Starting here, in order
Begin with the filters the catalogue itself uses, because a search that fights the catalogue structure will return noise however carefully it is worded. Do not let the first record you find set the shape of the research. The first record is a starting point, and starting points are often unrepresentative.
- Start with the person: name, number, service, dates.
- Settle the unit or ship from the record, where it allows that.
- Read the record for those dates, and note its reference as you go.
- Let only dated, sourced facts into the timeline.
The organisation behind these records
Keep the original terms in your transcription and put your interpretation in a separate column. A transcription that already contains conclusions cannot be checked by anyone else. What a record omits can be as informative as what it includes, but only if you know what that kind of record usually includes. Learn the form before you judge the gap.
When is a match safe to use?
If two records give the same person different numbers, do not pick one and discard the other. Numbers change on transfer, on re-enlistment, and on reorganisation. A record set that covers only part of a period will always look like a gap at the edges. Check the coverage dates before you conclude anything is missing.
What does this section cover?
A war diary is a unit diary, not a personal diary. It records what a battalion, battery or comparable unit did day by day, and it becomes useful for a person only when you can place that person in that unit on those dates, which is a service record job first. This section is organised as one pillar guide plus supporting guides that each answer one question about the same record type. Read the pillar first for the shape of the records, then follow the supporting guides for the detail that matches your case.
Holding for this section sits principally with The National Archives. Transfer and digitisation programmes move holdings over time, so the holder current guidance is the place to check the exact position.
Going further in this section
If the next step is unclear, return to the timeline and find its weakest link. The weakest dated entry, not the most interesting gap, is what to strengthen next. The cluster around this guide is a chain, not a shelf. Reading it in chain order, following the links at the foot of each page, keeps the person in view. End the session with the timeline as it stands, references included, and the next step named. That is how research survives a break.
Primary sources for this guide
Everything here is kept general and tied to official holders, so check the current position with the holder for your own case. The guide is educational information only: it is not personal professional advice, it is not a lookup service, and it settles nothing about any one person's service.