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Trouble Deciphering a WW2 Service Record? Here's How I Can Help
First of all! You are not alone!
We are now seeing a stream of World War 2 Service Records being transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the National Archives in Kew. All part of a massive 6–7-year project that will require indexing and scanning.
If you are one of the lucky ones to have recently obtained one you may be saying:
“Brilliant! I’ve finally found their service record!”
followed very quickly by:
“Now… what on earth does it all mean?”
This statement is one that I am hearing so much in recent weeks. As I receive an increasing number of enquiries from people who have successfully found their relatives record but need help deciphering it.
And it is easy to see why.
Military service records can be packed with abbreviations, dates, postings, units, movements, medical information, disciplinary entries and references to other documents. Some entries are really clear. Others are handwritten, faded, damaged, smudged or written in a shorthand that makes very little sense to the modern reader.
There is often a fascinating story hidden within those service records, even when they consist of only a handful of pages
A service record can contain a huge amount of information about an individual’s military career.
You might discover:
when they enlisted and where
their age and occupation
their physical description
their military trade or role
units they served with
dates of promotion or demotion
postings and transfers
periods of leave
overseas service
hospital admissions
disciplinary offences
medals and awards
discharge details
and sometimes much more.
The challenge is understanding what all those entries actually mean.
For example, a record might tell you that your relative was transferred from one unit to another on a particular date. That is useful information, but it raises further questions.
Why were they transferred?
Where was the unit at the time?
What was happening there?
Was the transfer connected to training, illness, promotion, a new posting or something else?
This is where looking beyond the service record can make such a difference.
What does all that military shorthand mean?
Military records are full of abbreviations.
You might come across an unfamiliar unit, an abbreviated rank, a reference to a depot or a cryptic entry relating to a posting or disciplinary matter.
Sometimes one small abbreviation can unlock an entire research stream.
It is also important not to assume that an abbreviation means the same thing in every record. Military terminology changed over time and between different branches and services. Also, I have seen many abbreviations that appear to have been made up by the official entering the details, so I totally understand the challenges.
And then there is the handwriting!
Many service records were completed by several different people over a period of years. So handwriting styles vary considerably and some entries can be surprisingly difficult to read.
A name, place or unit that has been misread can send your research in completely the wrong direction.
I can help decipher your relative’s record
This is where my military record deciphering service can help.
I can work through the record bit by bit and arranging it into a report in chronological order. Therefore, explaining what the entries mean and helping to identify the important dates, places, units and events within it.
Rather than simply giving you a transcription, I can help you understand the record in the context of your relative's military career.
The aim is to turn a collection of unfamiliar entries into something that makes a bit more sense.
Sometimes, the deciphering process raises questions that lead us to the next research stage.
The service record is often just the beginning
One of the most exciting things about working with military records is discovering what can be found beyond the original document.
A service record might tell us that a relative served with a particular regiment or squadron during a particular period. This gives us a starting point for further research.
Depending on the individual and the period of service, there may be additional records that can be checked to add context to their period of service.
Not every record will have survived and not every source will tell us exactly what we want to know.
But by putting the pieces together, we can often build a much fuller picture.
From dates and documents to a story
This is the part of military research that I particularly enjoy.
A service record may tell us that our relative joined a particular unit in 1943. On its own, that is an important fact.
But further research may reveal where that unit was based, what it was doing at the time, how its activities fitted into the wider historical timeline of the war, when our relative arrived and where the unit moved afterwards.
We can then begin to understand what our relative's military life may have looked like.
That does not mean inventing conversations, thoughts or experiences that we cannot prove. Instead, we use the records to establish the facts and add historical context to help explain what was happening around them.
The result can be a much fuller and more meaningful account of your relative's service.
Let me help you turn those pages into a story
If you have found a service record but are struggling to understand it, I can help you make sense of what you have.
I can also help identify what might be worth looking for next, so that your research does not stop with the first document you find.
Many of my clients enjoy getting involved in their own research because it is so interesting to discover more about their family history. If that sounds like you, I can help guide you through the process, explain what you have found and assist with locating additional records that may otherwise be difficult to find.
This allows you to continue your own research and write your relative's story in your own words, with a better understanding of the evidence along the way.
Alternatively, if you would prefer me to undertake the additional research and bring the findings together into a written report, I can help with that too.
Whether you need help deciphering a service record, guidance with your next steps or a more detailed account of your relative's military service, get in touch with Treehouse Genealogy to discuss how I can help.
Sometimes, a few pages of military records can tell us far more than we first realise. The trick is knowing how to read them and where to look next.
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