Filed under RAF People, Trades and Ranks: A Method Guide
Where should you start looking?
Ranks in records show seniority and pay group at a date, and they change through promotion, acting rank and reversion. Read the rank with its date and do not carry a final rank backwards through a whole career.
Do not let a familiar surname carry the search. In a large record set, a familiar surname is the weakest filter you have. A record set arranged by unit will not yield to a surname search, and a record set arranged by date will not yield to a unit search. Learn the arrangement first. 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.
How to read this kind of entry
A date written in one format on one sheet and another format on the next is the same date wearing two formats. Convert carefully, and keep the original. If the record uses initials instead of full names, match on the full set of filters, not on initials plus surname, because initials alone match too many people.
The absence of an entry where the form expects one is worth noting. A blank column can mean not applicable, not recorded, or not surviving, and each means something different. Look for what the entry does not say, as well as what it says. A missing expected entry, a blank column, or a skipped date is itself a finding.
Dead ends to expect here
The quietest dead end is a record you never open because a search snippet looked irrelevant. Open the catalogue description, not just the snippet, before you dismiss it. 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.
- 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.
What to open after this one
Check the holder current guidance before any next step that involves a request, a copy, or a visit. Guidance changes, and a step planned on old guidance wastes a session. Where the next step involves a different holder, take the reference with you. A holder approached without a reference can only offer general guidance. Trust the process: fix the person, date the entries, note the references, and let the timeline assemble itself link by link.
Primary sources for this guide
This guide keeps its claims general and points to the official holders, so the holder itself is the place to check the current position. It is general educational information only, not personal professional advice, and it offers no record lookup service and no determination of any individual's service.