Research Information

Use the following information to find out about a person RAF Service record

RAF PERSONNEL RECORDS

RAF personnel records are held at RAF Cranwell. If service number and details are known please quote them in the correspondence. The personnel records department will only divulge information to whom it refers or, if he or she has died, to his or her immediate next of kin. Anyone else must obtain written permission from about whom they are enquiring, or from his or her next of kin, before any information will be given to them. This address can also be used for records of decorations & citations.
RAF Disclosures Section Room 221b Trenchard Hall RAF Cranwell Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8HB
A charge of £30.00 is made for any information provided. If cheques are submitted with queries they should be made payable to HMG sub account 3267. This applies to personnel records only. The only people exempt from charge are the person to whom records refer to or their widow or widower. Records for precursors of the RAF (RFC, RNAS) are held at The National Archives, as are records for the RAF during the First World War.

Medal Claim

You can apply to the Medal Office for a medal or veterans badge if you’ve served in the UK armed forces and are eligible.

  • You can apply for a medal (eg a campaign medal) if you’re entitled to one but haven’t claimed it.
  • You can also apply if you’re a deceased veteran’s legal next of kin.
Service Personnel & Veterans Agency MOD Medal Office, Imjin Barracks Innsworth Gloucester GL3 1HW

The National Archive

The National Archives is a government department and an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. We incorporate the Office of Public Sector Information and Her Majesty's Stationery Office. We also perform the Historical Manuscripts Commission's functions in relation to private records. As the government's national archive for England, Wales and the United Kingdom, we hold over 1,000 years of the nation's records for everyone to discover and use.
The National Archive
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The National Archives
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 4DU

Tel:  020 8876 3444

Air Historical Branch

The Air Historical Branch (RAF) is a small working department of the UK Ministry of Defence. It seeks to maintain and preserve the historical memory of the RAF and to develop and encourage an informed understanding of RAF and air power history by providing accurate and timely advice to Ministers, the RAF, other government departments and the general public. The Branch is not a public record depository, but maintains a substantial archive of classified policy and operational documents, which are normally declassified after thirty years and transferred to the Public Record Office. The Branch also holds an index of RAF casualties from 1939 onwards, aircraft accident record cards dating from the inter-war years, and a photographic archive.

Air Historical Branch
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Air Historical Branch (RAF)
RAF Northolt
Ruislip
Middlesex
HA4 6NG


Tel. 020 8833 8162

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was established to mark and maintain the graves of the members of the British forces and of the Commonwealth who were killed in the two World Wars, to build memorials to those who have no known grave and to keep records and registers of the dead. Records are held at the Commission’s Head Office that enable staff to help enquirers locate a particular grave or a name on a memorial. Traces are carried out free of charge for relatives, but other enquirers have to pay a small fee for this service. Copies of cemetery and memorial registers and other publications relating to the Commission’s work can be supplied; a price list is available on request.

CWGC
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Enquiries Section

Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 7DX

Tel: 01628 634221

The Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum’s collections illustrate all aspects of warfare in the twentieth century where British and Commonwealth forces have been involved. It maintains an outstanding collection of film, photographs, documents, art, firearms, medals, printed material and sound recordings. The Department of Documents holds collections of personal letters, diaries, manuscripts, unpublished memoirs, foreign documents and war crimes trials records. The Department’s reading room is open Monday to Saturday, 10.00am – 5.00pm (it is closed during the last two full weeks of November). Visitors by appointment.

Imperial War Musuem
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Department of Documents

Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London, SE1 6HZ

Tel: 020 7416 5221/5222/5226

Public Records Office

The Public Record Office (PRO) houses the national archives of England and the United Kingdom, that is, records created by the actions of central government and of the courts of law of England and Wales. The documents number many millions, ranging in date from the Norman Conquest to the present day. Public records, with few exceptions, are available for inspection by members of the public thirty years after the end of the year in which they were created. The vast majority of records preserved by the RAF are located in the AIR classes at the PRO, together with documents on associated topics such as defence policy and military aircraft procurement. A readers’ guide is available for purchase:

S. Fowler, P. Elliot, R. Nesbit and C. Goulter, RAF Records in the PRO (PRO Publications, 1994)

Admission is by reader’s ticket, which will be issued on production of proof of identity, such as a driving licence or passport. PRO staff are available to assist visitors, but cannot undertake research. Details of professional researchers, who offer their services for a fee, are available from the PRO.

Public Records Office
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Public Record Office

Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU