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.
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.
- Ancestry: UK Military Resources - subscription required
- Garrison Church Registers held in The National Archives
- Find a soldier's will: The wills of soldiers who died while serving in the British armed forces 1850-1986. £
British Army ResearchDocumentsOnline ~ Army
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Source: Wikimedia Commons |
For all periods of Army service, other useful sources include the London Gazette which is 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.
1914-1918
Service records for other ranks (non officers) are gradually being made available on the Ancestry website although a significant number were destroyed.Medal cards are available on both the DocumentsOnline and Ancestry websites.
Medal Rolls, only available at the National Archives should provide a man’s battalion.
Service records for Officers are available at the National Archives 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 the National Archives (£).
They are also available on Ancestry (£)
- UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920
- UK, WWI War Diaries (Gallipoli and Dardanelles), 1914-1916
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) service records can be seen at DocumentsOnline.
1921 to present
For service records see 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 DocumentsOnline website.
The Ancestry website has the Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945.
Prisoner of War records for WW1 and 2 are available at the National Archives, 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.
Deaths during both World Wars for all services can be found on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and, for the Army, in Soldiers Died in the Great War, available on CD ROM, at some libraries and on the Findmypast and Ancestry websites.
Both the Ancestry and Findmypast websites have the National Roll of the Great War.
The Long Long Trail website is an excellent resource for WW1.
Royal Navy Research
DocumentsOnline ~ Royal Navy
Research Guide ~ Royal Navy
FTF Guide: The Royal Navy
Before 1928
Service records are held at the National Archives and are increasingly being made available online. Registers of seamen’s services for ratings joining between 1873 and 1923 are available on the DocumentsOnline 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 the National Archives and service records for World War 1 are available at the DocumentsOnline website.
Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) records are held at the National Archives. 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 (RND) records are also at the National Archives. World War One service records for the RND are available on the DocumentsOnline website and Ancestry and Findmypast have Casualties of the Great War. Some RND records are held at the Fleet Air Arm Museum.
The National Archives 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.
1928-1971
For service records (with limited information), see Veterans-UK for procedure and cost.Royal Marines
Royal Marines service records for those enlisting 1842-1936 are available on the DocumentsOnline website.
Merchant Navy Research
Research Guide ~ Merchant Navy
FTF Guide: Maritime History
Records for Merchant Seamen for 1835-1972 are available at the National Archives, and there is a 3-year project to digitise the earlier records. Crew lists, musters and Ships Logs are also held at the National Archives.
Medals to Merchant Seamen in WW2 and Merchant Shipping Movement Cards for WW2 are on the DocumentsOnline 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 DocumentsOnline site.
Royal Air Force Research
DocumentsOnline ~ Royal Air Force
Research Guide ~ Royal Air Force
FTF Guide: The 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).
Service records for RFC and RNAS officers are at the National Archives 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 DocumentsOnline websites, and Operational Records are held at National Archives.
Post WW1 (see the National Archives Research Guide for exact details).
For service records see 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 DocumentsOnline website.
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 DocumentsOnline website.
Indian Army
Records are held at the British Library and the Families In British India Society website holds some relevant data.
annswabey October 2009
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