Tracing your WW2 Royal Navy Ancestors Online Workshop

The Royal Navy of the Second World War was a vast, complex, and extraordinarily diverse  organisation. It ranged from mighty battleships and fast destroyers to minesweepers, shore establishments, the submarine force and the Fleet Air Arm as well as the Royal Marines. For family historians, uncovering a sailor’s wartime story can be deeply rewarding, but the surviving records are scattered across multiple archives and often wrapped in naval terminology that can be daunting and impenetrable.

This workshop guides you through the key sources for researching Royal Navy personnel during WW2, explaining what records exist, where they are held, and how to interpret them. We’ll explore service records, muster rolls, ship’s logs, medal documentation, and the rich material preserved in Admiralty files. You’ll learn how to follow an ancestor through their training, postings, and operations, how to decode naval ranks and branches, and how to place an individual’s experience within the wider context of the war at sea.

Whether you’re starting with a single photograph, a rumour of “he served on a destroyer”, or a bundle of documents you’re unsure how to read, this session offers clear pathways, practical research strategies, and the confidence to bring a Royal Navy story to life.

This is an online workshop using Zoom. Pre-booking is required so that the meeting link can be emailed to you. Bookings close 24 hours before the event. 

7-9pm

About Berkshire Family History Society

This workshop is organised by Berkshire Family History Society CIO, a registered charity number 1204390.