Research FAQs

- Q: I am researching a family member/historical figure who was in the Royal Air Force. How can I find out more about their wartime service?

A: The British archives that will be of most help to you here are the National Archives in Kew (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/), GOV UK (https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-records-of-service) and Forces War Records (https://uk.forceswarrecords.com/), as well as Find My Past and Ancestry UK. It is easier if someone who is directly next-of-kin (e.g. a partner, child or sibling) applies for permission to receive the files, but if they are no longer surviving, you should be granted access as the next immediate family.

If you would like to conduct more general research on the RAF, some other potential avenues for you include the Air Historical Branch (https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/our-history/air-historical-branch/), the RAF Museum (https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/visit-our-reading-room/) and the Imperial War Museum (https://www.iwm.org.uk/research/research-facilities). Resources such as the British Library’s British Newspaper Archive can also prove to be invaluable (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/).

-Q: I am researching a family member/historical figure who was in the Luftwaffe. How can I find out more about their wartime service?

A: The first port of call is to contact the Bundesarchiv at Freiburg-im-Breisgau (https://www.bundesarchiv.de/), which holds thousands of documents pertaining to the National Socialist period and different units that served across the Wehrmacht (German armed forces). Another possibility is to the locate the nearest state archive to the individual who you are researching, e.g. the Archive in Nordrhein Westfalen for anyone who was born in, lived in, or died in Essen, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund etc. Sometimes, Nachlässe (‘Estates’) are left behind from a deceased serviceman which contain letters, notes, and other forms of correspondence.

If consulting with German archives, however, be careful to make sure that you check with the archivist where you can use the full name of the individual whose files you are consulting due to stricter privacy laws regarding documents which date from the National Socialist regime. It is also possible that you might need to apply for a ‘Sperrfristverkürzung’ (reduction in the ‘blocking period’) to access some files that are otherwise hidden from public view. If you are struggling to decipher German letters, try contacting the Museum für Kommunikation Berlin, who specialise in the cataloguing and preservation of German post: https://www.mfk-berlin.de/