How to View UK Military Service Records
The process of finding someone’s military record has become a simple task with the multitude of online information resources that are available. To begin researching a person’s UK military service record it is important to know the person’s full name, time served and what armed service they served in. Since there are many people with the same first and last name, it’s also important to know if they were enlisted as a soldier or officer in addition to where they served and if it was during a time of conflict or war.
Researching UK Military Records
The process of researching a person’s military history begins with collecting as much information as possible before looking online through archives and genealogical databases. This information can come from newspapers from that time frame, stories from family members, pictures, journals, service medals or old military uniforms. This can greatly assist the research process of finding the correct military record for the intended person. If you are interested in looking up your own records you can do so directly through the UK.gov website, see below for more details on this. It is also possible to request military records for your immediate family, depending on the circumstances.
Collections of UK Military Records
- Boer Wars Records
- Civil War Records
- World War I Records
- World War II Records
- Newspaper and Magazine Archives
- Awards, Decorations and Medals
- Regimental and Service Records
- British Prisoners of War
- Pension Records
- Prisoner Rolls and History
- War Veteran Gravesites
There is a vast amount of information available from different collections of military records online. These can be found from both government archives and privately run databases and genealogy websites. For those that are trying to build a family tree or find out more about their family history, a genealogy website can help pair military records with a family’s lineage. You may be surprised what information you can find.
Get a Copy of Your UK Military Service Record
If you’d like a copy of your UK military service record you can obtain your service record from the UK government ( Gov.uk ). You can visit the website and download and fill out the SAR Form for the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, British Army or Royal Airforce and mail it in with the required documents. There is no fee for this, and a copy of your UK military service records will be mailed to you once approved. You can also apply for the service records of someone else if they are an immediate family member or next of kin. However, this information may be somewhat limited depending on when the family member died. This documentation is official and is managed by the UK government.
UK Military Records and Your Family History
Military service records can be an important piece of the puzzle when trying to build a family tree. These records can include information such draft registrations for immigrant and UK citizens during times of war and global conflict. UK military records can help to illuminate the missing pieces of what happened to a branch of a family lineage as well as other branches that have yet to be discovered. Many people have married and immigrated and migrated during these historical times of conflict and records of military service can uncover that missing information to build an accurate family history. You may be surprised what you might find.
Advertising Disclosure: This post may contain promotional links. publicrecordsearch.co.uk may be compensated if you use these links.