World War II

World War II, or the Second World War (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was a global military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, which involved most of the world's nations, including all of the great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilized. In a state of "total war," the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant action against civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it was the deadliest conflict in human history, that resulted in 50 million to over 70 million fatalities.

The war is generally accepted to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth. In December 1941, Japan, which had already been at war with China since 1937, and which aimed to establish a dominance over East Asia and Southeast Asia, attacked the United States and European possessions in the Pacific Ocean, quickly conquering a significant part of the region.  See Wikipedia

1939-1845 (US entered 1941)

• Requesting Military Records

Causality Lists

• World War II Casualties - By State and County, Army, Army Air Corps, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard.

• Pearl Harbor Casualty List

• American WWII Orphans Network (hosted at AWON)

  • Fathers Page

• Military Heritage Database (hosted at 8th Air Force)

• Staff and Command List, Marine Corps Units, Battle of Midway (hosted at HyperWar)

• World War II Corpsman Memorial (Corpsman.com)

• Merchant Marine Casualties, World War II (hosted at Merchant Marine at War)

  • A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

• American Battle Monuments Commission

  • Database Search

Cemeteries

• US Military National Cemeteries

• Burial Search

• US Military State Cemeteries

Prisoners of War

• Prisoner of War Data File, 1941-1946 (hosted at National Archives)
• World War II POW's held in Japanese Camps (hosted at American Ex-Prisoners of War)
• World War POW's held in German Camps (hosted at American Ex-Prisoners of War)
• American POW's in Russian Archives (hosted at American Memory)
• Stalag Luft I POW's (hosted at Stalag Luft I Online)
• Prisoner of War (hosted at Wikipedia)
• Japanese POW Camps (hosted at Center for Research)
  • Japanese WWII POW Camp Fukuoka #17 - Omuta

Regiments, Rosters and History

• Signal Corps Units (hosted at CBI Order of Battle)

  • Air Transport Units

  • Combat Cargo Task Force

  • 10th AF Bomber/Fighter/Commando/Liaison Units

  • 14th AF Unit

  • 20 AF Unit

  • China-Burma-India Theater

  • Roster A-B C-D E-F-G H-I J-K L M-Mc N-O P Q-R Sa-Sh Si-Sz T UVW XYZ

• 534th Air Engineering Squadron (hosted at Ray Martin Family Web)

• 29th Division Rosters (hosted at 29th Infantry Division Historical Society)

• 284th Port Company Roster (hosted at Longshore Soldiers)

• USS Lexington CV-16 Roster - Crew (hosted at USS Lexington CV-16)

  • Officers

• 376th Bomb Group (hosted at VRB Webs.com)

• World War II Database (Read links on right for more Information)

  • Gilbert Island Campaign

  • Marshall Island Campaign

  • Mariana Island Campaign

  • Battle of Iwo Jima

  • Okinawa Campaign

• Naval History and Heritage Command

  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

  • Indians in the War (full length book)

  • Navajo Code Talkers

    • Code Talkers' Dictionary

  • African Americans and US Navy

Records for World War II

Alabama

• Alabama Military Records (hosted at Alabama Department of Archives and History)

• Alabama World War II Army Airfields (hosted at Wikipedia)

• African Americans in World War II (hosted at Least We Forget)

• Diary of Willard Lee Hogan (hosted at Hueytown Historical Society)

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

Alaska

• Military Records - Bottom of page for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

Arizona

• USS Bosque, Roster (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

Arkansas

• USS Bosque, Roster (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

California

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

Colorado

• Colorado Veterans' Grave Registrations 1862-1949 (hosted at Colorado State Archives)

Delaware

• Military Records - click county for Draft Registration (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

Florida

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

Georgia

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• Army Men who served, Grady County (hosted at Honoring Veterans of Grady County, World War II)

• Navy Men who served Grady County

• Army Men Air Force who served Grady County 

Hawaii

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

Illinois

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• World War II Veterans Memorial

Indiana

• World War II Servicemen Database (hosted at Indiana State Library)

• Camp Atterbury Photo Collection

• Ernie Pyle (hosted at Indiana University)

• Indiana Military Organization (hosted by Indiana AMVETS)

• Indiana Army Ammunition Plant and World War II

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

Iowa

• Prisoner of War Camps (hosted at Iowa Digital Library)

• Dogs and Animals

• Iowa War Stories (hosted at Iowa Public Television)

• Iowa National Guard

  • 34th Infantry Division

  • 113th Cavalry Group

  • 124th Observation Squadron

Kansas

• World War II Kansas Veterans Index (hosted at Kansas State Historical Society)

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

Louisiana

• Medal of Honor Recipients (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• 103 Infantry Division

• Claiborne Parish Veterans

Maine

• Military Records - Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• US Entry into the Second World War

• World War II Enlistment Records (hosted at MaineGenealogy)

Maryland

• Maryland Veterans of World War II (hosted at Maryland Historical Society)

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• World War II in Maryland (hosted at Enoch Pratt Free Library)

• US Naval Activities, Maryland (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Massachusetts

• Harvard men who died in World War II (hosted at The Memorial Church, Harvard University)

• US Naval Activities, Massachusetts (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Michigan

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• US Naval Activities, Michigan (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

• Michigan National Guard (hosted at Department of Military and Veterans Affairs)

• Michigan Voices (hosted at WKAR)

• Mildred A. MacGregor, Front Line Nurse (hosted at University of Mighigan)

Minnesota

• US Naval Activities, Minnesota (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

• Women and the Home Front during World War II (hosted at Minnesota Historical Society)

• German Prisoner of War Camp (hosted at Minnesota American Legion)

