This is a guide to help you with your research. Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) records are kept in different places depending on when the ratingA seaman ranking lower than an officer. These are the most junior class of seamen in the Royal Navy. 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 ratingA seaman ranking lower than an officer. These are the most junior class of seamen in the Royal Navy.'s full name and approximate dates of service
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What records can I see online?
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Registers of Seamen's Services (1853-1923)
Consult the Registers of Seamen's Services (ADM 188) for RNAS ratingsRating - a seaman ranking lower than an officer. These are the most junior class of seamen in the Royal Navy. who served before April 1918. You can search and download (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) them on our website. RNAS ratings have an F prefix to their Official Number.
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Naval medal rolls (1793-1975)
Look in the Naval medal rolls (ADM 171) on Ancestry to consult lists of seamen awarded campaign medalscampaign medal - a medal awarded to a person who took part in a particular military campaign, long service medals and good conduct medals. They are arranged by type of medal.
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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RAF service records (1918-1928)
Search by name in Discovery, our catalogue, within the RAF service records in series AIR 79, for RNAS ratingsRating - a seaman ranking lower than an officer. These are the most junior class of seamen in the Royal Navy. who transferred to the RAF when it was formed in April 1918. If your name search is unsuccessful but you know the rating's number, browse AIR 79 to find a document covering the right range of numbers. If you do not know his number, use the name indexes in AIR 78.
RNAS service numbers were prefixed with the letter 'F'. When they transferred into the RAF, the 'F' prefix was removed, the number 2 added and, if the service number contained less than six digits, noughts were added to bring its total number of digits to six. For example, F 1002 became 201002 or F 54559 became 254559.
RAF service numbers between 313001 and 316000 indicate that the airmen served with the Royal Navy before the RNAS was formed in July 1914 and that they transferred from the Royal Navy to the RNAS.
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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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Records held locally
Search the Access to Archives (A2A) and National Register of Archives (NRA) databases to find records held in local archives.
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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
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
Royal Naval Air Service officers