Record Watch Company Serial Numbers

A Genealogy Guide

Online World War II Indexes and Records - USA

• World War II Electronic Army Serial Number Merged FileThis database contains records of aboout 9 million men and women who enlisted in the United States Army, including the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC, later WAC). Although incomplete, the records contain data for a majority of the enlistments in the US Army during World War II, including each person's serial number. This database is also available online at FamilySearch and Fold3 (these might be easier to search):
  • United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 (at FamilySearch/free with registration)
  • World War II Army Enlistment Database (at Fold3/requires payment)

• Ancestry's World War II Records Collection (requires payment) includes...
  • World War II and Korean War Veterans Buried Overseas nearly 160,000 listings -- Title of the records in this database: 'Register, World War II Dead Interred in American Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, and World War II and Korea Missing or Lost or Buried at Sea'
  • U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954 (has 7.2 million entries)
  • U.S., Navy and Marines Awards and Decorations, 1942-1994 (has 1.8 million entries)
  • U.S. World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files, 1942-1948
  • World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946; and WWII Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945
  • World War II Young American Patriots, 1941-1945
  • World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945
  • World War II Japanese-American Internment Camp Documents, 1942-1946
  • WWII U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Muster Rolls, 1939-1949
  • U.S. WWII Military Personnel Missing In Action or Lost At Sea, 1941-1946

• World War II Draft Cards
  • WWII Draft Cards at Ancestry...
    • WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 at Ancestry (requires payment) Includes images of the draft cards. For men born from February 17, 1897 to July 31, 1927. For all states except Maine (the WWII draft cards for Maine were destroyed). Has 36 million entries. Ancestry also has WWII draft cards for the 4th registration/'old man's draft.' See...
    • World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 at Ancestry (requires payment) from the Fourth Registration, referred to as the 'old man's registration,' conducted on April 27, 1942 -- for men born from April 28, 1877 to February 16, 1897. Digitized WWII fourth registration draft cards are available at Ancestry for the following places: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New York City, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
  • WWII Draft Cards at FamilySearch...
    • World War II Draft Cards - Fourth Registration ('old man's draft') at FamilySearch free with registration; includes index and digitized images of the draft cards for men born from April 28, 1877 to February 16, 1897; for Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York City (the Bronx, Brooklyn/Kings County, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island), Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
  • WWII Draft Cards at Fold3...
    • WWII Draft Registration Cards at Fold3 (requires payment) Available for 45 states and US territories.

• Cemeteries and Beneficiaries...
  • Veterans Affairs Burial Search
    • Veterans Affairs Burial Search for national (military) cemeteries; includes many WWII veterans; note: Arlington Cemetery in Virginia has a separate database...
  • Beneficiaries
    • Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 (at Ancestry/requires payment); The Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File contains birth and death dates, and sometimes other information, for more than 14 million veterans who received benefits from the VA while they were alive.
    • Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File at Fold3 free (with registration)
  • Headstone Applications and Interment Forms
    • U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962 (at Ancestry/requires payment) these cards record details of U.S. Army personnel interred in national cemeteries
    • U.S. Veterans Headstone Applications, 1925-1963 (at Ancestry/requires payment) for burials in private cemeteries; includes digitized images of the applications; has over 1.9 million listings
    • United States Headstone Applications for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1949 at FamilySearch/free with registration; from National Archives microfilm publications M1916 (1925-1941) and M2113 (1941-1949).
  • U.S. Military Cemeteries Overseas
    • American Battle Monuments Commission - Burials records of casualties buried in American military cemeteries overseas, including Word War II
    • Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949 (at Ancestry/requires payment) includes digitized copies of burial cards for veterans buried overseas during and after World War II through 1949
    • Fields of Honor Database burials database for six American War Cemeteries in Europe: Ardennes and Henri-Chapelle (both in Belgium), Epinal and Lorraine (France), Margraten (the Netherlands), and Luxembourg. Some of the listings include memorial pages with a photograph.

• WWII Casualties and MIA...
  • Service Personnel Not Recovered Following World War II (MIA) database of missing WWII service members from the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
  • World War II Casualties for Army and Army Air Forces Personnel (scanned documents listed by state)
  • World War II Casualties for Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard (scanned documents listed by state)
  • Missing Air Crew Reports, WWII (at Fold3) from NARA Microfilm Publication M1380; includes over 16,000 case files of Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs) and related records of the US Army Air Forces, 1942-1947 (searches are free; requires payment to view the images of the records)
  • Marine Corps WWII Casualty Card Database Excel file; can also be searched at Ancestry:
    • United States Marine Corps Casualty Card Indexes at Ancestry/free with registration; for World War II and the Interwar Period 1946-1950 (also for the Korean War and the Interwar Period 1955-1960). 'Casualty cards were issued when a Marine was wounded, missing, killed or deemed a prisoner of war.'

