This is a brief guide to researching British army and government records for a person who served in the Home Guard, also known as the Local Defence Volunteers. The vast majority are available from the Army Personnel Centre.
This guide will help you to find out if the information you are looking for exists, and if it does where to find it or more information about it.
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What do I need to know before I start?
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Try to find out:
- the name of the person
- the unit
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What records can I see online?
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Durham Home Guard enrolment forms (1939-1945)
Search and download enrolment forms (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) of Durham Home Guard personnel from Discovery, our catalogue. These records (WO 409) cover the county of Durham only. -
Recommendations for military honours and awards (1935-1990)
Search our catalogue for recommendations for awards (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) such as the Victoria Cross and the Military Medal. This collection (WO 373) includes awards to some Home Guard personnel.
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Cabinet Papers (1915-1981)
Search the Cabinet Papers (digitised records from the CAB department) (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) to find some details of Home Guard policy.
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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Home Forces papers and regimental histories (1914-1956)
Browse the records of the Home Forces in WO 199 for regimental histories, nominal roles of Home Guard auxiliary units and other papers. The unit war diary for the Durham Second Battalion is in WO 199/3324.
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Recommendations for the award of the British Empire Medal (1944)
Consult AIR 2/9040 to find recommendations for the award of the British Empire Medal to some members of the Home Guard on stand-down.
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Other records (20th century)
Use our catalogue to search for the phrase 'Home Guard' and other relevant keywords. This will produce results indicating further documents held by The National Archives.
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To access these records you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£there will be a charge) or, where you can identify a specific record referencea unique set of letters and numbers identifying a document in The National Archives, order a copy (£there will be a charge).
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What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
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Home Guard personnel records and enrolment forms (1940-1945)
Contact the Army Personnel Centre for Home Guard personnel records and enrolment forms. Details can be found on the Veterans UK website.
These records may be supplied to next of kin and other members of the public after the Home Guard member's death.
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Durham Light Infantry records (1940s and 1950s)
Search the online catalogue of Durham County Archives to find records of the Durham Light Infantry. These include regulations, orders and instructions for the Durham Home Guard.
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What other resources will help me find information?
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Books
Consult published Home Guard Lists from 1940 to 1945 to trace an officer in the Home Guard. These are arranged by area and include name indexes.
Read Army Records by William Spencer (The National Archives, 2008).
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Births, marriages and deaths in the armed forces
British Army soldiers after 1913