SSAFA, the only military charity working on the Homefront across the UK at the start of World War One and still operational locally through its Devonshire Branch today, has helped to bring local history to life with its online records from 1914.

The digitalised records reveal SSAFA's extraordinary achieve-ment, mobilising some 50,000 volunteers across the UK and Empire and assisting more than one million people in 1914 alone.

Every town is listed with the number of people helped, the types of cases and the organisations and individual benefactors.

In 1914, the SSAFA Devonshire Branch alone assisted 3,936 wives, 9363 children and 1,478 other relatives giving £6,630 in aid. This compares with a total of 398 cases and visits for SSAFA last year throughout the county.

People from around the country have been taking advantage of this free and easy resource, which instantly transports users back in time and helps them to learn about the impact of WWI on the Homefront and the hardships it imposed on the wives and children of soldiers who went off to war.

Third year History student, Emma Wray, has been using the online records to assist with her studies and said: 'The online system has proved an invaluable resource for my research into the Homefront during World War One.

'It was fascinating to gain understanding of how volunteers were mobilised to help those in need and what kind of support was being called for. The SSAFA online records not only provide facts and figures but also a crucial insight into life at times of war.'

Lydia Horstman, SSAFA's Digital Communication Manager said: 'This resource has taken these unique reports out of the archive and made them accessible to new audiences, including local historians and WWI experts.

'By digitising the SSAFA 1914 Flag Book, people can also explore the reports in a new way. Before it took a long time to search the index, now it's simple to search for information about a local place, a family member or notable people who were connected to SSAFA at the time.

'We wanted to get people talking about the Flag Book so we've made sure that every page can be shared on social media or by email. It's been great to see all the tweets and posts about what people have found in our reports.'

David Murray, SSAFA Chief Executive, said: 'SSAFA played a tremendously influential role at a local and national level during WWI promoting the cause of rights for service families.

'These records would be of interest to anyone seeking to understand the Homefront and social issues during this period.  Local historians can find out how families in their community were supported. 

'Access to the names of the committee members and donors will certainly be of use to those investigating local families.'

 The records are held on an online searchable database at http://www.ssafa.org.uk/ww1">www.ssafa.org.uk/ww1 and are free to access.