Filed under Starting From Almost Nothing: A Method Guide
First checks before you go further
Start with a place by asking which units were there on which dates, using unit histories and memorial records. A place alone is a question about units and dates, not a shortcut to a person.
Keep a note of every filter combination you try, including the ones that failed. A failed search is only useful if you can prove you already tried it. 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.
Where this kind of research usually stalls
A gap that appears in every record for the same dates probably reflects how records were kept, not a personal mystery. Check the coverage before inventing an explanation. A common surname in a large unit needs a second filter before any search is meaningful. Without one, you are sampling the unit, not finding a person.
Where a record set is arranged by unit rather than by surname, a surname search alone will miss it. Mirror the catalogue structure, and the record set opens up. A search that works for one service may fail for another, because services filed differently. A method that fits the Army may mislead in the Navy, and vice versa.
How to read this kind of entry
When a file is thin, read it twice: once for what it says, and once for what kind of file it is. A thin file read as a thick one will be over-interpreted. A single sheet can contain several dates: the date of the event, the date of writing, and the date of filing. Keep them separate in your notes.
Entries written up later, from notes or from memory, compress and reorder events. Treat them as useful orientation, and check their dates against records written at the time. An entry that names a place but no unit, or a unit but no date, is a partial clue. Use it to frame the next search, not to close the question.
A step by step way through
Do not let a tool, a website, or an index set the order of your work. Tools serve steps; steps do not serve tools. Work in date order, one record at a time, and write each finding into the timeline with its reference before opening the next record. If the steps feel slow, that is the point. Speed in this work usually means a skipped check, and skipped checks are where wrong timelines begin.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Name the clue exactly: what it is, what it says, and what it does not say. |
| 2 | Choose the first record that clue points to, and note its reference before opening it. |
| 3 | Extract only dated facts from that record, and add them to a first timeline with source notes. |
| 4 | Let the first timeline choose the second record, and keep guesses in a separate list until a record joins them. |
What should you check next?
Let the dates decide the direction. The next record should cover the dates the timeline is weakest on, not the dates it already covers well. The neighbouring guides are not a reading list. They are the next links in a chain, and the chain order matters more than the reading order.
Note the reference of this record before you leave it. A timeline without references cannot be revisited, and a revisit is where most errors get caught. End the session with the timeline as it stands, references included, and the next step named. That is how research survives a break.
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.