Filed under RAF People, Trades and Ranks: A Method Guide
What to check first in this record
Start with the personal file, then use unit records for context. Unit records without a personal file can place a person in the wrong unit, and a personal file without unit records leaves the service unexplained.
A variant spelling is not a different person, and an identical spelling is not the same person. Both mistakes come from trusting spelling alone. Where a clue comes from a relative, note who supplied it and when. A clue supplied decades later carries different weight from one written at the time. 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.
How do you work through it step by step?
Before the first step, gather every clue you already hold into one place. Steps taken with scattered clues produce scattered results. Work from the most reliable record you have towards the least, not from the most interesting towards the most convenient. Order matters more than speed here. The same records, opened in a different order, produce a different timeline, and only one of those orders can be checked.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | List every rank and trade entry with its date, in date order. |
| 2 | Note acting rank separately from substantive rank, where the record distinguishes them. |
| 3 | Check a trade title against a period glossary or museum source for that date, not against modern usage. |
| 4 | Use the trade to narrow the next records, then let postings supply the detail. |
Making sense of what you find
Where a record uses code letters or numbers, find the key for that period and that service. A code read without its key is a guess dressed as a reading. 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.
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. When a record and a published history disagree, the record written at the time wins, and the history becomes a question, not an answer.
Common traps in this record type
The common dead ends here are a shared name, a variant spelling, a thin record for the dates you need, and a unit that cannot be fixed from the clues available. The most expensive dead end is a wrong person adopted early. Everything after that looks consistent, because it was built on the wrong foundation. 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.
The next record in the chain
From here, the productive move is usually sideways, into a different record set for the same dates, rather than forwards into the next date. Ask what single fact would most strengthen the weakest link in the timeline, and let that fact choose the next record.
When the next step is unclear, reread the last dated entry in the timeline. The entry itself usually contains the question the next record must answer. Keep the person, the number and the dates together, and the rest of the chain follows.
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.