• Pearl Harbor...
  • Pearl Harbor Muster Rolls (at Fold3) detailed muster rolls listing all personnel assigned to ships based at Pearl Harbor 1939-1947, and those missing or dead (searches are free; requires payment to view the images of the records)

• Access to Archival Databases (AAD) from the US National Archives - included are some WWII related databases such as...
  • World War II Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File (see description above)
  • World War II Prisoners of War File, ca. 1942 - ca. 1947
  • World War II Prisoners of the Japanese - Data File
  • Japanese-American Internee File, 1942-1946

• World War II Documents and Records at Fold3 (requires payment) includes...
  • Interactive USS Arizona Memorial
  • WWII Hero Pages
  • WWII Photos
  • WWII Documents and Records including: Submarine Patrol Reports, Missing Air Crew Reports, Pearl Harbor Muster Rolls, Naval Press Clippings, Army and Navy JAG Files, and more

• World War II Era Alien Registration Records...
  • United States Index to Alien Case Files, 1940-2003 from FamilySearch
  • U.S., Alien Draft Registrations, Selected States, 1940-1946 at Ancestry/requires payment; includes Alien Registration Forms for Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
  • U.S. Subject Index to Correspondence and Case Files of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1903-1959 at Ancestry/requires payment; Some 'enemy aliens' who were detained or asked for an exemption can be found in this index. From NARA microfilm publication T458.
  • Also see the Maine section below.

• American Merchant Marine Databases includes: Names of WWII Merchant Marine Killed, Names and Fates of WWII Merchant Marine POWs, Names of U.S. Naval Armed Guard Killed and Wounded

World War II Records by State

• Alabama...
  • Alabama, WWII Military Dead and Wounded, 1944-1946 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
  • Alabama, Military Discharge Records, ca.1918 - ca.1962 some counties not included; from FamilySearch

• Arizona...
  • Arizona, Military Discharge Records, ca.1918 - ca.1989 from FamilySearch; for Apache, Gila, Mohave, Navajo, Pinal, and Santa Cruz counties; coverage varies by county

• Arkansas...
  • Arkansas, Military Discharge Records, ca.1917 - ca.1969 some counties not included; from FamilySearch

• California...
  • California, Military Discharge Records, 1856-1965 for Butte and San Mateo Counties; from FamilySearch

• Colorado...
  • Colorado World War II 4th Draft Registration Index ('old man's draft') from the Foothills Genealogical Society

• Idaho...

• Indiana...
  • Indiana World War II Servicemen Database from notices in Indianapolis newspapers

• Iowa...
  • Iowa World War II Bonus Case Files, 1947-1954 (at Ancestry/requires payment) database with images of applications of WWII bonus payments for Iowa men and women who served on active duty in the U.S. armed forces between 16 September 1940 and 2 September 1945
  • Iowa World War II Bonus Case Files for Beneficiaries, 1947-1959 (at Ancestry/requires payment) applications for bonus payments given to the beneficiaries of WWII soldiers from Iowa
  • Iowa Armed Forces Grave Registrations, ca. 1835-1998 from FamilySearch

• Kansas...
  • Kansas WWII and Military Indexes includes
    • Kansas World War II Selective Service Index
    • Kansas World War II Army Casualties
    • Kansas World War II Oral Histories
    • Kansas Burials/Memorials at World War II Military Cemeteries Operated by the American Battle Monuments Commission

• Maine...

• Massachusetts...

• Michigan...
  • Michigan Casualties, World War II (at Ancestry/requires payment)

• Minnesota...

• Missouri...
  • Missouri, Reports of Separation Notices, 1941-1946 from FamilySearch
  • Also see: St. Louis Genealogy Records and Resources

• New Mexico...
  • New Mexico World War II Records, 1941-1945 (at Ancestry/requires payment) includes enlistment records, military discharges, service records, and some photographs

• New York...
  • New York, WWII Enlisted Men Cards, 1940-1945 (at Ancestry/requires payment) for New York National Guard enlisted men and noncommissioned officers activated for federal service during World War II; these men were organized as the 27th Infantry Division
  • New York Southern District, World War II Military Naturalization Index, 1941-1946 (at Ancestry/requires payment) includes Manhattan, the Bronx and nearby counties

• North Carolina...
  • North Carolina: Discharge and Statement of Service Records, 1940-1948 from FamilySearch (does not include all counties)
  • Guilford County: Men and Women Who Served in World War II Index from the City of Greensboro Library

• Ohio...
  • Cleveland Servicemen's Photographs Index 1940-1955 Note: this is an index only -- you should contact the Western Reserve Historical Society for information about obtaining copies of the photographs
  • Muskingum County: Schneider WWII Veterans Archive scanned service cards
  • Summit County World War II Database indexes Summit County servicemen and women in the Akron Beacon Journal during WWII

• Oklahoma...

• Pennsylvania...
  • Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1929-1990 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
  • Pennsylvania Veteran Compensation Applications, WWII, 1950-1966 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
  • Pennsylvania: Allegheny County - Official Army List of Those Who Gave Their Lives in World War II (surnames A-M) includes Pittsburgh

• Utah...
  • Utah, World War II Index to Army Veterans of Utah, 1939-1945 from FamilySearch

• Virgin Islands...
  • Virgin Islands, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945 from FamilySearch

• Virginia...
  • Virginia Military Dead Database ongoing project

• West Virginia...

Where to Order WWII-Era Military Records

• The National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO has 20th Century military records for discharged and deceased veterans. For information on how to order an Official Military Personnel File for a veteran who separated from service before 1957, see: Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests. Be aware that a 1973 fire destroyed about 80% of the Army records (1912-1959) and 75% of the Air Force records (1947-1963). However, in some cases alternate sources were used to reconstruct some basic service information. There may be restrictions on who can order these records. And there may be a fee to obtain copies.

• National Archives Catalog SearchSome (not all) WWII-era military personnel files for the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard are indexed here. Two examples of military records that are partially indexed in this database... From Record Group 24: Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel; From Record Group 153: Court Martial Case Files.

• If you are a military veteran or the next-of-kin of a deceased former member of the military you can order records from... eVetRecs - Military Personnel Records Request (there may be a fee)