Mississippi

• US Naval Activities, Mississippi (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

Missouri

• St. Louis in World War II Casualties (hosted at Missouri History Museum)

• US Naval Activities, Minnesota (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Montana

• US Naval Activities, Montana (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)  

Nebraska

• US Naval Activities, Nebraska (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)  

• WASP Shares her Pioneering Story (hosted at KSMU, Ozarks Public Radio)

New Mexico

• World War II from New Mexican Perspective (hosted at Albuquerque City)

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• US Naval Activities, New Mexico (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)  

New York

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• US Naval Activities, New York (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

• World War II in New York (hosted at Library Journal)

• New York Guard in World War II (hosted at New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs)

• New York Shipbuilding (hosted at Destroyer History Foundation)

North Carolina

• Bertie County Soldiers (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• Newspaper Clippings (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• US Naval Activities, North Carolina (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

• The Way we Lived - Map (hosted at The Way we lived in North Carolina)

• Northwest North Carolina Deaths (hosted at New River Notes)

North Dakota

• US Naval Activities, North Dakota (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

• America's Prison Camps

Ohio

• Cleveland Servicemen's Photographs, 1940-1955 (hosted at Western Reserve Historical Society)

• US Naval Activities, Ohio (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Oklahoma

• Oklahoma World War Stories (hosted at Oeta, Oklahoman, Newsok)

• Japan Surrender Documents (hosted at University of Oklahoma)

• US Naval Activities, Oklahoma (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II) 

Oregon

• Oregon History World War II (hosted at Oregon Blue Book)

• US Naval Activities, Oregon (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

• Air Raid of Oregon was a Real Bomb (hosted at Out West)

• World War II Photos (hosted at Salem Online History)

Pennsylvania

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• Pennsylvania World War II Army Airfields (hosted at Wikipedia)

• War and Conflict (hosted at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh)

• US Naval Activities, Pennsylvania (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Rhode Island

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• Oral History of Women, World War II (hosted at What did you do in the War Grandma)

• US Naval Activities, Rhode Island (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Tennessee

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• Northeast Tennessee Deaths (hosted at New River Notes)

• Tennessee Naval Personnel Biographies (hosted at Tennessee Government)

• Women in World War II (hosted at Humanities Tennessee)

• US Naval Activities, Tennessee (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Texas

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• Texas in World War II (hosted at Texas Historical Commission)

• Installations, Relics, Memorials and Cemeteries (hosted at TexasEscapes)

• Texas Internment Camp (hosted at Freedom of Information Times)

• US Naval Activities, Texas (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Utah

• World War II in Utah (hosted at Utah History to Go)

• Japanese-American Internment Camps (hosted at J. Willard Marriott Library)

• US Naval Activities, Utah (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Vermont

• Vermont World War II Stories (hosted at PBS)

• US Naval Activities, Utah (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

• Museum of Black World War History

Virginia

• Virginia Fights World War Two (hosted at VA History)

• Virginia World War II Separation Notices (hosted at Library of Virginia)

• US Naval Activities, Virginia (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II) 

Washington

• Washington State Roll of Honor, Merchant Marines (hosted at History Link)

• US Naval Activities, Washington (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II) 

Wisconsin

• World War II Bibliography (hosted at Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs)

• World War II (hosted at Wisconsin Historical Society)

• Military Records - click county for Enlistments (hosted at USGenWeb Archives)

• US Naval Activities, Wisconsin (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Wyoming

• US Naval Activities, Wyoming (hosted at US Naval Activities World War II)

Military Subscription Databases

• Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II
• U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939-1945
• U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
• U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
• U.S. WWII Military Personnel Missing In Action or Lost At Sea, 1941-1946
• World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas
• World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945
• World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946
• World War II Young American Patriots, 1941-1945
• WWI, WWII, and Korean War Casualty Listings
• WWII U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Muster Rolls, 1939-1949
• WWII United News Newsreels, 1942-1946
• WWII United News Newsreels, 1942-1946 (Free) - Free Index

Suggested Reading

Longshore Soldiers: Life in a World War II Port Battalion - Through firsthand accounts, historical photographs, and original maps, Longshore Soldiers recounts the wartime experiences of Cortland Hopkins and ten other port battalion veterans. As part of the US Army's Transportation Corps, they were responsible for ensuring that thousands of tons of military supplies were packed, unloaded, and delivered to the front lines.

Finding Your Father's War - Leading military historian and researcher, Jonathan Gawne explains and shares the techniques he uses to research archives, libraries, veteran associations and myriad other sources of information to track down the wartime career of an individual. The author describes this as "What I did, and what you can do to find out what 'he' did in the army."

How to Locate Anyone Who is or has been in the Military
Now in its eighth edition, How to Locate Anyone Who Is or Has Been in the Military, collaboratively written by Lt. Col. Richard S. Johnson and Debra Johnson Knox, is a direct, easy-to-use, "reader friendly", how-to-guide packed with tips, tricks, and techniques for finding anyone with an American military connection, whether they are active duty, reserve, or retired. From steps anyone can take to verify claims of a military background, to locating veterans for a reunion, How to Locate Anyone Who Is or Has Ben in the Military is packed with practical, useable information, directories, Internet sources, and much, much more. To put it simply but accurately, How to Locate Anyone Who Is or Has Ben in the Military is an excellent and useful resource

Veteran's Survival Guide: - The author, a former claims adjudication specialist for the Veteran's Administration (VA), assembles the information veterans and their dependents need to file a claim for their federal benefits. According to Roche, the process is slow and complicated, and the VA is not helpful to those pursuing their rights.