How Do I Read an RAF Operation Entry?

What should you look for first?

Read an operation entry as a unit entry on one date: aircraft, crew, target or task, take-off and return, and result. A name in a crew list proves presence on that operation only if the name, rank and role all match the person you are researching.

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. If any one of the four filters fails, name, number, unit, dates, stop and re-check before reading further into the record.

Reading what the record actually says

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. A place name followed by a question mark, a correction, or a second spelling is the record telling you it is unsure. Carry that uncertainty into your notes. If you cannot read a word, mark it unread rather than guessing it. A guessed word, once written into a timeline, is very hard to dislodge.

As an illustration only, suppose an operations entry lists a crew by initials and surnames: matching those initials against the personal file, rather than against a family story, is what decides whether your person was on that operation.

Working through it in order

Keep the timeline open beside you as you work, and add to it as you go, rather than reconstructing it at the end from memory. Do not let a tool, a website, or an index set the order of your work. Tools serve steps; steps do not serve tools.

1. Take the posting dates from the personal file before opening any unit record.
2. Open the operations record book for those dates only, and note its reference.
3. Check names, ranks and roles in crew or personnel lists against the personal file.
4. Use station records and published histories only after the unit record for those dates has been read.

What are the common dead ends?

A record destroyed, a record never created, and a record held elsewhere look identical from a search screen. The catalogue description is what tells them apart. A record that exists but is not digitised is not a dead end, it is a different route: a catalogue reference, a copy order, or a visit, where the holder offers one. 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 to open after this one

Work the chain one link at a time. A timeline built link by link can be checked; a timeline built by jumping to the most interesting record cannot. A next step that is easy is not necessarily the right one. The right next step is the one the timeline needs, and it is often the awkward one.

Keep the person, the number and the dates together as you move to the next record, and re-check them on arrival. Filters drift when they are carried in memory. Carry the filters forward, and the story will follow. Carry the story forward, and the filters will be lost.