🎄 Merry Christmas from everyone at Forces War Records.

🎉 Wishing you a Happy New Year and all the best for 2025. Thank you to everyone in our fantastic community for getting involved in the Q&As, sharing stories of military family members and helping us keep their stories and memories alive. Let's do it all again in 2025.

Back to it and looking forward to 2025.

This month we'll be taking a closer look at researching casualties. Stay tuned for posts throughout the month, but to begin with, we've written a guide highlighting a selection of our casualty records and what they can reveal about your military ancestors: fwr.social/casualtyrecords

85 years ago, food rationing was introduced in Britain during WWII. Bacon, butter, and sugar were the first items to go 'on the ration', later followed by tea and other staples. The photo shows a weekly ration in May 1941. ©Mirrorpix.

Today, in 1964, Winston Churchill died at his home in London. Our Military Genealogist, Simon Pearce, wrote a blog for our sister site, Newspapers.com, exploring key moments in Churchill's life (and some little-known ones) that made the papers: nwspprs.com/churchill

📷 29 October 1898: Queen Victoria presents Colours to the 2nd Battalion Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders at Balmoral.

A gem from the archives - a named group photo, a dream for military family historians: 📷 2 Company, 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards. Eastbourne, 11 May 1863. ©Hulton Archive/Getty Images

When community member Victoria shared a soldier's love letters with us, we were intrigued by the writer's identity. However, the letters have us stumped, and we're opening them up to our community for suggestions. Do you recognise the author? fwr.social/soldierletters

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. 📷 A Valentine tank rousing the curiosity of members of the Home Guard in Cardiff in September 1941.

125 years ago, the Siege of Ladysmith, one of the most famous moments during the Second Boer War, finally ended. Did your ancestors serve during the war? Discover their medal entitlement and other valuable clues in our Second Boer War medal rolls: fwr.social/boerwarmedals

Nurses played a vital role during WWI and WWII, both on the home front and overseas. Perhaps you have a nurse in your family tree. Our guide can help you learn more about their wartime service: fwr.social/researchingnur…

📷 Soldiers of the Royal Artillery find novel billets in a fallen water tower in Riencourt, near Bapaume, France, in January 1918. ©Defence Visual Information Centre, US If your ancestor served during WWI, our blog could help you make discoveries: fwr.social/wwiservicerect…

📷 WWII, infantry training

☕ It's National Tea Day, and there's nothing quite like a cup of tea to warm the soul. 📷 Soldiers brought into Coventry to help with the clear-up following a heavy German air raid on 14 November 1940, seen here taking a well-earned tea break.

The 8th of May 1945 was VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day. It was a public holiday in Britain, as the nation came together to celebrate the end of WWII in Europe.

📷 Tea break for an RAF maintenance crew servicing Hawker Typhoon aircraft during WWII. Note the name 'Ritz Hotel' above the door of their hut. © Mirrorpix

Today in 1944, Operation Overlord was underway. D-Day was a huge, ambitious operation, seeing over 156,000 Allied troops land in Normandy, either by air or on the beaches. The invasions marked a significant turning point in WWII. 📷© Mirrorpix

Happy Father's Day, everyone. 📷 Repatriated father of five, Corporal Frederick Phillips, aged 41, returns home to Hele, Torquay, in June 1944, on the third anniversary of his capture in Crete during WWII. His family and local villagers turned out to welcome him home. ©Mirrorpix

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. Discover the remarkable story of Fred Simpson, who was a prisoner of war during WWII and the Korean War: fwr.social/fspow