Soldier Search FAQ
About the Soldier Search
What is the Soldier Search?
With information compiled by volunteers over more than 10 years, our Soldier Search database covers men serving with the two county regiments, the Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars (Oxfordshire Yeomanry) and The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and its antecedents, the 43rd and 52nd Regiments.
Who is covered by the Soldier Search?
Soldiers who served with The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and its antecedent regiments, as well as the Oxfordshire Yeomanry (Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars).
Broadly, the Soldier Search covers soldiers who served with the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry from its inception to the end of the Second World War. This means soldiers serving with antecedent formations, like The Oxfordshire Light Infantry, as well as the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot and 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot, are also included.
Who isn’t covered by the soldier search?
Oxfordshire people serving with other army regiments or branches of the armed forces
Currently our soldier search database does not cover soldiers who were from Oxfordshire but served in other regiments or corps, or other branches of the Armed Forces. While today the museum collects objects with a much broader focus, taking in both armed forces and civilian stories throughout the county’s history, this database was formed with the two core regimental collections as a basis.
The Oxfordshire Militia
While we do hold a number of objects related to the Oxfordshire Militia in our archive and library, you will rarely find militiamen through the Soldier Search. Some further local militia records can be found through the Oxfordshire County Council Heritage Search.
63rd (OXFORDSHIRE YEOMANRY) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery (Territiorial Army)
Though the Soldier Search covers many First World War and earlier Oxfordshire Yeomen comprehensively, most who served after the regiments reorganisation into a Royal Artillery unit are not currently included. Both our archive and museum galleries contain further information and personal accounts from men of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry serving during the Second World War, particularly those who helped liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
For Royal Artillery tracer cards and other records we recommend contacting the Royal Artillery Museum.
Royal Green Jackets and The Rifles
Soldiers who served with the regiments that succeeded The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry will not appear in the database. We recommend contacting the Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum with enquiries related to the history of these regiments.
What kind of information will I find?
Based on research by museum volunteers, the details provided for each soldier can vary depending on available sources and whether more detailed research (such as through our dedicated Research Service) has been completed. Because we do not hold personal service records for individual soldiers, the amount of information we have can vary from person to person and by the time period the soldier served in. In most cases, the minimum information will include a soldier’s name, last known rank, service or regimental number (where applicable) and their Regiment and/or Battalion.
In most cases, the amount of detail will be more limited for soldiers serving pre 1899, and for those serving post 1921.
If you’re researching a soldier who served with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry during the Second World War, the Soldier Search can be a great starting point to find some basic details and if we might hold more in our archive. However, if you’ve already applied for, or already posess a copy of their full service record, this will likely hold the same information and more than you’ll find in our database alone.
Where does the information come from?
The Soldier Search and downloadable Soldier Certificates takes in known details from our own archive and library, including regimental enlistment books, rolls of honour, Chronicles and Journals. It also includes information from other public records, such as Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial details, or summaries of National Archives Medal Index or Medal Roll information where applicable. Where objects or other archival material related to an individual is held in our collection (such as diaries, personal items or medals) this is usually noted on the certificate with a catalogue reference number.
Our own collections do not include full service records for every soldier in the regiment, but we hold sets of regimental chronicles, limited enlistment registers, as well as war diaries and journals. We also have a number of soldiers’ and officers’ personal diaries, letters and memoirs, as well as thousands of objects in our archive.
Help with the Soldier Search
How do I download a purchased Soldier Certificate?
If you would like to purchase a Soldier Certificate for any soldier(s) you can click ‘Purchase Record’ next to the soldier’s name as it appears in the Soldier Search results. This will adds a Soldier Certificate for that soldier to your Basket.
Once you have completed your purchase, you will be emailed with login details to download your record from the website (if you don’t already have an account with us from a previous purchase). Go to My Account, login, and you’ll see a list of purchased Soldier Certificates available for download.
The advantage of accessing Soldier Certificate in this way is that whenever you download the Soldier Certificate it will reflect the most up-to-date information from our database. If we add or correct information on the soldier’s database entry, you don’t need to purchase the certificate again to see this – just login and redownload their Certificate.
I’ve downloaded a Soldier Certificate and noticed an error
If you’ve downloaded a certificate through our Soldier Search and have noticed an error in the information on it, please let us know! While our database is regularly updated, you may still find errors on certificates due to transcription errors or even mistakes made in original documents. If you’ve seen a record in our Soldier Search with an error, and can share a document or record with the correct information, contact us with details at frontofhouse@sofo.org.uk
Please Note: we are aware of database error which has added an Attestation Date or Date of Birth in 1905 to a number of Soldier Certificates where no true date for these details was known. If you have downloaded a certificate you think may have been affected, please let us know.
I’ve downloaded a Soldier Certificate and would like to find out even more about a soldier’s service
I need help researching a soldier further
In some cases our Research Enquiry Service can help! You can find our more about the service here. It’s perfect if you would like to know more about a soldier’s service with one of county regiments, but you aren’t familiar with researching family or military history yourself. Our team of experienced Research volunteers have completed well over 200 enquiries to date, and have also contributed to many larger local research projects and Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum exhibitions.
The small but dedicated team can help piece together a narrative of a soldiers’ service with information available from personal and regimental records. If we can’t provide further information ourselves, we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction.
I can’t find my relative in your database, have the been missed?
If you have records that indicate your relative served in one of the county regiments (The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry or Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars/Oxfordshire Yeomanry) but can’t find them in the Soldier Search, please get in touch. Please be aware though that not all soldiers would have joined their home county regiment, so if you don’t have any other information that specifies who they served with, it may be they served in another regiment or corps.
