How Do I Research RAF Other Ranks?

What to check first in this record

For other ranks, the service record plus trade and posting entries carry most of the career. Musterings changed over time, so read the trade entry in the context of its date rather than assuming a modern trade title means the same job.

The strongest clue is often the least glamorous: a number, a date, a place. Glamorous clues, badges and stories, point in many directions at once. Begin with the filters the catalogue itself uses, because a search that fights the catalogue structure will return noise however carefully it is worded. If a search floods you with results, add the date range before you add anything else. Dates are the fastest way to cut a flood to a list.

A step by step way through

A step that involves another person, a holder, an archive, or a relative, should be prepared before it is taken. Unprepared requests get vague answers. Start from the reference, not from the search box: know which record you are about to open, and why, before you open it. 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.

• Fix the service dates first, so you know which holder is likely to hold the file.
• Note the service number exactly, including any change after remustering or re-enlistment.
• List postings in date order, and treat each posting as a separate check against unit records.
• Test every later record, medal or casualty entry, against the personal file before adding it to the timeline.

Making sense of what you find

The order of sheets in a file is not always the order of events. Rebuild the date order yourself, and do not trust filing order to do it for you. Read for the unit, the ship, or the station as well as for the person. A person entry makes sense only inside the unit entry that surrounds it. 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.

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. Do not assume a gap means a gap in service. Records have gaps where filing had gaps, where sheets were lost, and where a period was recorded elsewhere.

• A variant spelling of the surname, or initials used instead of a full name.
• A second service number after remustering or a break in service.
• A file for later dates that has not yet transferred holder.
• A reserve or auxiliary period filed apart from the regular file.

What to open after this one

The end of a guide is a good place to review the timeline for unreferenced entries. Remove them, or mark them, before they harden into facts. If this record answered your question, stop and note the reference. The next record should start from a new question, not from momentum. Stop at the record that answers the question, and note the reference before moving on.