WWI British Army records online.

The service and pension records of 2.5 million soldiers who fought in the British army in World War I are now available online for the first time, thanks to an agreement between Ancestry.co.uk and the British National Archives.

The documents provide a wealth of information for genealogists and family members, including name, next of kin, service details, wounds suffered, and conduct record.

The records release by Ancenstry.co.uk, in partnership with the National Archives, will occur online in stages over the next two years. The images are available to view on a subscription or pay-per-view basis.

"These historic war office records provide a unique and rich account of the military service of millions of British soldiers, many under age, who served between 1914 and 1920," Ancestry.co.uk Managing Director Simon Harper said in a news release.

According to BBC News, all the records are already viewable on 28,000 rolls of microfilm at the National Archives in west London, but the digitization process will make them available to Internet users worldwide.

About five million soldiers from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland fought in World War I, but 60 percent of their service records were destroyed in a 1940 German bombing raid, according to the BBC. The surviving records, many badly damaged, were conserved and filmed by the National Archives.

The number of documents relating to a soldier varies according to their circumstances, but in some cases, they include everything from medical to service and death details. Some records even include soldiers' personal correspondence and diaries.