Filed under MOD Records for Deceased Persons: A Method Guide
What should you look for first?
If the holder does not hold the record, it may have transferred to The National Archives, it may sit with another service, or the identifying details may need correction. Check the transfer position and the details before repeating a request.
What you do not know matters as much as what you know, because a search built on an assumed date or an assumed unit will miss the right record. A record that names the right person in the wrong unit, or the right unit on the wrong dates, is a lead, not a match.
Dead ends to expect here
A dead end shared by many researchers is usually a coverage problem, not a personal one. The research guides for that record type will often say so plainly. Do not let a single failed search end the inquiry. Note what was searched, what filters were used, and what remains untried, and the next session starts from that list.
When every avenue returns the same dead end, the dead end itself is information: it tells you where the record system stops, and that boundary is worth noting. If a name appears with different initials in different records, treat initials as a filter to test, not as proof of two people or of one.
The order to work in
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. Before each step, ask what it would prove and what it would disprove. A step with no test value is a detour, however interesting it looks. Do not let a tool, a website, or an index set the order of your work. Tools serve steps; steps do not serve tools. Do not let the last step become a conclusion. Each step answers a question; the timeline as a whole is what earns a conclusion, and only when its links are referenced.
- Fix the service, the dates, and the branch of service from what you already know.
- Check the holder current guidance for proof of death and next of kin requirements for your case.
- Prepare the identifying details the holder asks for, name, number, unit and dates, before making any request.
- Note what is released and what is withheld, and keep the holder reply with the record.
How do you read what you find?
Where an entry is routine, say so in your notes. Routine entries matter precisely because they are routine: they show where a person actually was, not where a story puts them. 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.
When two sheets give different dates for the same event, note both, check which sheet was written first, and let the earlier sheet carry the timeline, with a note of the disagreement. A single sheet can contain several dates: the date of the event, the date of writing, and the date of filing. Keep them separate in your notes.
The next record in the chain
If this guide answered the question you brought to it, the next guide should start from a new question, not from the momentum of this one. The next record in the chain is usually the one for the same dates in a different record set, not the next date in the same record set. A short timeline built from records beats a long story built from guesses.
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.