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Records in this collection
- 1st Sportsman's Battalion, Royal Fusiliers 1914-1918
- 1861 Worldwide Army Index
- Afghan War, Fallen Officers & Victoria Cross Recipients 1878-1880
- Airmen Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
- Anglo-Boer War Records 1899-1902
- Army Deserters 1828-1840
- Army List August 1878
- Army Roll of Honour 1939-1945
- Birmingham City Battalions 1914-1918
- Birmingham Employers Roll of Honour 1914-1918
- Bradford Pals 1914-1918
- Britain, Gestapo Invasion Arrest List 1940
- British Armed Forces Soldiers' Wills 1850-1986
- British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers' Medical Records
- British Armed Forces, First World War Widows' Pensions Forms
- British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers Baptisms
- British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945
- British Army Discharges, 60th Foot 1854-1880
- British Army Officers' Widows' Pension Forms 1755-1908
- British Army Service Records - WO 363 & WO 364
- British Army Service Records WO 22 & WO 23
- British Army Service Records WO 96 & WO 97
- British Army, Bond Of Sacrifice: Officers Died In The Great War 1914-1916
- British Army, British Red Cross Society volunteers 1914-1918
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919
- British Army, Honourable Artillery Company
- British Army, Imperial War Museum Bond of Sacrifice 1914-1918
- British Army, Indian Volunteer Force Medal Awards 1915-1939
- British Army, Irish regimental enlistment registers 1877-1924
- British Army, List Of Half-Pay Officers 1714
- British Army, Lloyds Of London Memorial Roll 1914-1919
- British Army, Northumberland Fusiliers 1881-1920
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Queen's Royal West Regiment 1901-1918
- British Army, Railwaymen Died in the Great War
- British Army, Royal Artillery Officer Deaths 1850-2011
- British Army, Royal Artillery Officers 1716-1899
- British Army, Royal Artillery War Commemoration Book, 1914-1918
- British Army, Royal Artillery, 80th Field Regiment, WW2
- British Army, Royal Welch Fusiliers
- British Army, War of 1812 Casualties
- British Army, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps 1917-1920
- British Army, worldwide index 1851
- British Casualties, Aden 1955-1967
- British Casualties, Indian Mutiny 1857-1859
- British Casualties, Korean War 1950 – 1953
- British Casualties, Spanish Civil War 1936 - 1939
- British in Argentina 1914-1919
- British India Office Army & Navy pensions
- British Officers Taken Prisoner of War 1914-1918
- British Red Cross & Order Of St John Enquiry List, Wounded & Missing, 1914-1919
- British Red Cross Register of Overseas Volunteers, 1914-1918
- British Royal Air Force, Airmen's Service Records 1912-1939
- British Royal Air Force, Gallantry Awards 1914-1919
- British Royal Air Force, Officers’ Service Records 1912 - 1920
- British Royal Naval Reserve 1899-1930 ADM240
- British Royal Naval Reserve 1899-1930 ADM337
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines service and pension records, 1704-1919
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines service and pension records, 1704-1919
- British Royal Navy & Royal Marines, Battle of Jutland 1916 servicemen
- British Royal Navy Allotment Declarations 1795-1852
- British Royal Navy personnel 1831
- British Royal Navy Seamen 1899-1924
- British Royal Navy, Foreign Awards To Officers Index 1914-1922
- British Royal Navy, Ships' Musters
- British subjects who died in the service of the Indian Empire
- British Women's Royal Air Force Service Records 1918-1920
- Chelsea: documents of soldiers awarded deferred pensions 1838-1896 - WO 131
- Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents 1760-1887 - WO 121
- Chelsea: pensioners' discharge documents, foreign regiments 1816-1817 - WO 122
- City of York militia & muster rolls 1509-1829
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour, 1914-1921
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour, 1938-1947
- Crimean War casualties 1853-1856
- Cyprus Emergency Deaths 1955-1960
- De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour 1914-1918
- Edinburgh Pals 1914-1918
- Essex, Clacton Roll Of Honour 1914-1918
- Glasgow Pals 1914-1918
- Hampshire, Portsmouth Military Tribunals 1916-1919
- Harold Gillles Plastic Surgery Archives from WWI
- Harts Army List 1840
- Harts Army List 1888
- Honourable Women of the Great War, 1914-1918
- Imperial Yeomanry, soldiers' documents, South African War 1899-1902 - WO 128
- Irish Officers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
- Jersey, 1815 Militia Survey
- Kempston Servicemen 1914-1920
- Kilmainham Pensioners British Army service records, 1771-1821
- Leicestershire and Rutland, Soldiers Died 1914-1920
- Lincolnshire, Kesteven Militia Ballot List 1824
- Liverpool Pals 1914-1918
- London County Council Record Of War Service 1914-1918
- London Stock Exchange Memorial Roll 1914-1918
- London volunteer soldiers, 1859-1955
- Manchester Employers' Roll Of Honour 1914-1916
- Manchester Regiment city battalions 1914-1916
- Middlesex War Memorials
- Middlesex, Poplar, Military Tribunals 1916-1918
- Military Nurses (Royal Red Cross)
- Military Nurses 1856-1994
- Napoleonic War Records
- Napoleonic War Records
- Napoleonic War Records 1775 - 1817
- National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918
- Northamptonshire Military Tribunals 1916-1918
- Northamptonshire militia lists 1771
- Officers' services, First World War - WO 339 & WO 374
- Oldham Pals 1914-1920
- Oldham Pals Roll of Honour
- Palestine Conflict British Deaths 1945-1948
- Peninsular Medal Roll 1793-1814
- Plymouth Militia records 1625-1831
- Plymouth Rolls Of Honour 1914-1919
- Plymouth Second World War records 1939-1945
- Plymouth Subscribers For Redemption Of Captives In Turkey and Algiers 1680
- Prisoners of War - Second World War (1939-1945) - Europe
- Prisoners of War - Second World War (1939-1945) - Far East
- Prisoners Of War 1715-1945 - Napoleonic
- Prisoners of war 1745-1945: Crimean War to Boer Wars
- Prisoners Of War 1914-1920
