How to look for records of... British Army soldiers in service after 1918

To uncover details of a soldier’s service you should begin by searching for the following three types of records:

• Service records: Usually the most detailed record of a soldier’s time in the army. These records are still held by the Ministry of Defence (see below).
• Medal and honours records: Most soldiers were issued with campaign medals awarded for service during conflict, details of campaign medals are with the Medal Office. Some soldiers were also awarded medals for acts of gallantry and meritorious service (see below).
• Unit war diaries: You will need to know which unit, often a battalion, a soldier served with to effectively search these records; in most diaries only officers are mentioned by name.

Whether other records survive or ever existed for a soldier depend upon a number of variable factors. If, for example, a soldier was wounded or received an army pension, records may survive recording these facts.

Many of the records covered in this guide contain a lot of military abbreviations and acronyms and can be hard to decipher as a result. Many of these terms are not commonly understood but there are some resources available online and at our library in Kew that can help you to interpret them.

This official list of MOD Acronyms and Abbreviations published on the GOV.UK site contains thousands of terms in current use and many have not changed since the Second World War. The Government of Canada also publishes a list of military abbreviations used in service files, many of which are applicable to British records.

Though not affiliated with The National Archives, the independent Researching the Lives and Records of WW2 Soldiers website also contains a very useful list of Second World War abbreviations and acronyms.

The following books are available at our library in Kew:

• A Dictionary of Military and Technological Abbreviations and Acronyms by Bernhard Pretz
• Royal Artillery: Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations (Historical and Modern) by Philip Jobson

Currently, service records from this period are only available in their original paper form and only a few types of records revealing anything about an individual’s service are available online.

Recommendations for military honours and awards, 1935–1990

Search the recommendations for military honours and awards (£) (WO 373) for personnel of the British Army and dominions’ armies.

Announcements of the award of gallantry medals and honours

Search the London Gazette on The Gazette website for the official announcements of British Army soldiers’ gallantry awards.

British Army casualty lists, 1939–1945

Search the daily British Army casualty lists (WO 417) on Findmypast.co.uk (£). These cover British Army officers, other ranks and nurses. They state the individuals’ rank, service number, date of becoming a casualty and type of casualty. It sometimes gives the unit/battalion number – you can use this to locate a unit war diary.

The term ‘casualty’ covers anyone in the British Army who was killed, wounded, missing, or was a prisoner of war.

The following records have been transferred to The National Archives as part of the Ministry of Defence service records project (click on the series links below to search for a record in our catalogue, you may need to search in more than one series, or see the foot of this section for advice on requesting records not yet findable in the catalogue):

Other ranks service records, 1921-1939

These are service records of other ranks discharged from the infantry of the British Army between 1921 and 1939. The majority are for individuals who served during the First World War and who opted to continue their service beyond 1921, but also include those who joined after the war and were discharged before the outbreak of the Second World War. They do not yet include records from the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Cavalry, or Guards Regiments.

These records are not currently available to search on the catalogue, but can be requested by filling in one of the forms available at the foot of this section (charges may apply).

Infantry other ranks and over-age service records, 1939-1963

These are service records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks (but not officers) who primarily served in infantry regiments of the British Army during the Second World War and who were discharged from service because they had reached the upper age limit before the end of their enlistment period or for other reasons were discharged before 1963. It also contains the records of some individuals who served in the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and Nurses, as well as some records relating to service prior to the Second World War (see catalogue descriptions for further details).

Search WO 422 and WO 423 by surname, service number and date of birth for the available records.

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, other ranks

These are service records of other ranks who served in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) during the Second World War, and who were discharged from service because they had reached the upper age limit before the end of their enlistment period.

The REME was established in October 1942, and was responsible for the maintenance and repair of military equipment. It consisted of skilled tradesmen, many of whom had initially transferred from other units.

Search WO 420 by surname, service number, and date of birth.

Selected smaller corps, other ranks

These are service records of personnel from 12 different smaller units/corps who were discharged from service because they had reached the upper age limit before the end of their enlistment period. The records were originally held at the Bournemouth Combined Manning Record Office.

Search WO 421 by surname, service number, and date of birth and click on the same link for more details about the specific units/corps.

Women’s services in East Africa: nurses and other ranks

This collection consists of a selection of service records for those who served in women’s units in East Africa during the Second World War. They include those who served in the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS); East African Military Nursing Service (EAMNS); Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS); Women’s Territorial Service (WTS); and First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY).

Search WO 427 surname, service number, and date of birth for the available records.

French Tchad

This collection consists of the service records of individuals of Chadian origin who had originally served as part of the Third Fighting French battalion of de Marche, part of Free French forces in Africa during the Second World War. The individuals included in this collection had deserted the Free French and were eventually integrated as a Pioneer Company in the British Army.

Search WO 426 by surname, service number and date of birth for the available records.

How to request records that you cannot find in our catalogue

As they have only very recently been transferred, many of the above records are currently unfindable in our catalogue. If you believe that a service record you are looking for is contained within one of the above collections, and you have been unable to find the record in our catalogue in the series listed, you can make a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for access to this information using one of the below forms (charges may apply):

Request your own Ministry of Defence personnel record or on behalf of a living data subject

Request a FOI paid search of Ministry of Defence personnel records where the individual is presumed deceased

Request closed Ministry of Defence personnel records where the individual is presumed living

To access these records you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£) or, where you can identify a specific record reference, order a copy (£).

Second World War unit war diaries

Read the advice in our guide to records of British Army operations in the Second World War on unit war diaries. All units, from battalions and brigades to divisions and whole armies, maintained a daily record of events during the war.

Service records, 1920–present

Visit the GOV.UK website for information about how to request a summary of a service record not already transferred to The National Archives from the Ministry of Defence (MOD). These are available to next of kin and members of the general public on request to the MOD, provided the subject is no longer living. An administrative fee applies.

Service records of Guards regiments

The Coldstream Guards and Scots Guards regiments retain their own records. To access them write to or call the appropriate regimental headquarters.

For Grenadier, Irish and Welsh Guards service records visit the GOV.UK website.

Some of these records were destroyed by enemy bombing of the Guards chapel during the Second World War.

Various registers for the Grenadier Guards, including discharge registers, registers of deserters, attestation forms, and enlistment registers from the middle of the 18^th century onwards can be found in WO 437.

Campaign medal records for Second World War and campaigns since 1945

Contact the Ministry of Defence Medal Office for records of Second World War and post-Second World War campaign medals. There are also details of how to apply for a medal if you meet the criteria.

Soldiers’ effects ledgers, 1901–1960

Search the soldiers’ effects ledgers (£) covering April 1901 to March 1960 (from The National Army Museum) by name or regiment on Ancestry.co.uk. These list monies owed to a soldier who died in service.

You may be able to purchase a transcript from the ledgers which usually show

• full name
• regimental number
• date, and sometimes place, of death
• next of kin and monies paid to them

Ledgers from 1901 to 1914 also show the soldier’s trade and date of enlistment.

Absent Voters Lists, 1918–1925 and 1939

Search for a soldier by name in the Absent Voters Lists, taken from electoral registers held at the British Library, on Ancestry.co.uk (£) and Findmypast.co.uk (£).

The Absent Voter Lists enabled servicemen and women away from home to vote by proxy or by postal application. They record the address, service number and regimental details of each person.

Books

The following book, available in The National Archives’ reference library, is one of the most detailed reference books for Second World War records held at the The National Archives, formerly known as the Public Record Office. You can also search our shop for a wide range of history titles.

John Dennis Cantwell, The Second World War: A Guide to Documents in the Public Record Office (Public Record Office, 1998)