How to look for records of... Home Guard personnel

The Home Guard was originally formed as the Local Defence Volunteers in 1940 and was responsible for guarding coastal areas and factories from invasion. It was disbanded in 1945.

Most Home Guard records are still with the Ministry of Defence.

Durham Home Guard enrolment forms (1939–1945)

Search and download enrolment forms (£) of Durham Home Guard personnel from Discovery, our catalogue. These records (WO 409) cover the county of Durham only.

For papers relating to the rest of the Home Guard you can apply using the forms on GOV.UK.

Recommendations for military honours and awards (1935–1990)

Search our catalogue for recommendations for awards (£) such as the Victoria Cross and the Military Medal. This collection (WO 373) includes awards to some Home Guard personnel.

Home Office Committee on Civil Defence recommendations for gallantry awards (1940-1949)

Search Ancestry.co.uk (£) by name for papers submitted to the committee recommending Home Guard personnel for the George Cross, George Medal or Empire Gallantry Award.

Cabinet Papers

Read our research guide to Cabinet and its committees for advice on searching our catalogue for cabinet papers.

The archived Cabinet Papers site has themed pages which you can browse, some with links to downloadable documents.

To access records held by The National Archives you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£) or, where you can identify a specific record reference, order a copy (£). To access records held in other archives please contact the archives directly.

Home Forces papers and regimental histories (1914–1956)

Browse the records of the Home Forces in WO 199 for regimental histories, nominal rolls of Home Guard auxiliary units and other papers. The unit war diary for the Durham Second Battalion is in WO 199/3324.

Treasury Ceremonial Branch Civil Defence Awards Files (1938-1950)

Search  the records in T 336 by name, most of the information in these files was published in the London Gazette but some files contain unpublished accounts of actions.

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.

Other records (20th century)

Search our catalogue using keywords such as ‘Home Guard’. Your results will include records held by the National Archives and by 2,500 other archives across the UK.

Home Guard personnel records and enrolment forms (1940–1945)

Contact the Ministry of Defence for Home Guard personnel records and enrolment forms (service histories). Details can be found on GOV.UK.

These records may be supplied to next of kin and other members of the public after the Home Guard member’s death.

Durham Light Infantry records (1940s and 1950s)

Search the online catalogue of Durham County Record Office to find records of the Durham Light Infantry. These include regulations, orders and instructions for the Durham Home Guard.

Various local records

The National Archives’ catalogue contains collections and contact details of local archives around the UK and beyond. To locate these records, search our catalogue with keywords and refine your results to ‘Other archives’ using the filters.

Visit The National Archives’ bookshop for a range of publications on the Home Guard. Alternatively, look in The National Archives’ library catalogue to see what is available to consult at Kew.

Read William Spencer’s Army Records: A Guide for Family Historians (The National Archives, 2008).

Consult published Home Guard Lists, available at The National Archives library and other specialist libraries, to trace an officer in the Home Guard. These are arranged by area and include name indexes.