This article will help you to research soldiers who served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War. The first part provides a brief overview of the services of each battalion of the regiment. The second part looks at what documents are available to research the Regiment and how to order Grenadier Guards’ service records. This is one of a series of guides I’ve written to researching soldiers who served in the British Army during the war:
I also offer a Second World War Soldier Research Service.
The Grenadier Guards in the Second World War
1st Battalion Grenadier Guards
2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards
3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards
4th Battalion Grenadier Guards
5th Battalion Grenadier Guards
6th Battalion Grenadier Guards
Regimental History of the Grenadier Guards
Researching Soldiers who Served in the Grenadier Guards
The key document to view if you’re researching a soldier of the Grenadier Guards is their service record. These documents are still held by the Ministry of Defence and will show which battalions of the Grenadier Guards the soldier served with. Though, if you’re researching an officer of the Regiment, you can usually research them via a battalion’s war diaries. Service records are held by the Ministry of Defence and you’ll have to apply for them via the Army Personnel Centre at Kentigern House. I’ve written a separate article for ordering a service record: Order a Second World War Service Record. The most important documents after a service record are the war diaries of the units a soldier served with. These will record the unit’s location and activities but you will usually need to see a service record first to know which war diaries to get.
The Grenadier Guards used the army number block between 2,604,001 and 2,646,000 to number its soldiers who served in the ranks. Around April 1942, the numbering system changed due to the formation of the General Service Corps. All soldiers who joined this Corps were given a number starting with 14 and followed by six digits. If the army number of the soldier you’re researching doesn’t fall between the Grenadier Guards number block, they joined another regiment or corps first before being transferred. I’ve written a guide on how to find an army number but in most cases, you won’t be able to. Officers had a personal number and these followed a different numbering system. If you know an officer’s personal number, you can search it on the London Gazette‘s website. The search system used by the London Gazette is very poor and if you’re searching for an unusual surname, I’d recommend just searching the surname.
Not a lot of documents relating to the Second World War have been digitized. There are a handful of resources available online but unless you’re researching a casualty they won’t be of much use. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s website records the Regiment’s dead between 3 September 1939 and 31 December 1947. Citations for gallantry awards and honours for the Second World War have been digitized and can be downloaded for a small fee from the National Archive’s website. The genealogical site FindmyPast has a number of collections which may be useful, including the War Office casualty lists. There are also a series of collections for prisoners of war and the British Library’s newspaper archive. The latter contains The Tatler which is a useful magazine to search if you’re looking for a photograph of an officer.
War Diaries of the Grenadier Guards
War diaries were written by an officer of a unit and recorded its location and activities. They often contain appendices in the form of maps, battle reports, orders etc. If you want to find out where a soldier was and what he experienced, these are the documents to view. They are held at the National Archives in London and haven’t been digitized. I offer a copying service for these documents.
1st Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Date: September 1939 – June 1940
- Reference: WO 167/700
- Notes:
- Date: 01 July – 31 December 1940
- Reference: WO 166/4097
- Notes: A very good war diary with detailed daily entries for a unit serving in Britain and w wide range of appendices including a nominal roll of officers, warrant officers and senior non-commissioned officers on 17 July 1940.
- Date: January – December 1941
- Reference: WO 166/4098
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1942
- Reference: WO 166/8569
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1943
- Reference: WO 166/12464
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1944
- Reference: WO 171/1253
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1945
- Reference: WO 171/5144
- Notes:
2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Date: September 1939 – June 1940
- Reference: WO 167/701
- Notes:
- Date: July 1940 – December 1941
- Reference: WO 166/4099
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1942
- Reference: WO 166/8570
- Notes:
- Date: January – November 1943
- Reference: WO 166/12465
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1944
- Reference: WO 171/1254
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1945
- Reference: WO 171/5145
- Notes:
3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Date: September 1939 – June 1940
- Reference: WO 167/702
- Notes:
- Date: July 1940 – December 1941
- Reference: WO 166/4100
- Notes:
- Date: January – October 1942
- Reference: WO 166/8571
- Notes:
- Date: November 1942 – June 1943
- Reference: WO 175/485
- Notes:
- Date: July – December 1943
- Reference: WO 169/10163
- Notes:
- Date: 1944
- Reference: WO 170/1349
- Notes:
- Date: 01 January – 30 June 1945
- Reference: WO 170/4979
- Notes: The daily entries are poor and lack detail, apart from when the Battalion was in action and during June. However, there are a lot of appendices which make up the bulk of the war diary. One of these is a list of men posted to the 5th Battalion Grenadier Guards on 4 March which also includes their army numbers. There is also a copy of Eighth Army News 26 April 1945.
