This is a brief guide to help you with your research. Royal Flying Corps (RFC) records are kept in different places depending on when the officera senior member of staff in the armed forces served. This guide will help you to find out if the information you are looking for exists and, if it does, where to find it.
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What do I need to know before I start?
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Try to find out:
- the officera senior member of staff in the armed forces's full name
- his approximate dates of service
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What records can I see online?
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RAF service records (1918-1920)
Search the Royal Air Force officers' service records (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) online for RFC officersofficer - a senior member of staff in the armed forces who served between 1914 and March 1918 (AIR 76).
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First World War medal index cards (1914-1922)
Search and download the First World War medal index cards (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) (WO 372) online to find details of campaign medalscampaign medal - a medal awarded to a person who took part in a particular military campaign awarded to some members of the RFC and RAF (Royal Air Force). RFC officers who served overseas in 1916 or later had their medals issued by the Air Ministry, not the War Office.
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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British army service records (1914-1922)
Look in the British army service records in WO 339 and WO 374 to find some records of RFC officersofficer - a senior member of staff in the armed forces. Search Discovery, our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies by the name of the officer if he had an unusual name. Common names are likely to produce too many results.
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Campaign medal rolls (for 1914-1918 service)
Locate the campaign medala medal awarded to a person who took part in a particular military campaign roll in WO 329 for an officer who served in the First World War.
If you find the officer's medal index card in WO 372 (see above), make a note of the reference in the 'Roll' column for a particular campaign medal. Search our catalogue using this reference in quotation marks.
Reference examples: "OFF/168", "OFF/229"
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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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RAF service records after 1920
Use the Veterans UK website find out how to obtain information about accessing RAF service records after 1920, which are kept by the Ministry of Defence.
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What other resources will help me find information?
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Websites
Search the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for details of men and women who died in the First and Second World Wars.
Look up an announcement of a 20th-century gallantry awardmedals awarded for heroic or exceptional service on the London Gazette website.
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Books
Consult the Army Lists for an RFC officera senior member of staff in the armed forces's service up to the end of March 1918. Search the Air Force Lists for his service after April 1918.
Read Air Force Records: A Guide for Family Historians, 2nd edition, by William Spencer (The National Archives, 2008).
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Royal Flying Corps airmen