Family history records on findmypast.co.uk

How to search the British Army service records

We only need the first or last name of an ancestor to start searching these records for you. This is the only required piece of information – everything else is optional.

It's always best to start searching with basic information, like your ancestor's first and last name. If there are too many results, you can refine your search and add more detail.

You can click the 'refine search' button on the search results page to return to this search box and add more information.

If you know the record series you want to search

The British Army service records are made up of a number of different record collections, held by The National Archives.

It's best to start by searching all of these records, but if you're sure that your ancestor is listed in a particular record series you could use this to narrow down your search results.

Choose a record series from the list in the box shown below. Findmypast.co.uk will then only show you records from this collection.

If you know the regiment your ancestor served in

If a basic search returns too many results, you could try adding your ancestor's regiment.

Select the 'advanced' tab at the top of the search form, as shown in the image below. Choose a regiment from the list in the relevant box and findmypast.co.uk will then only show you results that match your selection.

When you use our advanced search, it's possible to search with just a regiment – you could enter this instead of your ancestor's first or last name.

An important point to note is that this search option relates to either the regiment the soldier originally joined or the one he was discharged from, depending on the record series.

A soldier's regiment may well have changed through the duration of his service – bear in mind that the regiment you think your ancestor served in may not have been the one he joined or was discharged from. You could actually exclude relevant results by selecting a regiment, so always try searching with basic information first.

If you know your ancestor's soldier number

If a basic search returns too many results, you could try adding your ancestor's soldier number.

Select the 'advanced' tab at the top of the search form and enter the soldier number in the relevant box. Findmypast.co.uk will then only show you results that match this number.

When you use our advanced search, it's possible to search with just a soldier number – you could enter this instead of your ancestor's first or last name.

Understanding your search results

You'll notice that your results list a 'record source', as shown in the image below.

This is because the British Army service records are made up of a number of different record collections, held by The National Archives. The record source refers to how the records are categorised at The National Archives.

You may also notice that some results don't have information listed in all of the fields.

This is because the British Army service records are not in a standard format. It is, therefore, much harder to capture information from them than from other more structured records.

A field will be left blank if the information was not in the place we expected it to be. A blank field doesn't necessarily mean that the information was not recorded, just that it wasn't easy for us to find.

If you view an image and find the missing information, you can tell us by using the 'report transcript change' link at the top of the image viewer.

Can't find who you're looking for?

• The British Army service records generally don't include records of soldiers who died in service. You could try searching our armed forces death records instead.
• Try leaving some search boxes empty. Your ancestor's date of birth, place of birth, soldier number or regiment may not be listed as you would expect, so the details you enter could exclude relevant results.
• Keep the 'include variants' boxes underneath the name fields ticked. This means your search results will include spelling variations of the names you've entered.
• If your ancestor's name could be easily misspelled, try using a wildcard search. Just use a * symbol in place of a letter or multiple letters. For example, instead of searching for Jennings you could search for Je*ngs or *enning*.