Catalogue description War Office: The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Other Ranks: Service Records

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Details of WO 420
Reference: WO 420
Title: War Office: The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Other Ranks: Service Records
Description:

This series consists of the 56,261 service records of soldiers (but not officers) who served in the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) during the Second World War and immediately after, and who were discharged from the armed forces as 'over age' before their time expired.

The types of documents that are most commonly found within the service records comprising this series are:

  • Attestation forms, which are the documents signed by the new recruit, or created upon transfer between units;
  • Statement of service, which outline an individual's postings whilst in service;
  • Discharge forms, which were issued when a soldier left the regiment;
  • A variety of supporting correspondence
Date: [1942-1963]
Arrangement:

Some sequences of pieces appear to have been organised according to surname or date of birth, however for large parts of this series there is no discernible order to the pieces.
Related material:

For soldiers' service records pre-1914 WO 97

For First World War soldiers' documents WO 363

For First World Wars soldiers' documents WO 364
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

War Office, 1857-1964
Physical description: 56261 file(s)
Access conditions: Open unless otherwise stated
Immediate source of acquisition:

From 2020 Ministry of Defence
Accruals: No further accruals are anticipated.
Administrative / biographical background:

The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) was established in October 1942, and was responsible for the maintenance and repair of military equipment. It consisted of skilled tradespeople, many of whom had initially transferred from other units of the British Army, principally the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, the Royal Army Service Corps, the Royal Engineers and the Royal Signals.

In many cases, records were added to after 1945, as individuals remained in the Army Reserve and liable for recall to the armed forces up until 1959 or until they reached the age of 45. The records were also used for pension purposes after 1945.

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