More great websites
The flawed but interesting firstworldwar.com has a page focusing on major actions of the Italian Front ( firstworldwar.com/battles/ if.htm), including the Battles of the Isonzo, and “one of the most sweepingly successful battles of the war” – the Austro- Hungarian/ German success at Caporetto in October 1917. The ‘Memoirs and Diaries’ section also has a transcribed journal kept by Edwin Jones during his service in Egypt and Mesopotamia ( firstworldwar.com/ diaries/edwinjones.htm). It provides a “unique glimpse into the everyday life of a junior officer at the time”.
If you want to research individual campaign medals, you can try the British Medal Forum ( britishmedalforum. com). Other websites include the Australian War Memorial ( awm.gov.au), the Roll of Honour ( roll- of-honour.com), and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s ‘Find A Cemetery’ tool ( cwgc.org/find-acemetery.aspx), which is useful for tracking down your ancestors buried or commemorated overseas.
Alongside the various sites and exhibitions overseen by Imperial War Museums ( iwm.org.uk), you should keep an eye on the IWM-led First World War Centenary project ( 1914.org). The ‘News and Projects’ page, at the time of writing, contained news on a restored Gallipoli warship, Oldham’s VC winners and commemorations of the Battle of Loos planned for Dundee.
Other sites of interest include a ‘Mesopotamia Campaign’ page from TNA ( nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/ battles/mesopotamia.htm), the NZ History introduction to the Palestine Campaign ( nzhistory.net.nz/war/palestinecampaign), or via mespot.net you can explore 300 pictures taken by Captain Charles Henry Weaver during his service in the Mesopotamia Campaign.
It’s always worth seeing what the relevant regimental or military museum might hold, both on and offline. So if you know that your ancestor’s regiment served in Salonika, for example, you could check the regimental museum’s website for any content relating to this chapter. The Lancashire Infantry Museum, to take just one example ( lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/ mesopotamia-1916-1918), has a section on the 2nd Loyals in East Africa and Mesopotamia. To find others, try the Army Museums Ogilby Trust at armymuseums.org.uk.
Finally, if you’re looking into the Royal Navy you can’t beat Naval- History. net, which has vast amounts of useful information on campaigns and battles, including an illustrated example from Mesopotamia navalhistory.net/ WW1Battle 1408Mesopotamia.htm.