TRACING GUNNER SERVICE RECORDS

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Many requests are received for information on the service records of soldiers who served in the Gunners during both World Wars and at other times.  This page is intended to be the definitive answer for everyone who is seeking information about an ex Gunners' service history.  If a particular course of enquiry proves to be successful, or indeed otherwise, I would like to hear from you so that others may benefit from your experience.

Good luck with your search. 

Disclaimer

The Army does not endorse external sites nor accept any responsibility for the content of external Internet sites

First of all, please let me point out that former service records of Gunners are not held at Artillery House. Below are, in our experience, the best and most productive places to search for the records you seek.

A. ARMY SERVICE RECORDS HELD BY THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

1. Serving Officers & Soldiers & those whose regular or reserve service ended after 1997*, contact:

The Army Personnel Centre (APC), Disclosures 1, Mailpoint 520, Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street, Glasgow G2 8EX.  Telephone:  0845 600 9663; Fax:  0141 224 3522; e-mail:  apcsec@btconnect.com

2. Officers & Soldiers whose regular or reserve service ended between 1921 & 1997*, contact:

Army Personnel Centre, Historical Disclosures, Mailpoint 400, Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street, Glasgow G2 8EX.  Telephone:  0845 600 9663;  Fax: 0141 224 2144

* The Ministry of Defence does not normally release information from a service record to persons other than the individual concerned or their next of kin.  There is a search fee for genealogical enquiries which currently stands at £25.00

Requests from former Service personnel
Requests from former Service personnel for his/her personal data held by the Ministry of Defence are processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998; such requests are called Subject Access Requests (SAR).

A SAR must be made in writing and must be accompanied by proof of identity (e.g. a copy of a passport or recent utilities bill), and sufficient information to locate the data sought. To assist the search, your letter should include as much information as possible eg:

• Service Number, Rank, Full Name, Date of Birth and period served (dates from and to).
• Requests for data for ex-Army personnel must also include the Regiment or Corps.

Once all the necessary information has been received, your request will be processed and you should receive a reply within 40 calendar days.  To download the SAR form, please click here.

For service records of non-UK personnel please click here.

To access a record the following information (or as much as possible) is required:  

• Service Number, Rank, Full Name, Date of Birth and period served (dates from and to). For queries to the Army also state the Regiment or Corps in addition to the above information.
• A full copy of the record can be requested however, original documents, discharge papers/books cannot be replaced. The MOD will also provide extracts from service records.

3. Officers & Soldiers pre 1921

Because of bombing in 1940 only about 25% - 30% of soldiers' records from the period 1914-1920 have survived

The Keeper of Public Records, The National Archive, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU.  Telephone: 020 8876 3444; Fax: 020 8878 8905; Website: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

B. The NATIONAL ARCHIVE 

1. The National Archive is the national repository for official government records, including the War Office files and records among which are to be found surviving unit war diaries and army service records

The National Archive, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU.  Telephone: 020 8876 3444; Fax: 020 8878 8905; Website: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

The National Archive does not undertake research for enquiries.  Its public opening hours are as follows:

Monday:      09.00-17.00

Tuesday:     10.00-19.00

Wednesday: 09.00-17.00

Thursday:    09.00-19.00

Friday:         09.00-17.00

Saturday:     09.30-17.00

Admission is by Reader's Ticket.  Readers have to register in person bearing adequate proof of identity, such as a passport or UK driving licence or UK bank/credit card.  If in doubt, the applicant should call in advance for their visit on 020 8392 5200.  Intending visitors are advised to check (a) the opening times prior to a visit as sections are occasionally closed for stocktaking and (b) that the documents are available for consultation, as they are sometimes withdrawn for official use.  If you are unable to undertake the research personally, or send a proxy, the PRO should be able to provide details of professional researchers and their charges.

See http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/military/army/default.htm for information on the PRO's archives of World War I and before records.

British Army: Useful Sources for Tracing Soldiers.  A National Archive document.

C. THE BRITISH ARMY - Other sources of information

1. County Record Offices  Many county and borough record offices have military collections, usually based on local Militia/Yeomanry/Volunteer/Territorial or Home Guard units but in certain cases covering locally recruited Regular units as well.  Details of record offices appear in: The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Record Repositories in Great Britain: A Geographical Directory.  HMSO Ninth edition 1991. ISBN 0-11-440243-4.

