Ministry of Defence Medals and Records Offices – part of Defence Business Services – are attending the Family History Show events at York on 23 June and Sandown on 22 September….

The shows are attended by family historians, societies and genealogical organisations. The MOD stand, supported by TNT UK Ltd, will be staffed by a DBS team, with colleagues from the Air Historical Branch and TNT Navy Record Search Service.

They will offer:

Live post 1921 service record search facility

The MOD continues to hold all service records where the individual had a discharge date of post 1921, these total around 10 million records, with about 500,000 having seen service in World War 1. Subject to access to the database that supports the MOD’s main archive, an assisted search facility will be offered that will in many cases enable confirmation of whether or not the MOD holds a record for an individual.

This information can then be used to apply for the record using the forms on Gov.uk. To assist the search, some or all of the following information is required: surname, initials, date of birth and service number.

World War 2 RAF casualty packs search facility

RAF casualty packs from World War 2 are being transferred from the MOD to The National Archives. Using the MOD’s archive and cataloguing database, an assisted search facility will enable identification of the pack that may relate to an individual.

This information can then be used to either access the pack at The National Archives, or, for those yet to be transferred, apply for details from the pack using the forms on Gov.uk. To assist the search, the following information is required: the name of the individual(s), date of incident and type of aircraft.

Interpretation of service records

If you already have a service record, but are unsure what it says or how to interpret it, then DBS experts will be on hand to assist you:

  • John Reynolds from the MOD’s record office, a keen army historian and serving reserves officer, has conducted battlefield tours across the world
  • Stuart Hadaway from the Air Historical Branch has previously worked at the RAF Museum, Hendon, and is the author of military books, including “Missing believed killed: casualty policy and the missing research and enquiry service 1939 – 1952”
  • Sue Pass, team leader of TNT’s navy search service who respond to more than 6,000 enquiries a year