - Marriages abroad, A-G

FO 83/1967 - Marriages abroad, G-Z

FO 831/7 - Saffi cemetery, Morocco: proposed transfer of bodies

FO 835/138 - British cemetery at Casablanca, Morocco

FO 835/188 - British church & cemetery at Casablanca, Morocco

FO 847/102/48 - Abdul Moneim Cemetery, Alexandria, Egypt

FO 861/115 - Protestant cemetery at Aleppo, Syria

FO 861/124 - British Protestant Cemetery at Aleppo, Syria

FO 861/125 - British Protestant Cemetery at Aleppo, Syria

FO 861/126 - British Protestant Cemetery at Aleppo, Syria

FO 866/14 - Legation & consulate, Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Registers of births, deaths & marriages

FO 868/2 - Consulate Philippopolis, Bulgaria: birth register

FO 884/3-5 - Consulate Varna, Bulgaria: death register

FO 886/2 - Embassy & consular Sulina: birth register

FO 887/2 - Consulate Kustendie, Ottoman Empire: death register

FO 888/2 - Consulate Rutschuk, Ottoman Empire: Register of deaths

FO 891/60 - Old British Protestant cemetery at Alexandria, Egypt

FO 904/13 - British cemetery at Leghorn, Italy

FO 905/16 - European cemetery at Jedda, Saudi Arabia

FO 905/34 - European cemetery at Jedda, Saudi Arabia

FO 905/36 - European cemetery at Jedda, Saudi Arabia

FO 905/47 - European cemetery at Jedda, Saudi Arabia

FO 905/63 - European cemetery at Jedda, Saudi Arabia

FO 905/68 - European cemetery at Jedda, Saudi Arabia

FO 908/5 = Protestant Cemetery at Hakodate, Yokohama, Japan

FO 910/3-6 - Consulate Lausanne, Switzerland: death register

FO 923/12 - Various Consulates, Iran (formerly Persia): death register

FO 923/15 - Various Consulates, Iran (formerly Persia): death register

FO 923/16 - Various Consulates, Iran (formerly Persia): death register

FO 923/17 - Various Consulates, Iran (formerly Persia): death register

FO 923/23 - Various Consulates, Iran (formerly Persia): death register

FO 923/24 - Various Consulates, Iran (formerly Persia): death register

FO 923/4 - Various Consulates, Iran (formerly Persia): death register

FO 923/8 - Various Consulates, Iran (formerly Persia): death register

FO 927/28 - British cemetery at Malaga, Spain

FO 97/385 - British burial ground in Spain

FO 97/600 - Protestant cemetery at Para (Feri Keui), Turkey

FO 97/618 - British Cemetery at Suez

FO 97/619 - British Cemetery at Suez

FO 993/1 - Möllendal Cemetery, Bergen, Norway

RG 32/36-41 - Miscellaneous Foreign Returns

RG 32/43-53 - Miscellaneous Foreign Returns. Entries.

RG 32/54-59 - Miscellaneous Foreign Returns

RG 33/1 - Foreign Registers & returns: Belgium

RG 33/100 - Foreign Registers & returns: Indian sub-continent

RG 33/103 - Foreign Registers & returns: Indian sub-continent

RG 33/11 - Foreign Registers & returns: China

RG 33/110-113 - Foreign Registers & returns: Indian sub-continent

RG 33/117-118 - Foreign Registers & returns: Italy

RG 33/125 - Foreign Registers & returns: Japan

RG 33/132 - Foreign Registers & Returns: Malaya

RG 33/133 - Foreign Registers & Returns: Iraq

RG 33/137 - Foreign Registers & Returns: Iraq

RG 33/140 - Foreign Registers & returns: Mexico

RG 33/141 - Foreign Registers & Returns: Palestine

RG 33/142 - Foreign Registers & returns: Portugal

RG 33/144 - Foreign Registers & returns: Russia

RG 33/146 - Foreign Registers & returns: Russia

RG 33/148-152 - Foreign Registers & returns: Russia

RG 33/159 - Foreign Registers & returns: Indian sub-continent

RG 33/34 - Foreign Registers & returns: China

RG 33/37-72 - Foreign Registers & returns: France

RG 33/80-81 - Foreign Registers & returns: Germany

RG 33/82 - Foreign Registers & returns: Greece

RG 33/88 - Foreign Registers & returns: Holland

RG 33/91-98 - Foreign Registers & returns: Indian sub-continent

RG 36/1-14 - Registers & Returns of Births, Marriages & Deaths in the Protectorates of Africa & Asia. Africa, part 1

SP 110/70 - British factory at Aleppo, chaplain's register of baptisms, marriages & burials

WO 156/10 - Canterbury Garrison, Kent: burial register

WO 156/100-102 - Aldershot Military Burial Ground, Hampshire: burial register

WO 156/103 - Bordon Military Burial Ground, Hampshire - Burials

WO 156/105 - Colchester, Essex - Burials

WO 156/106 - Limasol, Troodos & Polimedia, Cyprus: burials

WO 156/107 - Cairo, Egypt & Khartoum, Sudan: register of deaths & burials

WO 156/108 - Cairo & Port Said, Egypt: burials

WO 156/109 - Ismailia, Egypt: burials

WO 156/110 - Abbassieh & Helmieh, Egypt: burials

WO 156/111 - Malta: military & civilian burials

WO 156/112 - Malta: military & civilian burials (register of deaths & burials)

