This page is a toolkit of essential resources for military research, primarily focused on family history and ancestry. Here, you’ll find guidance to help you explore military records, understand service history, and trace your ancestors’ involvement in key events.
We are committed to expanding these resources, ensuring they remain accessible to all those researching their military heritage. If you need assistance in locating relevant materials, please use the enquiry form on the Contact Us page.
AMOT’s Succession Titles project traces the evolution of British Army regimental titles, helping users identify how historic units relate to today’s regiments. Developed with David Simons of DCS Heritage, the project offers clear, authoritative ‘family trees’ that simplify complex histories shaped by centuries of amalgamations and reorganisations.
The first release covers Infantry and Cavalry regiments, supporting curators, researchers, family historians and military enthusiasts. New documents covering all Arms and Services will be added in future updates.
These resources are part of AMOT’s commitment to preserving Army heritage and are available to view and download below.
The Regimental and Corps Museums within the AMOT network hold a wealth of information about the men and women who served in the British Army. If you know the Regiment or Corps which is associated with your research, we recommend that you contact the relevant museum. Contact information for museum can be found in the AMOT Museum Directory (https://www.armymuseums.org.uk/museum-directory/). Please be aware that some museums will charge for research, while others will answer basic enquiries for free (though a donation is always welcome).
The more information that you are able to obtain before contacting a museum, the more likely that they are to be able to help you – do you have a service number? A date range of service? A sub-unit (i.e. a battalion of an infantry regiment, or an artillery battery)? These sorts of things will help staff at the museum help pin down the right individual, and are likely to be included as part of any personal paperwork that might have survived. In the example paperwork here, which belonged to the writer’s grandfather, see the service number and regiment ringed, along with relevant dates.
Various specialist groups exist that might be able to help if this is proving difficult – for example, the Great War Forum (https://www.greatwarforum.org/) for 1914-1918, or the Victorian Military Society (https://www.victorianmilitary.org/) for the nineteenth century.
Although museums will be able to assist in many cases, they do not hold service records of individuals. The UK Government website provides instructions on requesting records: https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records (be aware, though, that many records relating to men who served in the First World War were destroyed by bombing during the Second).
Where museums are best placed to help is to give added context to basic information – so, for example, if you know that Private John Smith, service number 4317694, served in the 1st Battalion of the Blankshire Regiment in 1941, the regimental museum ought be to be able to tell you whereabouts the battalion was stationed at that time, what they were doing, and whether the museum holds any photographs or other records that might shed more light on the nature of his service.
The Regimental and Corps Museums within the AMOT network hold a wealth of information about the men and women who served in the British Army. If you know the Regiment or Corps which is associated with your research, we recommend that you contact them directly.
Please use our Museums Directory to find their details.
Please use this link to gain a visual idea of the amount of museums and where they are situated.
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