- Regimental records of officers' services 1775-1914 - WO 76
- Royal Air Force Muster Roll 1918
- Royal Artillery Attestations 1883-1942
- Royal Artillery Honors & Awards
- Royal Artillery Military Medal Awards
- Royal Artillery Other Ranks: casualty cards 1939-1947
- Royal Fusiliers Collection 1863-1905
- Royal Fusiliers, Stockbrokers' Battalion 1914-1918
- Royal Marine Medal Roll
- Royal Marines 1899-1919
- Royal Naval Division Casualties, 1914-1919
- Royal Naval Division Service Records, 1914-1920
- Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve medal roll
- Royal Navy Officers 1899-1919
- Royal Navy Officers Medal Roll, 1914-1920
- Royal Sussex Regiment Southdown Battalions 1914-1918
- Royal Tank Corps enlistment records, 1919-1934
- Salford Pals 1914-1918
- Silver War Badge roll 1914-1920
- Soldiers died in the Great War 1914-1919
- South Africa Roll Of Honour 1914-1918
- South Lancashire Regiment Prisoners of War 1914-1918
- Surrey Recruitment Records
- Surrey, Military Tribunals 1915-1918
- Swansea Pals (14th Welsh Regt)
- The Household Cavalry 1801-1919 - WO 400
- Waterloo Roll Call 1815
- Welsh Guards 1915-1918
- World War One British Army Medal Index Cards
- WW1 Ships Lost at Sea, 1914-1919
- WWI Distinguished Conduct Medal Citations
- WWII Escapers and Evaders
Discover if your ancestors served with the Royal Artillery between 1883 and 1942. You can gain a great amount of information from these records, especially the earlier records. The attestation records tracks your relative’s life through the Royal Artillery, including marriage and children and the different campaigns he fought. The records include the men who fought in both World War 1 and World War 2.
The information contained in this collection is taken from enlistment books which were maintained by British Army regiments during the period under consideration. Each record includes an image of the enlistment book and a transcription. The information in each can vary.
Army Book 358 was intended to be a permanent record of a man’s enlistment and was, in due course, to be “deposited in the office of the Master of the Rolls” for reference purposes.
The instruction continued that the book “will be kept up to date and complied with care and accuracy. When a man is struck off the strength, the necessary entry will be made in the column “Transfer”. If for any reason he is allotted a new Regimental number, cross references will be made.” Four lines were allotted for each man’s entry and the entries recorded in numerical order.
The earlier entries in Army Book 358, up until 1929 at least, can give an extraordinary amount of detail. Information is recorded under the following headings:
- Regimental number
- Whether the enlistment was for the regular army (R), militia (M), special reserve (SR) or Territorial Force (T)
- Full name
- Date of attestation
- Age on attestation
- Place of attestation
- Whether transferred to or from another corps and in such cases, the date of transfer
- Trade on enlistment
- Parish, town and county of birth
- Next of kin (parents’ details to be written in pencil, wife’s details to be written in ink)
- Place and date of marriage
- Place and date of birth of each child
- Campaigns, wounds, medals or rewards of any kind
- Date, place and cause of discharge
- Rank and character on discharge
- Rate of pension awarded
- Address on discharge
- Remarks
The last, “Remarks” column is important here as it often gives details of prior service, often including a regimental number and date of enlistment which would enable further research to be undertaken in other record series published elsewhere on findmypast.
Whilst the attestations in these large enrolment books date from the 1900s, the earliest attestation noted where former service is indicated, dates back to 1883. Searching these records could therefore help you uncover not just First World War soldiers, but men who served in the Boer War (1899-1902) and other late nineteenth century campaigns.
The smaller attestation books which were in general use from 1929 give a lot less information, namely:
- Army number
- Full name/s
- Details of transfer to other Corps or cause of becoming non-effective (including date)
A typical entry in this final column might read 19.02.35 Para 370 (xvi) KR which means that the man was discharged on 19th February 1935 under Paragraph 370 (xvi) of King’s Regulations. To ascertain exactly what that particular paragraph means checking the most recently published King’s regulations before the date mentioned. King’s Regulations were published in 1914, 1923 and 1940 and copies can be obtained – and in some instances viewed for free – online.
The original enlistment books that from this collection are owned by The Royal Artillery Historical Trust and housed at The Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich.
Discover More about Royal Artillery attestations
When someone enlisted with The Royal Regiment of Artillery the first thing they did was fill out an “attestation record”. This became the basis of his record of service.
There are approximately one million soldiers on the list. But please note that these records do not catalogue ALL soldiers enlisted. The earlier records, before 1930, are very detailed and a great source of detail. After 1930, the records have less detail, but can still give you dates of attestation and discharge.
The records include those who fought in World War One and World War Two, but also those who fought in the Crimean War and the Boer Wars.
Copyright Statement
The originally Attestation Ledgers are held at the Royal Artillery Museum in London’s Woolwich.
© Images reproduced by courtesy of the Trustees of The Royal Artillery Historical Trust, London, England. The Royal Artillery Historical Trust give no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of the information provided. Images may be used only for the purposes of research, private study or education. Applications for any other use should be made to The Trustees, The Royal Artillery Historical Trust, The Royal Artillery Museum, Royal Arsenal West, Warren Lane, Woolwich, SE18 6ST. Breach of the above condition may result in legal action.”