Auxiliary Territorial Service (Egypt) service records

This series contains the service records of women (not officers) who served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) as part of the British Army during the Second World War, and who had enlisted in Egypt. Though many of these individuals were born in Egypt, this represented a range of nationalities including British, Turkish, Greek, Syrian, and Cypriot.

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.

Most pieces appear to have been organised by service number, however for tranches of this series there is no discernible order.

For Infantry Over Age Other Ranks see WO 423

First world War soldiers' documents are in WO 364

For soldier's service records relating to the Royal Artillery see WO 428

For Women's Services in East Africa, Nurses and Other Ranks see WO 427

For soldier's service records relating to the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) see WO 420

For soldiers' service records pre-1914 see WO 97

For Auxiliary Territorial Service (Palestine) see WO 447

For soldier's service records relating to selected smaller corps during the Second World War period see WO 421

For members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service enlisted in the United Kingdom see WO 440

From 2024 Ministry of Defence

The service records for individuals in these units were originally administered by East Africa Command and held at the Military Record Office, Nairobi. This Record Office provided a location for the administration of service (as well as other) records to a number of units recruited and/or administered in East Africa and the Middle East during and immediately after the Second World War.

In 1959, instructions were issued relating to records held overseas in various records offices across former United Kingdom territories. Records of locally enlisted personnel were offered for ultimate custody to the Colonial Governments concerned. Those which were not accepted, or included personnel of British origin, were transferred to record offices in the United Kingdom and, ultimately, to Ministry of Defence custody.