Military sources

Background

Although Gloucestershire Archives does not hold military service records, we do hold other sources which refer to the military and wars. This guide gives a brief, general overview to the sorts of records held at Gloucestershire Archives which relate to the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars (RGH), the Gloucestershire Regiment, the Home Guard, early records and other popular sources. For a more complete and detailed list, look at our Sources for Military History Guide (Handlist).

Royal Gloucestershire Hussars

The main collection of material of the RGH is D4920. This includes admin papers, diaries, minutes and regiment history. D4652 is a collection of photographs of the Hussars in Egypt and Palestine 1914-1918. A WW2 Roll of honour is held under the reference of D4576.

For a history of the Hussars, and its predecessors, see:

Royal Gloucestershire Hussars by Rollo Clifford (GAL/E3)
Second Royal Gloucestershire Hussars by Stuart Pitman (GAL/E3/41199GS)
1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars 1795-1943 (JF5.66GS)

Gloucestershire Regiment

The majority of records relating to the Regiment are held by the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum. A few documents are held in the Archives, but there is no major collection. The following items could be of interest:

Boer War journal of an unnamed soldier of the regiment 1899-1901 (D7474)
2/5th Battalion Correspondence and papers concerning history of regiment 1914-1930 (D2431) B330/39699GS

For more information, and a detailed list, see the Military Guide.

Rolls of Honour

A large number of local Rolls of Honour have been produced for places in Gloucestershire. These can be identified using our online catalogue. Try searching for “roll of honour” and the name of the village/parish/place you are interested in. Some rolls were drawn up by the local parish church; others are rolls of honour for employees of a business, members of society or ex-pupils of a school. There are also some rolls of honour which were created recently based on research conducted by local volunteers.

Records of individual soldiers

Gloucestershire Archives holds some collections which include the personal papers of men who served in the Army or Navy. These tend to include letters home, diaries, notebooks, photographs and official papers.

Home Guard

Gloucestershire Archives does not hold records relating to individual men who served in the Home Guard. But we do hold some administrative records of various Battalions of the Home Guard. These include:

7th Battalion (B Company) (D264)
Hardwicke Home Guard (D286)
Dursley Home Guard D2078/5/5
5th Glos (Gloucester) Battalion, Home Guard (D2095)
Nailsworth Home Guard (D2934)
Hardwicke Home Guard (D3549/33/4/15)
Stroud Local Defence Volunteers and Home Guard (D4693/6)
Painswick (C Company) 7^th Battalion (D5023/3)
St Briavels Home Guard (D8795)
Cirencester Home Guard (various items in D10820)
Whiteshill, Ruscombe and Randwick Home Guard (P363 MI 1/1)
Slimbridge Parish War Book (Includes lists of Home Guard - P298a PC 50/1)
Home Guard's 6th Gloucestershire Battalion [Olveston and Aust] (S3/1/10/5)

There are also lots of other items relating to the Home Guard in other collections, including photographs, scrapbooks and personal items.

Muster Rolls

Although most Muster Rolls are held by the National Archives, some originals and copies have made their way to Gloucestershire Archives. Most of these come from the period before there was an official standing army (17^th Century and earlier).

Men & Armour 1608 (D678/1 Z6/2/1-3 – use transcript at GAL/E3/43876GS)
Gloucestershire Muster Rolls1592 (D837)
Various muster rolls covering one parish/hundred – see Military History Guide (Handlist).

Battle of Imjin River

To mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Imjin River, and the part that the Gloucestershire Regiment played in the Battle, we've produced this guide to tell you all about it.

Download the guide

Other records

Lots of other records, particularly during the two world wars, contain information about the effect on the local area, news from the front and details of local men.

You may wish to try looking at:

Parish Council Records
School Records
District Council Records
Civil Defence Committee (C/CDa)

How to find the records

o view a list of records in these collections please use our online catalogue, Type the references given above into the “Quick Search” box as your search term. You can search for diaries, letters and other items by searching for keywords (e.g First World War) using the “advanced search” option. You can refine your search, for example by place.

For more guidance on using our online catalogue, please see the Help page and the FAQs.

Military Service Records

If you are researching an individual who served in the military, the first thing to do is search for a service record. These are held in various places depending on when they served in the military. Service records only really started in the early 20^th century. Before this time there are other records such as muster rolls and pension records which you can use. Before conducting any searches it will be helpful if you know the regiment they served in, their date of birth and when they joined the service (if you do not know an exact date, work out a rough period).

What records are there and what records will they contain?

See Army, Navy and Royal Air Force below.

