WWII Regiment & Corps Library
Trace the wartime service of British Army soldiers through a research library built around the evidence they left behind. Explore regiments, corps and battalions, investigate what an Army service number can reveal, and follow individual units through the campaigns of the Second World War. Each research hub is designed to help turn names, numbers and fragments of family history into a clearer understanding of where a soldier served and what his service may have involved.
What is the Library?
The WWII Regimental Research Library brings together our expanding collection of research hubs covering the regiments and corps of the British Army during the Second World War. Divided into ten sections, it provides a structured route through an Army in which historic regimental identities existed alongside armoured formations, specialist corps and an increasingly centralised system of recruitment and wartime service.
The individual hubs take researchers beyond identification alone. They examine service-number evidence, recruitment patterns, wartime organisation, battalions and units, campaigns, casualties and potential medal entitlement, while also highlighting the limitations and interpretation problems that can make Second World War research difficult. Case studies and practical research guidance demonstrate how different pieces of evidence can be combined when reconstructing an individual soldier’s service.
Alongside the Army Service Explorer, the Library adds depth and context to results obtained from a service number or regiment/corps search, allowing researchers to investigate the evidence behind those findings and follow promising lines of enquiry further.
Browse by Section
All 107 British Army units across ten research sections
Explore Scotland’s historic infantry regiments, from the Lowlands and Borders to the Highlands and Islands, tracing their strong recruiting traditions and the soldiers who served with them across the major theatres of the Second World War.
County identity remained deeply rooted in the infantry regiments of Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland, whose wartime ranks drew together soldiers from the region’s great industrial centres, mining communities, market towns and rural districts.
The industrial heartlands of Lancashire and Cheshire provided recruits for some of the British Army’s best-known infantry regiments, while the Border Regiment drew on the very different communities of Cumberland and Westmorland.
Stretching from Shropshire and Worcestershire eastwards to Northamptonshire, the Midlands encompassed an unusually broad range of regimental recruiting grounds, connecting historic county regiments with soldiers drawn from both the industrial heart of England and its rural counties.
From the populous counties surrounding London to the very different landscapes of East Anglia, this section brings together regiments whose traditional recruiting grounds encompassed some of the most varied communities in southern England.
Coastal ports, naval towns and rural counties shaped recruiting across Southern England, from Cornwall and Devon to Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey and Sussex, supplying the Army with soldiers from communities closely connected to both land and sea.
Welsh and Irish regiments carried particularly distinctive identities into the wartime Army, preserving long-established traditions and connections with communities across Wales, Northern Ireland and the historic Irish recruiting areas from which many had drawn their soldiers.
From the Foot Guards and historic cavalry regiments to the Royal Tank Regiment and wider Royal Armoured Corps, explore the units that served as infantry, reconnaissance troops and tank crews across the major theatres of the Second World War.
Modern warfare depended upon vast organisations operating behind and alongside the fighting units. Artillery, engineering, communications, transport, supply and mechanical expertise made the Army function, placing specialist corps at the heart of British operations worldwide.
Keeping millions of soldiers healthy, disciplined, paid, fed and trained required its own network of specialist organisations. These corps managed the people behind the Army, providing the medical, administrative and professional services essential to wartime service.
Completion
86 out of 107 Regiments and Corps currently available
80.3% complete
Why is the Library Organised this Way?
The British Army of the Second World War cannot be understood through geography alone. Historic infantry regiments still maintained strong connections with particular counties and recruiting areas, but the Army in which they served had become increasingly centralised. Army service numbers were allocated within a unified numbering system, wartime recruiting became less closely tied to locality, and soldiers could be posted or transferred wherever their skills and the needs of the Army required.
Geography nevertheless remains valuable when researching the infantry. Regimental names, recruiting traditions and local connections continued to matter, which is why the infantry is grouped into broad regional sections. The same approach makes far less sense for the rest of the Army. Guards, cavalry and armoured units followed different organisational traditions, while specialist corps were defined principally by their military role rather than the geographical origins of their soldiers.
The Library therefore uses ten regional and functional research sections rather than forcing every unit into a geographical framework or presenting 107 regiments and corps as a single alphabetical list. This preserves meaningful regional relationships where they can help identify and interpret a soldier’s service, while allowing other parts of the Army to be understood through their role, organisation and wartime function.
Featured Hubs
Explore a selection of our featured Second World War research hubs. Each examines a different part of the wartime Army, bringing together evidence, context and practical guidance for tracing individual soldiers.
Royal Artillery
The Army's largest regiment, providing fire support through field, anti-aircraft, anti-tank and coastal artillery units.
Royal Army Service Corps
Managed transport networks, delivering food, fuel and supplies wherever British forces operated globally.
Royal Army Medical Corps
Delivered frontline medical care, evacuation and hospital treatment, saving countless lives throughout WWII.
Royal Fusiliers
Closely associated with London, and serving across the world during the Second World War.
General Service Corps
Processed recruits before allocating them to the regiment or corps where they would ultimately serve.
Frequently Asked Questions About The WWII Technical Hubs
Start Exploring Britain’s Second World War Army
Use the Army Service Explorer to begin your research or continue browsing the ten sections of the WWII Regimental Research Library.
Alternatively, click here to research Britain’s First World War infantry regiments.