WO 156/113 - Malta: military & civilian burials

WO 156/114 - Malta: burials

WO 156/115 - Rinella military cemetery, Malta - Burials

WO 156/116 - Imtarfa Cemetery, Malta: burials

WO 156/117 - Malta: burials

WO 156/118 - Netley, Hampshire - Burials

WO 156/119 - Pasir Panjang, Singapore: burials

WO 156/120 - Woolwich, London: burials

WO 156/121 - Malta: burials

WO 156/122 - Mesida, Malta: list of gravestones in Military & Civil Cemetery (1801-1865) & Quarantine Bastion Cemetery (1819-1867) - Burials

WO 156/123 - St George's Garrison Church, Woolwich, Kent: burial register

WO 156/450 - College Chapel Royal Military College, Sandhurst: Burials

WO 156/9 - Canterbury Garrison, Kent: burial register

WO 156/99 - Aldershot Military Burial Ground, Hampshire: burial register

WO 32/8903 - Birth & Baptismal Certificates of militia officers, extracted from destroyed papers. Ay-We

WO 32/8905 - Certificates of births, baptisms, marriages & deaths extracted from old personal papers, Bu-We

WO 32/8920 - Death certificates of Army personnel, Ae Vou

WO 347/10 - Allied Prisoner of War hospitals, Thailand & Burma: death register

WO 347/13 - Official War Diary & Death Register: including brief account of move from Singapore to Thailand (with reference to work on [Burma-Siam] railway); journal of camp activity July-Nov 1943, with copy letters to IJA Camp Commandant; plan of camp; various death registers; & nominal roll of persons buried at Kando

WO 69/71 - Register of Marriages & Baptisms, C Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery

Records obtained from The National Archives provide images of the original records. By viewing the original record, you may discover more about your ancestor’s death. For example, in some cases, the ‘Place of Death’ field contains the precise latitude and longitude coordinates of the event. Also, many of the records will provide the cause of death.

The majority of deaths are due to drowning. A number are listed as ‘missing, presumed drowned’. Other causes include heart failure, bronchitis, inhalation of petroleum fumes, hanging, enteritis & dysentery, cholera, typhoid fever, apoplexy, phthisis, oligemic shock from burns, skull fracture, boiler explosion, apparent barbiturate poisoning, excessive drinking, yellow fever, consumption, and scarlatina (an older term for scarlet fever). Many of the causes of death are uncertain, probably due to the deaths occurring far from land; there are many ‘probably’, ‘assumed’, ‘apparent’ or ‘presumed’ causes of death.

Some images include a number code to denote the cause of death. The number covers a grouping of 'causes' and can be broadly described as being as a result of military action, accident, disease, or other.

1 - Killed in action. Died of wounds or disease following wounds. Missing after action and subsequently presumed killed in action. Killed, died of wounds or exposure, died of disease following wounds or exposure, drowned, missing and subsequently presumed killed or drowned following the loss of the ship in action, by mine or torpedo.

2 - Killed, died of injuries or exposure, died of disease following injuries or exposure, drowned, missing and subsequently presumed killed or drowned, following the accidental loss of a ship (wreck, collision, internal explosion etc.) or where the actual cause of a vessel's loss is not known. Accidental deaths (killed, drowned etc.). Deaths due to injuries or disease following injuries.

3 - Deaths from disease

4 - Deaths due to suicide, murder, alcoholism, heat stroke, deaths under anaesthetic, and any cause which cannot be classified under disease or accident.

ᴓ - Body not recovered for burial

X - No information as to the location of grave

The records contain fatal incidents from both world wars as well as details of the sinking of the most famous ship in the world, the Titanic.

Saugor

On 27 August 1941, the cause of death of a number of passengers on the Saugor is recorded as ‘supposed drowned Vessel sunk by enemy action’. This cargo ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat, resulting in the loss of 59 of her 82 crew.

Lusitania

The National Archives series BT334 includes 1,196 of the 1,198 passengers and crew members who died when a German U-boat torpedoed and sunk the RMS Lusitania off the south coast of Ireland on 7 May 1915. The ‘place of death’ field for these individuals is described as ‘off Kinsale vessel sunk by German submarine’. Their causes of death are listed as ‘supposed drowned’.

Titanic

The National Archives series BT334 also includes those passengers and crew members who were killed in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after hitting an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Britain to the United States. It is unclear exactly how many people died as a result of the sinking, due to such factors as passengers cancelling their trip, travelling under aliases, or departing the ship at various ports and not returning, but it’s thought that between 1,490 and 1,635 people lost their lives. Fewer than one-third of those aboard the ship survived.

In these records, the ‘place of death’ field is noted as ‘about lat 41.16N long 50.14 W'. The port of registry is listed as Liverpool, and the cause of death is noted as ‘supposed drowned’ for all victims. In the remarks category, ‘ship lost’ is written.

The records also provide details on which class the deceased were travelling. Of the approximately 1,317 passengers on the Titanic, 324 travelled first class, 284 were in second class, and the vast majority, 709, were in third class. Survival rates were comparatively low in third class, while the wealthier passengers in first class were prioritized in terms of getting into lifeboats.

Possibly the most interesting image is of a typewritten record of 19 crew members who died on the Titanic. The final residence of most of these people was listed as Southampton, the port from which the ship sailed. Their jobs on board are listed: steward, clerk, assistant plateman, assistant vegetable cook, assistant lounge steward, bedroom steward, assistant pantryman, lift steward, fireman, electrician, 2nd Class saloon steward, and lounge pantry steward. These job titles give an indication of both the volumes of people on board and the kind of luxury on offer. In total, there were approximately 885 crew members on board: 66 deck crew, 325 engine crew, and 494 victualling crew. Only 23 of the crew members were female.