Military Research
Contents
While military records are increasingly being made available online and some have been filmed by the LDS, the major repository for the majority of records remains the National Archives (TNA) (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk). Their research guides provide an overview of the availability of records for all services. Books, websites and museums can provide more detail. The following describes the main sources for research but is not exhaustive.
Army Research
1921 to present. For service records see www.veterans-uk for procedure and cost. War Diaries for World War 2 are available at the National Archives. Recommendations for Honours and Awards for 1935-1990 are available on the Documents Online website (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline). The Ancestry website (www.ancestry.co.uk) has the Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945. Prisoner of War records for WW1 and 2 are available at TNA, with incomplete lists being held by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. Some P.O.W. records are held on the Ancestry website.
1914-1918 World War One
Service records for other ranks (non officers) are gradually being made available on the Ancestry website (www.ancestry.co.uk) although a significant number were destroyed. Medal cards are available on both the Documents 0nline and Ancestry websites. Medal Rolls, only available at the National Archives should provide a man’s battalion. Service records for Officers are available at TNA and are name searchable on their online catalogue (refs WO339 and WO374). Again, not all survive. The Army List will provide an outline of an Officer’s career.
War Diaries for this period are available at TNA, with some online at the Documents Online website. Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) service records can be seen at Documents Online. Deaths during both World Wars for all services can be found on the Commonwealth War Graves website (www.cwgc.org) and, for the Army, in Soldiers Died in the Great War, available on CD ROM, at some libraries and on the Find my Past website (www.findmypast.com) and Ancestry websites. Both the Ancestry and Find my Past websites have the National Roll of the Great War.
The Long Long Trail website (www.1914-1918.net) is an excellent resource for WW1.
Before 1914
Surviving discharge papers for other ranks are held at TNA (ref WO97) and those discharged to pension up to 1854 are name indexed on the National Archives online catalogue. There is a 3-year project of digitisation for these records. For discharge papers from 1855-1882 it is essential to have some details on a man’s regiment which might be found on the census or on certificates.
Other records available at TNA include Muster Rolls, Medal Records and Pension records. For officers of this period, records can be found at TNA in references WO 25 and WO76. An outline of an officer’s career can be obtained from the Army List.
Muster rolls and service records for the Militia and Volunteers may be found at TNA and Local Record Offices. For all periods of Army service, other useful sources include the Gazette (www.gazettes-online.co.uk) searchable online, for announcements of promotions and awards of certain medals and Regimental Museums, for an overview of the campaigns the regiment was involved in, but not usually for personal records. The Findmypast website has indexes to Regimental births, marriages and deaths, although these are incomplete.
1928-1971
For service records (with limited information), see www.veterans-uk for procedure and cost.
Before 1928
Service records are held at TNA and are increasingly being made available online. Registers of seamen’s services for ratings joining between 1873 and 1923 are available on the Documents Online website. Some Continuous Service Engagement books for those ratings enlisting between 1853 and 1872 are also available on this site, along with Royal Naval Officers’ Service records 1756-1917 and Wills of Royal Naval Seamen 1786-1882.
The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) records are held at TNA and service records for World War 1 are available at the Documents Online website.
Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) records are held at TNA. Service records for officers are available from 1862-1920 and for ratings, for 1860-1913 and for the First World War.
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) and Royal Naval Division records are also at TNA. World War One service records for the RND are available on the Documents Online website and Ancestry and Findmypast have Casualties of the Great War. Some RND records are held at the Fleet Air Arm Museum.
TNA holds an immense amount of material on the Royal Navy, but it can be difficult to search. Useful records for all periods include Musters in various ADM series, Certificates of Service in ADM 29, Medal records in ADM 171, Ships Logs in ADM 53 and pension records in various series of the ADM reference. For officers, the Navy List can provide an outline of a man’s career and the London Gazette details of medals and promotions.
Other useful repositories for Royal Navy research are Lloyds of London records, held at the Guildhall Library, including Lloyds Register which gives detailed information on each ship, Lloyds List, recording ships’ arrivals and departures and ships’ losses and enquiries, and Lloyds Captains Registers, listing the holders of masters certificates, along with personal and service details.
The Royal Naval Museum holds a wide variety of relevant material, as does the National Maritime Museum.
Royal Marines
Royal Marines service records for those enlisting 1842-1936 are available on the Documents Online website.
Records for Merchant Seamen for 1835-1972 are available at TNA, and there is a 3-year project to digitise the earlier records. Crew lists, musters and Ships Logs are also held at TNA.
Medals to Merchant Seamen in WW2 and Merchant Shipping Movement Cards for WW2 are on the Documents 0nline website.
Other records may be found at the Guildhall Library, the National Maritime Museum, Southampton Archives, some local Record Offices and the Maritime History Archive in Newfoundland. Medal records for World War 2 are available at the Documents Online site.
Royal Air Force
The RAF was formed in 1918 by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS).
Post WW1 (see TNA Research Guide for exact details) For service records see www.veterans-uk for procedure and cost. Operational records Books are available at the National Archives. World War 2 Combat Reports 1939-1945 are available on the Documents Online website.
World War One
Service records for RFC and RNAS officers are at TNA and service records for officers who ended their service before 1920 are in AIR 76. The RAF List will provide an outline of an officer’s career. Service records for airmen are gradually being made available online at the Ancestry website. Medal records are online at both the Ancestry and Documents Online websites, and Operational Records are held at TNA. Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificates for 1910-1950 are available on the Ancestry website and Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) service records can be found on the Documents Online website.
Indian Army
Records are held at the British Library and the FIBIS website (www.fibis.org) holds some relevant data.
Annswabey October 2009