Date	Record	Available from	Information
1920 onwards (including Home Guard)	Service Records	The Army Personnel Centre MS Support Unit, P & D Branch Historical Disclosures, MP 555, Kentigern House 65 Brown Street GLASGOW G2 8EX	Free if applying for own/spouse’s records Fee for all other applications Only certain information will be given to non-relatives Forms can be downloaded from https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records
1913-1920	Service Records	Ancestry	Most do not survive as the office they were kept in was bombed in WW2 and most records were burnt.
1913-1920	Pension Records	Ancestry	Only available for men who survived the war but were discharged due to wounds or ill health.
Before 1913	Pension & Discharge Records	Find My Past	Will usually include parish of birth, age, length of service, regiment, and reason for discharge. May not exist for men who died during service.
1730-1898	Muster Rolls	The National Archives	These are pay lists for a particular regiment or battalion. They were often made quarterly.
Officers Only:
1920 onwards	Service Records	See above	See above
1913-1920	Service Records	The National Archives (WO338 & WO339)	·Contain name, age, regiment, dates of service and other information about service.
Before 1913	Officers service records	The National Archives (WO25 and WO76)	Sorted by regiment To find regiment use Army Lists (WO65)

Date	Record	Available from	Information
1920 onwards (including Home Guard)	Service Records	The Army Personnel Centre MS Support Unit, P & D Branch Historical Disclosures, MP 555, Kentigern House 65 Brown Street GLASGOW G2 8EX	Free if applying for own/spouse’s records Fee for all other applications Only certain information will be given to non-relatives Forms can be downloaded from https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records
1913-1920	Service Records	Ancestry	Most do not survive as the office they were kept in was bombed in WW2 and most records were burnt.
1913-1920	Pension Records	Ancestry	Only available for men who survived the war but were discharged due to wounds or ill health.
Before 1913	Pension & Discharge Records	Find My Past	Will usually include parish of birth, age, length of service, regiment, and reason for discharge. May not exist for men who died during service.
1730-1898	Muster Rolls	The National Archives	These are pay lists for a particular regiment or battalion. They were often made quarterly.
Officers Only:
1920 onwards	Service Records	See above	See above
1913-1920	Service Records	The National Archives (WO338 & WO339)	·Contain name, age, regiment, dates of service and other information about service.
Before 1913	Officers service records	The National Archives (WO25 and WO76)	Sorted by regiment To find regiment use Army Lists (WO65)

Date	Record	Available From	Information
1923 onwards	Service Records	RN Disclosure Cell, Room 48, West Battery, Whale Island, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO2 8DX	Free if applying for own/spouse’s records Fee for all other applications Only certain information will be given to non-relatives Forms can be downloaded from https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records
1853-1923	Service Register	The National Archives (documents online)	Can be downloaded for a fee Contains age, place of birth, occupation before enlisting, ranks held and ships served on.
1789-1894	Pension Records	The National Archives (ADM 73 and ADM 29)	Only available for men who were retired from the Navy (i.e. survived)
1667-1878	Ship Muster & Pay Books	The National Archives (various)	Lists men serving on a particular ship. Lists produced annually/quarterly.

Date	Record	Available From	Information
1923 onwards	Service Records	RN Disclosure Cell, Room 48, West Battery, Whale Island, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO2 8DX	Free if applying for own/spouse’s records Fee for all other applications Only certain information will be given to non-relatives Forms can be downloaded from https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records
1853-1923	Service Register	The National Archives (documents online)	Can be downloaded for a fee Contains age, place of birth, occupation before enlisting, ranks held and ships served on.
1789-1894	Pension Records	The National Archives (ADM 73 and ADM 29)	Only available for men who were retired from the Navy (i.e. survived)
1667-1878	Ship Muster & Pay Books	The National Archives (various)	Lists men serving on a particular ship. Lists produced annually/quarterly.

Date

Record

Available From

Information

1922 onwards

Service Records

RAF 3^rd Party Disclosure Team, Room 14,

Trenchard Hall,

RAF Cranwell,

Sleaford,

LINCS,

NG34 8HB

Free if applying for own/spouse’s records
Fee for all other applications
Only certain information will be given to non-relatives

Forms can be downloaded from https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records

1918-1922

Service Records

The National Archives (AIR78 and AIR79)

Include:

date and place of birth
physical description
next of kin, spouse and children
date of joining & discharge

Date

Record

Available From

Information

1922 onwards

Service Records

RAF 3^rd Party Disclosure Team, Room 14,

Trenchard Hall,

RAF Cranwell,

Sleaford,

LINCS,

NG34 8HB

Free if applying for own/spouse’s records
Fee for all other applications
Only certain information will be given to non-relatives

Forms can be downloaded from https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records

1918-1922

Service Records

The National Archives (AIR78 and AIR79)

Include:

date and place of birth
physical description
next of kin, spouse and children
date of joining & discharge

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How to find the records

Records available on Ancestry and Find My Past can be viewed for free at Gloucestershire Archives or any Gloucestershire Library. If you want to view them from home you will need to subscribe to the website. Records held at the National Archives need to be accessed onsite at the National Archives in Kew. Those records noted as being “documents online” can be downloaded for a fee.

Importantly, you will need to apply for service records of men who rejoined the forces after WW1 (e.g. in the territorial army, for WW2 or in the Home Guard). For men who re-joined the forces during WW1, their records could be stored with the WW1 records or as part of the pre-WW1 series.

Want to know more?

No military service records are held at Gloucestershire Archives. Our detailed Military Guide is the best way to find out what we hold.

There are numerous research guides on the National Archives’ website about Army, Navy and Air Force records. For more detailed information please see the relevant guide.