Research Tools
No Regiment ever retained personal service papers after a soldier was transferred/discharged from it – they either followed him to his next unit on transfer/posting, or were sent to the relevant Infantry Records Centre upon discharge. In the case of The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment this was at Hounslow, and later Hayes, Middlesex. On the closure of these offices all papers were transferred to the MoD. Any surviving papers for soldiers discharged prior to 1920/21 are held by The National Archives, Kew, whilst papers of soldiers discharged after that date are still held by the MoD’s Army Personnel Centre.
Most other documents held by the Regiment were deposited in the Kent County Archives (now Centre for Kentish Studies), Maidstone many years ago, where they have to be accessed in person once a reader's ticket has been acquired. A full list of those held can be found on their website www.kentarchives.org.uk, though very few are of use to a family historian researching a private soldier.
The following pages detail a guide written by a Museum volunteer, designed to help you with your research. You can download the document in full below.
We have a high volume of genealogical and historical enquiries, which incur costs in both time and resources. We charge a fee of £15 to carry out research on your behalf. If our search successfully locates documents such as a medal index record or service papers we will send you the downloads for no additional fee. Please consider that while all is done to answer enquiries as fully as possible, a successful search cannot be guaranteed, and a refund will not be given. Cheques should be made payable to 'The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum' and sent to:
Giles Guthrie
QORWK Keeper
Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery
St Faith’s Street
Maidstone
Kent
ME14 1LH
The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum is a registered charity, no 1083570.
Please see our National Archives page to access reference numbers if you would like to search the National Archives yourself.
