Ancestry UK marks VE Day with free access weekend

In partnership with the UK Government, Ancestry UK is offering free access to a large collection of WW2 records to tie in with the UK's commemorations for VE Day 2020. The 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, which marked the end of the war in Europe, will be this Friday, 8 May, which is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and Britain.

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The aim is to encourage the public to join together in the commemoration from the safety of their homes, by uncovering their own family's personal stories and connection to the Second World War.

The collections included in the free access offer include the 1939 Register of England and Wales, medal cards, army lists, casualties lists, absent voters rolls, and much more.

Free access to these featured record-sets will run until 11:59pm GMT on Sunday 10 May, and you'll need to register. If you don't already have a registered account with Ancestry UK, it's easy and free to set one up with just your name and email address. Ancestry then send you a username and password to access the records.

In addition to searching Ancestry's records, you'll find veteran stories, a challenge from well-known tv historian Dan Snow, and full details of tv and radio broadcasts throughout the day on the Gov.UK site.

You can even download templates to create your own bunting or personalise some posters, or print off war time recipes for lemon traybake and flapjacks.