This is a brief guide to help you with your research into airmenairman - a person ranking lower than an officer in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The records are kept in different places depending on when the airman served. This guide will help you to find out if the information you are looking for exists and, if it does, where to find it.
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What do I need to know before I start?
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Try to find out:
- the airmana person ranking lower than an officer's full name and approximate dates of service
- whether he was still in service after 1 April 1918
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What records can I see online?
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First World War Medal Index Cards (1914-1922)
Search the First World War Medal Index Cards (WO 372) on our website (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) to find details of campaign medalscampaign medal - a medal awarded to a person who took part in a particular military campaign awarded to some members of the RFC and RAF (Royal Air Force). RFC airmen who served overseas in 1916 or later had their medals issued by the Air Ministry, not the War Office.
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British army military records (1914-1920)
Search the surviving service records (WO 363), pension records (WO 364) and medal index cards (WO 372) for soldiers in the British army in the First World War on the Ancestry (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) website.
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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RAF service records (1918-1928)
Look in the RAF service records for RFC airmen who served after April 1918. You can search by name of RFC airmenairman - a person ranking lower than an officer in AIR 79 in Discovery, our catalogue - a person ranking lower than an officer with service numbers from 1 to 329,000 from the First World War.
If the airman went on to see service in the Second World War, his service record will still be with the RAF.
If your search is unsuccessful and you do not know his number, use the name indexes in AIR 78.
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Campaign medal rolls (for 1914-1918 service)
Locate the campaign medala medal awarded to a person who took part in a particular military campaign roll in WO 329 for an airman who served in the First World War.
If you find an airman's medal index card in WO 372 (see above), make a note of the reference in the 'Roll' column for a particular campaign medal. Search our catalogue using this reference. If you get no results, try removing the last part of the reference and searching again.
Reference examples: RFC/101B, RFC/101B1
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To access these records you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£there will be a charge) or, where you can identify a specific record referencea unique set of letters and numbers identifying a document in The National Archives, order a copy (£there will be a charge).
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What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
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Other RFC and RAF records
Find out about the aircraft record cards, personal papers and other records kept by the Royal Air Force Museum.
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What other resources will help me find information?
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Websites
Search the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for details of men and women who died in the First and Second World Wars.
Look up an announcement of a 20th-century gallantry awardmedals awarded for heroic or exceptional service on the London Gazette website.
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Books
Read A Contemptible Little Flying Corps by I. McInnes and J. V. Webb (London Stamp Exchange, 1991) to find out about airmenairman - a person ranking lower than an officer who joined the RFC between 1912 and August 1914.
Read Air Force Records: A guide for family historians by William Spencer (The National Archives, 2008).
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Royal Flying Corps officers
Royal Naval Air Service ratings