Guidance

Request Home Guard service records

Information and forms for requesting Home Guard Service records.

What is held

Information contained within the Home Guard records is very limited. With a few exceptions it normally consists of one double sided A4 sheet of paper (Army Form W3066) containing personal details on enlistment and very little else. No details are held of the duties performed by an individual during his service.

All information contained in the Home Guard records will normally be provided in full. The scheme allows for information in these records to be exempt from the general provisions of the Freedom of Information Act by virtue of section 21(1) of the Act (information accessible to an applicant by other means).

The Ministry of Defence does not hold Durham Home Guard Service records for the period 1939-1945. These records have been transferred to the National Archives.

More information on these records can be found on the National Archives website.

How to apply

Apply for your own records

If you are a former member of the Home Guard and seek your own record, please complete the DPA Subject Access Request (SAR) form.

Apply for someone else’s records

You will need to complete 2 forms:

  1. Home Guard request form
  2. Home Guard search form

Updates to this page

Published 9 November 2016
Last updated 3 April 2023 + show all updates
  1. Added information on accessing Durham Home Guard Service records.

  2. Updated requirements under 'Apply for someone else’s records'.

  3. Updated part 1 of the home guard service forms in line with the new GDPR guidance that comes into force on 25 May 2018.

  4. First published.

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