The following guides will help you to research a soldier who served in the British Army during the Second World War. Researching these soldiers can be a difficult task, as unlike for First World War soldiers, most of the information you will need to consult is not available online.

If you are just beginning your research, I’d recommend starting with my guide to ordering a British Army service record. Once you have a service record, you will then need to interpret and understand its contents which can be quite difficult. My list of British Army acronyms and abbreviations will help you decipher the military jargon.

The next stage of your research will be adding more information regarding the units a soldier served with. Depending on the unit, there can be a wide variety of resources to consult but the most useful will be its war diary. A war diary will record a unit’s location and daily activities whether in Britain or abroad. I have written another guide to help you find these documents.

My Six Most Important Guides to Help you Research Soldiers who Served in the British Army during the Second World War

The six guides below are the most important to help you research a soldier who served with the British Army in the Second World War. I would suggest reading them in the following order:

• How to order a British Army Service Record
• A Guide to Army and Personal Numbers
• How to Find an Army Number
• British Army Second World War Casualty Lists
• What are War Diaries? Why are they so Important and How to Find Them
• A list of British Army Abbreviations and Acronyms

Additional Guides to Researching Second World War Soldiers

• British Army Second World War Medal Records
• Finding British Indian Army Officers’ Service Records
• Enquiries into British Soldiers who Went Missing

Researching Soldiers who Served in the Royal Artillery

• Researching Soldiers who Served in an Anti-Tank Regiment
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Field Regiment
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Medium Regiment
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Royal Horse Artillery Regiment

Researching Soldiers who Served in the Royal Engineers

• Researching Soldiers who served with an Army Troops Company
• Researching Soldiers who Served in an Artisan Works Company
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Field Company
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Field Park Company
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Field Squadron
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Field Park Squadron
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Forestry Company
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a General Construction Company
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Quarrying Company
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Road Construction Company
• Researching Soldiers who Served in a Tunnelling Company

Researching Soldiers who Served in the Foot Guards

• The Scots Guards in the Second World War
• The Irish Guards in the Second World War
• The Welsh Guards in the Second World War

Researching Soldiers who Served in the Pioneer Corps

• Researching Soldiers who Served in the Pioneer Corps
• Labour Companies of the British Expeditionary Force
• Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps Order of Battle France 1940
• Pioneer Corps Order of Battle March 1941
• 51st Company Pioneer Corps
• 152nd Company Pioneer Corps
• 277th Company Pioneer Corps

While the most important documents to get hold of are a soldier’s service record and then the war diaries of the units they served with, a handful of Second World War records are online. The most important is the British Army Casualty Lists which are available on FindmyPast which also have other Second World War records. These include Royal Artillery casualty cards, a variety of prisoner of war records, and Royal Engineers soldier index cards, amongst others. The banner below will take you to the website and they offer a free trial period.