There are over 4,500 individual War Diaries available to view. We have produced a comprehensive search facility to enable you to find the diary you are looking for. Each and every page of each and every diary is indexed by place and date.

There are a number of different ways to search, depending on what information you already know:

Unit Search

If you know the Regiment and/or Battalion, use the Unit Search. Here you can use the dynamic drop-down lists to browse through our master index. If you select a Regiment, then in the Battalion drop-down list you will only be shown the Battalions within that Regiment. You may also select the Division or Brigade.

If you are unsure of the official name of the Division, Brigade, Regiment or Battalion, you may wish to try a keyword, such as 'Essex', 'Machine Gun', '12' or 'Irish' etc.
Just make your selection and choose 'View Results' to return a list of Diaries with dates and select the Diary of your choice.

Additional Search Criteria

All diaries are searchable by place and date. Using the Additional Search Criteria screen you can use the place/title/notes field to enter a keyword such as 'Ypres', 'North Maroc', 'Loos' or 'Frechencout' etc to find the War Diary you are looking for. You can also use the date fields to narrow your search.

If you know the National Archives Piece Number for the diary simply enter the number, eg WO95/1234.

Tip

When using keywords, less is more. Less search criteria = more results.

Click on the ? marks for more detailed information on that particular area or field.