Filed under RAF People, Trades and Ranks: A Method Guide
First checks before you go further
Ground trades leave the best trail where postings are stable and station records survive, because the person stays in one place long enough to appear in unit papers. Frequent moves leave a thinner trail, whatever the trade.
Do not trust a result because it is the only result. A single result with one matching filter is a lead that needs a second record, not a conclusion. Ask what the record was made for. A record made to pay, post, or commemorate a person answers different questions from a record made to tell a story.
Reading what the record actually says
Do not extract a single line and discard the page. The page, the form, and the neighbouring entries are what give a line its meaning. A word that looks familiar may have meant something narrower, or something entirely different, when the record was written. 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.
Where this kind of research usually stalls
Do not mistake a digitised index for the whole record set. An index that covers part of a series will hide entries that the full catalogue would show. If you have tried every spelling variant and every date range, the next step is not another search, it is a different record type. Let the timeline choose it.
- A trade title whose meaning changed between periods.
- Acting rank read as substantive rank.
- A remustering that looks like a different person.
- A very common trade title that narrows nothing on its own.
A step by step way through
A method that works is a slow one. Each step below earns the next, and skipping a step does not save time, it creates a check you will have to do later. The work goes better in small, dated steps than in broad sweeps. Each step below is small on purpose, and each one makes the next one possible.
- List every rank and trade entry with its date, in date order.
- Note acting rank separately from substantive rank, where the record distinguishes them.
- Check a trade title against a period glossary or museum source for that date, not against modern usage.
- Use the trade to narrow the next records, then let postings supply the detail.
Where to go next from here
A useful discipline is to state the next step as a record, a reference, and a question, in one sentence, before you leave this 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.
Do not collect records for their own sake. Each new record should earn its place by answering a question the timeline actually asks. A conclusion earned link by link is worth more than a story assembled at speed. Take the slower route, and keep the references.
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.