Digitized Durham Home Guard records 1939-1945 - TNA

[kiterunner]

Searchable by name:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/durham-home-guard.htm

(you may need to scroll down to see the search form).

Each record costs £3.36 to view. Records for people born less than 100 years ago may not be available to view.

[Durham Lady]

Thanks Kite, I've just found one of my uncles and another member of the extended family.

[JayG]

I read about this coming online last year, pleased to see it's here.

I knew my granda was in the HG & did apply for his records a few years, the MOD rang me to say I was wasting my money as i'd only get an A4 piece of paper so I never got them. I've found his records & got a total of 6 images!

Also found a paternal great grandfather, 2 brothers of my maternal grandma, 3 of their cousins & a whole host of other relatives.

Pleased to see Daphne's had sucess too.

[Phoenix]

Thanks, Kite!

I've notched up a couple for my one name study, complete with dates of birth.

If only they'd do London! I know my Dad served in the Home Guard. He tried to join the airforce three times, even grew a moustache in anticipation, but they wanted him to interrogate Germans instead.

[kiterunner]

I believe Durham was a pilot project but don't know whether they've yet decided if they are going to do the rest of the country or not. I should think you're more likely to know about that, though, Phoenix?

[Phoenix]

I ought to have my ear more to the ground. I went to a meeting at TNA last Saturday (purely by chance) which was one of those pr exercises, very poorly attended. Several patent military researchers who were clearly up to speed with what was happening.

They produced stats showing what were the most popular dox - foreign office is streets ahead, followed by war office.

I suspect that these will prove popular, if only because so little on WW2 is readily available and that will justify future work, but I wouldn't like to hazard a time scale. And because they have already launched this, they are unlikely to give it a slot at Catalogue Day.

[BarnsleyHistorian]

Hi all

I fell on the Home Guard records by accident today whilst on the National Archives site for something else - have been expecting them for a while and am surprised they slipped past me. Despite having my grandfather's Durham Home Guard uniform patches and some papers that show he was in the 11th battalion there is no sign of him or his best friend (whom he 'blew up' during a practice according to my mum) in the records.

William Satchell Hutton b.1905 Helmington Row, Crook
George Edgar (similar age)
Both living in the Pagebank, Spennymoor area of Durham during WW2.

I've tried a search all the way through the battalion and the names search with various spellings, but how hard is William Hutton? Disappointed, but maybe there's something they're not telling us about the coverage of these records?

Linda

[kiterunner]

I can't see either of them on there.

[Phoenix]

There seem to be plenty of records for the 11th Battalion, so it may be worth contacting TNA.

I've noticed on their blurb that it sounds as if they only hold Durham rceords, with everything else held by the MoD. I wonder if some of the Durham records have been retained by the MoD.

[BarnsleyHistorian]

Thanks for your comments and for checking - nice to know I wasn't just searching in the wrong place.

I did wonder if my grandad being the officer (he was the local colliery manager) had made a difference, maybe their records were kept elsewhere.

I have emailed the National Archives with substantially the information I posted on this site. Of course it's now a Bank Holiday weekend, so I won't hold my breath.

Cross Fingers!
Linda

[JayG]

I have noticed that the record for my grandma's brother who was born less than 100 years ago can now be downloaded. This wasn't the case when the records went live last year. He died in 1992.

I've searched for other people in my tree who were born less than 100 years ago and have died, their records can be downloaded. Results for people I believe are still alive or have died in the last few years can't be downloaded.

I've just found an update on the TNA website from April 2013 which says that a further 20000 records were identified as being ready for opening and were made available to be downloaded. Doesn't say how they were identified?

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/836.htm