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Using the advanced search, search with the name and number of the unit, restricting your search results to records of the War Office (department reference WO – see section 2) and to a specific date, year or range of years. There are two ways that you can use our catalogue to search for a unit war diary but whichever way you search, keep in mind the advice in section 2 on searching for army units. Unit war diariesĪll units, from battalions and brigades to divisions and whole armies, maintained a daily record of events, often with appendices of signals and orders. There is more search advice in the following sections of this guide should help you to focus searches 3. Keep in mind that not all records have been catalogued in detail and that speculative searching in documents is often necessary. Regt.’ instead of ‘Field Regiment’), and the formatting is not consistent (sometimes, for example, you should search for ‘8th army’, other times for ‘8 army’) you may have to format your search in multiple different ways to ensure greater success name of army unit – many army units have been catalogued using abbreviations (for example, ‘Fd.name of country or region where an operation took place (for example, Sicily or Belgium).name of operation (for example, ‘Overlord’).Only a small percentage of these records are available to view online so, in most cases, to see them you will have to either visit us in Kew or, if you can locate document references, order copies. personnel (for Second World War service records visit the Veterans UK website).daily activities of army units (as recorded in unit war diaries).However, as the army, naval and air services were more integrated than ever before during the war, you can also find many other related operational files in the records of Royal Air Force operations and Royal Navy operations. The focus of the guide is on War Office records. Allied and colonial troops under British command.Canadian, New Zealand, South African or Indian forces (also known as dominion forces) under British command.This guide will help you find records at The National Archives relating to military operations in the Second World War, planned and carried out by the: