JMakoul Posted 19 April , 2023 Share Posted 19 April , 2023 Greetings, Can anyone tell me what happened to forces War? It seems to be have been taken over by Ancestry and it’s not nearly as efficient and concise as it once was, thid seems very tragic to me. Am I the only one perceiving it this way? Regards, Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 19 April , 2023 Share Posted 19 April , 2023 I haven't been on this site for a while but I see that it now offers more than the old site including access to WW1 Pension Cards -- seems it is now a lot like Fold3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 19 April , 2023 Share Posted 19 April , 2023 From the magazine 'Who Do You Think You Are' -- 'Leading family history website Ancestry has announced that it is acquiring UK military records website Forces War Records. Ancestry, which holds over 24 billion family history records from 80 countries, has purchased Clever Digit Media, which owns and operates Forces War Records and family history research service British Genealogy. Since it was founded in 2010, Forces War Records has transcribed 26 million Commonwealth military service records from the First and Second World Wars and other conflicts, two million of which are exclusive to the site. Ancestry did not say at this stage what the acquisition will mean for Forces War Records’ collections, but an Ancestry spokesperson said they expected it would be “business as usual” for the site'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaureenE Posted 19 April , 2023 Share Posted 19 April , 2023 I believe Ancestry has owned Forces War Records since about May 2021. Maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 20 April , 2023 Share Posted 20 April , 2023 It looks like the FWR data was appearing in a Fold3 format from March 2023 onwards. A large chunk of FWR content is available to view free of charge in the public domain, if you know where to look. They have recently made a massive error by declaring that each medal index card transcription (archive series WO 372) relates to a soldier who served overseas. This simply isn't the case. Some MICs document rejected claims that did not progress any further. Some MICs document that a soldier served at home, and their sole entitlement was a Silver War Badge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 23 April , 2023 Share Posted 23 April , 2023 On 20/04/2023 at 13:25, Keith_history_buff said: They have recently made a massive error by declaring that each medal index card transcription (archive series WO 372) relates to a soldier who served overseas. This simply isn't the case. Some MICs document rejected claims that did not progress any further. Some MICs document that a soldier served at home, and their sole entitlement was a Silver War Badge. Having used Ancestry for some 20+ years, I am not surprised -- they have made very similar comments in the past concerning records for family tree research -- gives the wrong impression to researchers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 23 April , 2023 Share Posted 23 April , 2023 I'm surprised that it took them so long to decide that the Total Cost of Ownership could be reduced by migrating the FWR data across to the Fold3 web architecture. It does look as thoug the marketing message is "Fold3=USA, FWR=UK" based on subsequent emails to those who have subscribed to both Fold3 and the appalling FWR. Some of the "catchy" yet erroneous descriptions for their datasets beggar belief, and FMP is guilty of that too, albeit for time periods outside of the 1914-1918 era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted 23 April , 2023 Share Posted 23 April , 2023 they are not interested in researchers, they make their money from new sign ups, bit like fishing. throw some bait in and get more visitors. seems common sense to combine the various sites so you only go to the one site, Im on ancestry and now get fold3 and fwr included instead of 3 different subs. SO, instead of a third of the market they have all three... only one to go.. FMP. be prepared for more errors and bad scans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 23 April , 2023 Share Posted 23 April , 2023 (edited) Members may be interested in this about FWR: Look out for questions put to White 1 and Timbo who were running that organisation. TR Edited 23 April , 2023 by Terry_Reeves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 24 April , 2023 Share Posted 24 April , 2023 I used to subscribe to Ancestry and FWR (in the latter case, reluctantly). I found that once they had recently revamped their site I could log in to the FWR information using my Ancestry account login. I asked for a refund of the balance of my FWR fee - and got it. Other GWF members may be in a similar position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 24 April , 2023 Share Posted 24 April , 2023 I haven't been a FWR member for some time. I put up FWR today and was startled to find that I was logged on since I had logged on to Fold3. An interesting question: Why did the Fold3 site try to direct me to FWR rather than ancestry for the UK military sources? RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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