Filed under Army Regiments and Corps: A Method Guide
What to check first in this record
Amalgamation changes names, numbers and sometimes cap badges, but the dated trail continues through the successor unit. Follow dates and battalion numbers across the change rather than stopping at the old name.
Keep a note of every filter combination you try, including the ones that failed. A failed search is only useful if you can prove you already tried it. The question to carry into every record is small: does this name, number, unit and date belong to the person I started with, or to someone like them?
How do you work through it step by step?
Work forward through time, not backwards, unless a later record is the only one that names the earlier period. Forward is the direction records explain. A step is finished when its finding is written down with a reference, not when the record has been read. Reading without writing is not research, it is browsing.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Take the regiment or corps and the battalion from the personal file, with dates. |
| 2 | Check whether the unit was amalgamated, renumbered or converted, and over which dates. |
| 3 | Open the unit records for the posting dates only, and note their references. |
| 4 | Use regimental museums and published histories only after the unit record for those dates has been read. |
Reading what the record actually says
A name entered in a different hand, or in different ink, may have been added later, for a later purpose. Ask when an entry was made, not only what it says. The absence of an entry where the form expects one is worth noting. A blank column can mean not applicable, not recorded, or not surviving, and each means something different. A term that appears only once in a file deserves more care, not less: a single unusual entry is often the clue that explains a transfer or a change of role.
Dead ends to expect here
If a family paper and an official record cannot both be right, keep both, date both, and look for a third record. A third record breaks ties that argument cannot. A record that is closed, a record that is withheld in part, and a record that is lost are different outcomes with different remedies. The holder reply says which. Where a record set is arranged by unit rather than by surname, a surname search alone will miss it. Mirror the catalogue structure, and the record set opens up.
Where to go next from here
If a related guide looks irrelevant, read its first paragraph before dismissing it. Irrelevance is often a misjudged title, not a misplaced guide. Let the question this record raised choose the next record. A record opened out of curiosity, rather than out of a question, rarely advances a timeline. Research done slowly, with references, outlasts research done quickly, with enthusiasm. Choose the slower kind.
Primary sources for this guide
Claims in this guide are kept general and point to official holders, so you can check the current position with the holder itself. This guide is general educational information only. It is not personal professional advice, it does not offer a record lookup service, and it does not determine any individual's service.