2. Genealogy 

a. Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, LONDON EC1M 8799.  Telephone: 020 7251 8799; Website: http://www.sog.org.uk/  

b. Microfiche libraries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may hold the World War I service records you seek.  Films can be viewed on request to your local Family History Centre.  Click on the country below to find your nearest Family History Centre or visit their Website at http://www.familysearch.org

England

Ireland

Norther Ireland

Scotland

Wales

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files.  If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download it HERE FREE:

D.  UNIT RECORDS

Once you have the service record, you may wish to discover where the regiments were posted when your relative served with them.  If so, please write to the Royal Artillery's Regimental Historical Researcher, Firepower Museum, The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, LONDON SE18 6ST.  E-mail: research@firepower.org.uk

E. HONOURS AND AWARDS

1. For information about honours and awards (and decorations for gallantry and distinguished service awarded from 1980 onwards) should be addressed to:

The Army Medal Office, Ministry of Defence, Government Buildings, Worcester Road, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire WR9 8AU.

2. Enquiries about decorations for gallantry and distinguished service (except those relating to Northern Ireland) prior to 1980 should be addressed to:

The National Archive, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU.  Telephone: 020 8876 3444; Fax: 020 8878 8905; Website: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Awards are announced, sometimes with citations, in Supplements to the London Gazette.  Copies of London Gazettes are held in the Public Record Office at Kew and in several of the principal libraries.  Any public library should be able to help you find a library that holds them.

F. THE INDIAN ARMY (Until 1947)

Oriental and Indian Office, British Library, 96 Euston Road, LONDON NW1 2DB.  Website: http://www.bl.uk/collections/orientaloffice.html

G. LOST TRAILS

Possible ways of tracing former comrades:

a. By placing advertisement in:

1. Gunner Net, The Royal Artillery Association, Artillery House, Artillery Centre, Stirling Barracks, Larkhill, SALISBURY Wiltshire, SP4 9QT.  Telephone:  01980 845362; Fax: 01980 845497; e-mail: ac-rhqra-raa-memsec@mod.uk; Website: www.raa.mod.uk

2. The Gunner Magazine, Artillery House, Artillery Centre, Stirling Barracks, Larkhill, SALISBURY Wiltshire, SP4 9QT  Telephone:  01980 845241; e-mail: gunner@hqdra.army.mod.uk Website:  http://www.army.mod.uk/gunnermag/

3. Gunner Friend Tracker, http://www.wohnungs-suche.com/Friends/welcome.htm

4. Soldier Magazine, Parson's House, Ordnance Road, Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 2DU.  Telephone: 01252 347351; Fax: 01252 347358; Website: http://www.soldiermagazine.co.uk/ad/class-ppen1.htm

5. The Legion, Magazine of the Royal British Legion, 48 Pall Mall, LONDON SW1Y 5JY; Telephone: 020 7973 7200; Fax: 020 7973 7399; Website: http://www.britishlegion.org.uk

6. Service Pals' Teletext Limited, PO Box 297, LONDON SW6 1XT. Telephone: 020 7386 5000; Fax: 020 7386 5618; [Pages 151, 152 or 676 Channel Four]

7. The Office of National Statistics Traceline operates a service which can be used to try and contact relatives, friends or beneficiaries.  The address is: Traceline, PO Box 106, Southport, PR8 2WA; Telephone: 0151 471 4811; Fax: 01704 563354

b. Other useful Internet websites devoted to helping people get in touch with old friends are:

FORCES REUNITED: http://www.forcesreunited.org.uk

SERVICE PALS: www.servicepals.com

FRIENDS REUNITED: www.friendsreunited.co.uk

UK DIRECTORY ENQUIRY SERVICE: www.192.com

H. MUSEUMS

Museums can be a very useful source of information for tracing service records of individuals or units.  Below are the URLs of the websites.

British Army Museums Ogilby Trust: http://www.armymuseums.org.uk/ancestor.htm

National Army Museum:

http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/pages/information.html 

The National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW34HT.  Telephone: 0207 7300717

Army Museums - MoD Official Website: http://www.army.mod.uk/ceremonialandheritage/museums_main.htm

Imperial War Museum - Tracing Family History: http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.00100a 

Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ.  Telephone: 020 7416 5342; Fax: 020 7416 5246; E-mail: mail@iwm.org.uk

Firepower: The Royal Artillery Museum:

Firepower, The Royal Artillery Museum, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, London SE18 6ST; Telephone: 020 8855 7755; Fax 020 8855 7100   E-mail: research@firepower.org.uk or log on to: http://www.firepower.org.uk/research/index.cfm 

I. POPULATION CENSUSES AND SURVEYS

For records of Births, Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths contact:

Families Record Centre, 1 Myddleton Street, LONDON EC17 1UW.  Telephone: 020 7533 6400; Website: http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/frc/

J. WAR GRAVES

For information on War Graves of World War I (1914-1921) and World War II (1939-1945) contact:

Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7DX.  Telephone: 01628 634221; fax: 01628 771208; Website: http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspx

K.  Researching Military Records  http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwone/archives_01.shtml A comprehensive site from the BBC.