What are the Soldiers' Wills?
The soldiers’ wills were usually found in pay books retrieved on the battlefield, or recorded on forms in Army record offices in Britain, or in the absence of a will, in letters home in which soldiers might mention their last wishes. They are generally very brief and do not mention individual possessions. They contain limited personal or service history information.
The soldiers' wills belong to a special series (SC70/8) among the records of the Edinburgh Commissary Office. After the War Office had settled the estate of a soldier who died on active service, including entitlements to pay and pension, they sent the Scottish wills to the Commissary Office in Edinburgh. Most were not recorded in the commissary registers of the Commissary Office and the sheriff courts.
What are the Airmen's Wills?
This small series (SC70/10) contains the wills of 61 RAF officers and men, including aircrew and balloon operators, 1939-1950. Several complete pay books are preserved. These are not available online yet. For more information see the National Records of Scotland's online catalogue entry on the airmen's wills.
How are the Wills Arranged?
The wills are arranged in the War Office's original batches rather than by regiment or in strict chronological order. For example, wills of soldiers who died in the Boer War may be found in SC70/8/21-22, and in a later batch, SC70/8/1288-1290. The only grouping is by the initial letter of the soldier's surname within each batch.
The original War Office lists of each batch and the covering letters are preserved in SC70/9. The letters sometimes contain additional information regarding withdrawn or untransmitted wills, but this has generally been included in the catalogue description. Other administrative papers are also to be found in SC70/9.
