They fought the Japanese in the Far East, the Italians in East and North Africa and even sent squadrons to North Russia to protect Murmansk. Coastal Command aircraft patrolled shipping lanes from the first to last day of the war.<\/p>\n
The aircraft and aircrew were supported by a huge network of training units, repair depots, hospitals, transport pools and their own soldiers \u2013 the RAF Regiment.<\/p>\n
RAF records survive for most units \u2013 there are a few gaps \u2013 and some are now online. Full service records can be obtained by next of kin, or in reduced form by others.<\/p>\n
Other vital records are now online, too. In fact, it\u2019s never been easier to research World War Two RAF records.<\/p>\n
How to find WW2 RAF service records<\/h2>\n
RAF service records are the key to finding out what your ancestor did. To obtain a record, you\u2019ll need either the serviceman\u2019s written authority (if still alive) or be able to prove that you (or the person giving you authority) are their next of kin, and that the person is deceased.<\/p>\n
You can now order RAF service records online from the Ministry of Defence<\/a>, although there are substantial delays in processing orders.<\/p>\n The application forms require you to provide as much information as you can about your relative, including full name, date and place of birth and a rough idea of his period of service. Most important of all, if you have his service number, give that first \u2013 service numbers in the RAF have always been unique.<\/p>\n You may need to provide proof you\u2019re next of kin. A fee (currently \u00a330 but free to the veteran or spouse) is chargeable. Please allow some time before you receive a copy.<\/p>\n Service Records for the Women\u2019s Auxiliary Air Force and RAF nurses<\/a> are also held by the Ministry of Defence and you apply for them as you would for other RAF personnel.<\/p>\n RAF records should give you details of your relative\u2019s postings, promotions, disciplinary record and medical condition throughout their career.<\/p>\n RAF officers and ordinary servicemen and women moved around a lot, frequently serving, throughout their career in RAF squadrons, RAF stations and other support units.<\/p>\n The RAF record will be full of acronyms and abbreviations that can be difficult to decipher. There are some basics \u2013 Sqn or Sqdn is Squadron, T often stands for Training or Technical, S frequently stands for School \u2013 so TTS is Technical Training School.<\/p>\n There are several websites that provide details of what acronyms stand for \u2013 search the internet for RAF Acronyms and several should appear. Make a chronological list of their postings (the service record isn\u2019t always chronological) and you can then start to find records of the units that they served with.<\/p>\n Squadron Records (Operation Record Books<\/a> or ORBs) for the Second World War are available online via the The National Archives\u2019 (TNA) website<\/a>. They are also in the process of being added to TheGenealogist<\/a>.<\/p>\n These can be used to create a list of all the flying operations that RAF aircrew completed as aircrew are usually named. They\u2019re also an excellent source for building a picture of squadron operations.<\/p>\n The Squadron ORBs can be downloaded from The National Archives\u2019 website, although they\u2019re not searchable. They are free to download<\/a> during the coronavirus lockdown.<\/p>\n Records for RAF Stations and the many other support units (the RAF Regiment, training schools, wireless stations, headquarters, transport units etc) aren\u2019t online so you\u2019ll have to visit TNA to see them. Station records are in the AIR 28 series and other miscellaneous unit records are in AIR 29 series.<\/p>\n You can search for them using TNA\u2019s Discovery<\/a> system \u2013 stations are usually locatable\u00a0by name but miscellaneous units can be harder to find. The Advanced Search facility is useful for this but you may have to search by both the correct name and the acronym to find the ORB. These ORBs will give a day-to-day picture of events.<\/p>\n Combat Reports compiled after fighting an enemy aircraft are also available online by clicking\u00a0here<\/a>. They\u2019re searchable by Squadron but also by the name of the person making the report \u2013 usually the pilot but sometimes the gunner who engaged the enemy.<\/p>\n Reports usually give the time and place of the action, types of aircraft involved, casualties and a narrative in which pilot or gunner would describe how many rounds he used, what hits he achieved and if the aircraft was destroyed or damaged.<\/p>\nHow to interpret RAF records<\/h3>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>RAF unit records<\/h3>\n
Other RAF records<\/h3>\n