Research Section - Researching Service Records

General Information

If no details are known about a serviceman, some basic information may be obtained from the Absent Voters lists of 1918 and the Service Voters Registers of 1945. These were compiled to enable servicemen to vote in the constituency of their home address. Entries often contain details of address, regiment or corps, unit, number and rank. The lists may survive in the relevant local library, town hall or county record office.

When researching a soldier's records from the First World War (1914-18), it must be noted that many documents from this period were destroyed by enemy action during the Second World War (1939-45). A soldier's records are passed to the Army Personnel Centre eight years after discharge. Until that time they are held at the RE Manning and Record Office in Glasgow. The Freedom of Information Act applies to government departments. Please obtain advice from the office concerned.

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Service Records up to and including the First World War (up to 1918)

For service records prior to the First World War (1914-18) and for officers and other ranks served in this war but not afterwards you will need to research at The National Archives (TNA) at Kew.

A microfiche of the original card index for the recipients of the campaign medals of the First World War (1914-18) is available for consultation.

They do not answer written or telephone enquiries, you have to undertake your own research or appoint someone to do this for you. The National Archives (TNA) can provide a list of private researchers.

Their website is very helpful and a search can be made into the First World War medal rolls.

Their contact address is:

      The National Archives
      Ruskin Avenue
      Kew
      Richmond
      Surrey
      TW9 4DU

      Tel: 0208 876 3444

      Web: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Historical background - British engineers

• Before 1856 - the engineers were part of Board of Ordnance under the command of the Master-General of the Ordnance - their service records at The National Archives can be found in files WO 11 and WO 54.

• After 1856 - the Corps of Royal Engineers became a corps on the British Army establishment under the command of the Commander-in-Chief and the War Office in 1856.
  
  
• 1741-1939 - Engineer officers were trained at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich (The Shop), before they were commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers. Since the end of the Second World War (1939-45) they have been trained at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
        Note: In times of emergency trained engineers are often commissioned directly into the Corps
                  without undergoing formal military training at either of the Royal Military Academies.
  
  
• 1799-1837(?) - Royal Staff Corps existed. It was a corps of engineers under direct command of the War Office. Their officers were often Royal Engineers who had transferred, while their soldiers were artisans recruited from the line regiments. It is not clear when they were disbanded, but it is believed to have occurred between 1832-37. On disbandment some of their personnel transferred into either the Corps of Royal Engineers (officers) or Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners (other ranks).
  
  
• 1912-1993 - New corps formed from the Royal Engineers:
• 1912 - Royal Flying Corps (RFC), later Royal Air Force (RAF - 1918) from the Balloon Service.
• 1920 - Royal Corps of Signals from the Signals Service.
• 1942 - Royal Electrical and Mechanical Corps (REME) from electrical and mechanical interest shown at the School of Military Engineering.
• 1965 - Royal Corps of Transport (RCT), later Royal Logistics Corps (RLC 1993), elements from the Transportation Service were amalgamated with elements of the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) to form the new Corps.
• 1993 - Royal Logistics Corps (RLC), from the Postal & Courier Services, which was amalgamated with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC), Royal Corps of Transport (RCT), Royal Pioneer Corps (RPC) and Army Catering Corps (ACC).
  
  
• 1917-1992 - Women served with Royal Engineer units:
  • 1917-1920 - Women of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC - 1917-1918), later Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC - 1918-1920), served with Royal Engineers Signals and Postal units. Their records can be obtained online at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/waac.asp
  • 1939-1947 - Women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) served with Royal Engineers Postal units.
  • 1953-1992 - Women of the Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC) served with Royal Engineers Postal units. In the 1980's WRAC officers began to serve with the Field units.
  • 1992 - Women serving with the Corps were capbadged as Royal Engineers.

Further details about the history, activities and development of the Corps can be found on the Corps History page.

Information can also be sourced from other web sites that can be found on the Links page.

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Post World War One Service Records (1918 onwards)

For service records of officers and other ranks served after the First World War apply to:

See above for Historical background - British engineers

Further details about the history, activities and development of the Corps can be found on the Corps History page.

Information can also be sourced from other web sites that can be found on the Links page.

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Recent British Army Service Records

For service records of Royal Engineers personnel prior to their documents being lodged with the Army Records Centre:

See above for Historical background - British engineers

Further details about the history, activities and development of the Corps can be found on the Corps History page.

Information can also be sourced from other web sites that can be found on the Links page.

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Tracing ex-servicemen and women

The Legion, the magazine of the Royal British Legion, carries a column for contacting and tracing information on ex-servicemen and women. For details of this service please contact:

For similar information concerning ex-Royal Engineers, The Sapper magazine prints a 'Calling Old Comrades' page and will accept notices from people trying to contact an individual or requesting details of a particular unit. Please contact:

For tracing officers of the Royal Engineers, the RE Journal publish a Supplement which does accept short notices. However, space is limited and there is a fee. For information please contact:

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The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

For details of the place of burial or other commemoration of Commonwealth Servicemen who died during the periods:

• 4 August 1914 to 31 August 1921
• 3 September 1939 to 31 December 1947

Details on this site usually include Regiment, date of death, location of cemetery, a brief history of the event or campaign in which the service personnel died. In some cases the person's spouse's name, parents' names and last known address are given.

Information can also be sourced from other web sites that can be found on the Links page.

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Indian Army Service Records (up to 1947)

Two record offices that may be helpful when tracing details of men who served in India, particularly during the 19th Century, are:

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Australian Army Service Records

Service records for the Corps of the Royal Australian Engineers are held at:

Historical background - Australian engineers

• 1902 Corps of Engineers formed by amalgamation of engineer corps of the states.
• 1907 Australian Engineers.
• 1936 Corps of Royal Australian Engineers formed by union of Regular and CMF units.

Information can also be sourced from other web sites that can be found on the Links page.

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Canadian Army Service Records

Service records for the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers are held at:

Historical background - Canadian engineers

• 1812-14 - Canadian Militia engineer companies were first formed during the war against the United States Of America (USA).
• 1861 - Canadian Engineers (Militia)
• 1903 - The Canadian Engineer Corps formed as part of the Regular Army.
• 1904 - The Canadian Engineer Corps redesignated Royal Canadian Engineers.
• 1906 - Last British troops leave Canada.
• 1914-18 First World War - Royal Canadian Engineers serve in Europe. Engineer units included railway companies and the forestry corps.
• 1932 - Royal Canadian Engineers redesignated Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE).
• 1939-45 Second World War - Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers serve in the majority of European operations, from Dieppe, North Africa, through Italy, France, Holland and Germany.
• 1967 Military Engineering Branch, Canadian Forces formed from amalgamation of the engineers from the navy, army and air force.

Information can also be sourced from other web sites that can be found on the Links page.

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General genealogical records

The Family Records Centre has closed.

For information on births, marriages, deaths, adoptions and civil partnerships please go to the General Register Office website at: www.gro.gov.uk/

For census returns, wills and other material please go to The National Archives website at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

Information can also be sourced from other web sites that can be found on the Links page.