Red Cross digitises files on missing and captured first world war soldiers

From Charles de Gaulle to the teenage son of Rudyard Kipling, and forgotten names from across the globe, the story of the millions captured or missing in the first world war is now laid bare with a mouse click.

Marking the centenary of the 1914-1918 war, the Red Cross has digitised its files documenting the fate of two million prisoners.

"It took us three years to restore the index cards, and another three to digitise them," said David-Pierre Marquet, archivist at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Based in Switzerland - which funded the US$4.3 million digitisation - the ICRC created a special tracing division just two weeks after the war broke out. Hundreds of volunteers matched family inquiries passed on by local Red Cross branches with lists of POWs.

"The ICRC would be able to reply that 'Your father's alive, he's in this particular camp' and they could send a Red Cross message to re-establish family ties," Marquet said.

The ICRC continues to play that role in the age of Skype.