Skip to main content
Service phase: Beta

This is a new way to search our records, which we're still working on. Alternatively you can search our existing catalogue, Discovery.

Sub-series

Indian Army Records of Service

Catalogue reference: IOR/L/MIL/14/239-72481

What’s it about?

This record is about the Indian Army Records of Service dating from c 1901-1947.

Is it available online?

Maybe, but not on The National Archives website. This record is held at British Library: Asian and African Studies.

Can I see it in person?

Not at The National Archives, but you may be able to view it in person at British Library: Asian and African Studies.

Full description and record details

Reference

IOR/L/MIL/14/239-72481

Title

Indian Army Records of Service

Date

c 1901-1947

Description

The majority of records of service cover European personnel, although there are some files relating to Indian personnel. Records include those of regular officers of the Indian Army, Second World War emergency commissioned officers, departmental warrant and honorary officers, as well as the medical services and nurses. Earlier records of service, up to and including the First World War, are incomplete. The files range over a number of Indian Army regiments and corps as well as other groups, Indian Army Corps of Clerks, Chelsea Pensioners, Voluntary Aid Detachments, Indian Medical Service, Women's Auxiliary Corps, Emergency Commissioned officers, and also include a series of confidential reports on persons from these various groups. The files start from around the 1890s (although there are some that are earlier) and end in 1947 or shortly after that date, the majority dating from the 1930s. From the 1890s the India Office's Military Department adopted a modern file-keeping system for holding personal information on servicemen and women in one place rather than in several volumes as had been the practice before. However, papers on the early files may date back to the late 1870s, for example original enlistment documents. Thus they include men and women who served in both the first and second world wars, as well as those who were recruited as normal for service as part of the British Armed Forces in India.

Related material

A complete alphabetical index to the opened military files is now available on open access in the Asian and African Studies Reading Room.

Held by
British Library: Asian and African Studies
Legal status

Public Record(s)

Language

English

Physical description

30,767 files

Access conditions

Available for research unless otherwise stated

Record URL
https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/c44743fc-5c90-4a5a-a9a9-c45eae46734b/

Series information

IOR/L/MIL/14

Indian Army Records

See the series level description for more information about this record.

View series description

Catalogue hierarchy

963,091 records
279,587 records

Within the fonds: IOR/L/MIL

Records of the Military Department

13,566 records

Within the series: IOR/L/MIL/14

Indian Army Records

You are currently looking at the sub-series: IOR/L/MIL/14/239-72481

Indian Army Records of Service