- Date: 01 November – 31 December 1945
- Reference: WO 169/20033
- Notes: The daily entries in this war diary are usually quite brief and lack detail. There are appendices, including field returned of officers and other ranks.
- Date: 02 January – 30 June 1946
- Reference: WO 169/23194
- Notes: The daily entries in this war diary are poor and lack detail. However, there are a lot of appendices. These appendices include the Battalion’s “North West Sub Sector Internal Security and Sector Defence Scheme”, incident report on Biriya in two parts, and an “Order of Battle – Officers, Warrant Officers & Staff Sergeants as at 25 March 1946”. The latter document records what part of the Battalion they are serving in and their role.
4th Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Date: October 1940 – December 1941
- Reference: WO 166/4101
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1942
- Reference: WO 166/8572
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1943
- Reference: WO 166/12466
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1944
- Reference: WO 171/1255
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1945
- Reference: WO 171/5146
- Notes:
5th Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Date: October – December 1941
- Reference: WO 166/4102
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1942
- Reference: WO 166/8573
- Notes:
- Date: 01 January – 25 February 1943
- Reference: WO 166/12467
- Notes: The daily entries in this war diary are short and lack detail. However, there are appendices for January which include Battalion Orders and a training programme.
- Date: February – April 1943
- Reference: WO 175/486
- Notes:
- Date: July -December 1943
- Reference: WO 169/10164
- Notes:
- Date: January – December 1944
- Reference: WO 170/1350
- Notes:
- Date: January – March 1945
- Reference: WO 170/4980
- Notes:
- Date: April – May 1945
- Reference: WO 166/17140
- Notes:
6th Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Date: October – December 1941
- Reference: WO 166/4103
- Notes:
- Date: January – August 1942
- Reference: WO 166/8574
- Notes:
- Date: September, then November – December 1942
- Reference: WO 169/4981
- Notes:
- Date: 01 January – 30 December 1943
- Reference: WO 169/10165
- Notes: This is a good war diary, with detailed daily entries from June and a wide variety of appendices. These include a seven-page “Account of Battle Night 16/17 March 43” and a 1:1250 scale map of the attack. Also, lists of all officers, warrant officers and staff sergeants serving with the Battalion on 19 October 1942 and 16/17 March 1943, showing which part of the unit they were in.
- Date: January – March 1944
- Reference: WO 170/1351
- Notes:
- Date: April – December 1944
- Reference: WO 166/15067
- Notes:
Miscellaneous Grenadier Guards Files
- 6th Grenadier Guards: Account of Battle
- Date: March 1943
- Reference: WO 201/590
- Notes:
- Bronzolo, Italy: shooting of Grenadier Guards officers.
- Reference: WO 309/191
- Notes:
- Recommendations for Honours and Awards for Gallant and Distinguished Service (Army)
- Reference: WO 373
- Notes:
- Disposition and Movement of Regiment
- Reference: WO 379/18
- Notes:
Grenadier Guards’ Missing Soldier Reports
These files are very important if you’re researching a soldier who went missing during the war. Most of those who went missing became prisoners of war or were later ascertained to have died, though a small number made it back to Allied lines. Documents in the file will often contain eyewitness reports of the circumstances in which a soldier was last seen, with map coordinates often given.
- British Expeditionary Force: France
- Reference: WO 361/68
- Notes:
- North Africa: 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Reference: WO 361/923
- Notes:
- North Africa: 6th Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Reference: WO 361/1076
- Notes:
- Italy: 6th Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Reference: WO 361/893
- Notes:
- Italy: 5th Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Reference: WO 361/895
- Notes:
- Italy: 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards
- Reference: WO 361/894
- Notes:
- North West Europe: Grenadier Guards
- Reference: WO 361/621
- Notes: