Army Service Records

Supporting guides

• How Do I Find an Army Service Record?
  Fix regiment or corps and service dates first, then check the holder for those dates. Older Army records are generally at The National Archives and more recent ones remain with the Ministry of Defence, so the date filter comes before any catalogue search.
• What Does an Army Service Number Tell You?
  An Army service number is an identifier within a numbering system that changed over time, so it helps match records for the same person but it does not by itself decode a regiment or a career. Use it to link records, and let the record itself name the unit.
• Regiment or Corps: What Is the Difference?
  A regiment is usually an infantry or cavalry unit with its own history, while a corps is a functional organisation such as engineers, signals or medical services. The distinction matters because their records are organised differently and their war diaries sit in different places.
• How Do I Research an Army Officer?
  Officer research runs through service papers, commissioning records and published Army Lists as well as the service record. Officers moved between appointments often, so keep every appointment dated and do not merge two officers of the same name.
• How Do I Research Army Other Ranks?
  For other ranks, attestation, posting, trade or employment, and discharge entries carry the career. Read them in date order and treat each posting as a dated fact, not as a story.
• How Do I Research ATS Service?
  Auxiliary Territorial Service records follow the same personal file method as other Army service, with attention to enrolment, trade, posting and discharge. The corps or unit of posting, not a general label, tells you what one woman's service involved.
• Which Dates Decide Where an Army Record Is Held?
  Service dates decide the likely holder, because transfer programmes move older records to The National Archives over time. Check the current holder guidance for the exact dates before approaching any holder.
• How Do I Read Army Discharge Papers?
  Discharge papers summarise service at the leaving date, including character, employment and medals. They are a summary, so check each summary claim against the fuller record behind it.
• What If No Army Service Record Turns Up?
  A missing record may sit under a variant spelling, a different number, a different regiment, or a transfer date that has not yet arrived. Work through those possibilities in order before concluding the record is lost.
• Can I Get a Copy of an Army Service Record?
  Copies depend on the holder and on the rules for records of deceased persons, which may ask for proof of death. This site does not request records for you; it explains the holder's process so you can approach the holder directly.
• How Do Army Casualty Records Fit?
  Casualty records anchor the end of a timeline with fact, date and place. Use them to close a timeline, then work backwards through postings rather than letting a casualty entry stand in for a whole career.
• How Do I Follow an Army Transfer?
  Follow transfers through dated posting entries, one move at a time, and note when the service number changes. A transfer between regiments or corps is a new unit trail, not a continuation of the old one.