Do you use computers at all? Liverpool libraries have free access to both Ancestry and Find My Past. Find My Past has a collection called the 1939 Register which is very useful for beginners with parents and grandparents living at this time in England and Wales. For example birth dates are included. Always buy any English certificates from the GRO not via any third parties who charge extra. Unfortunately there are no short cuts to be accurate you need to go back person by person with proof of relationships for each one.