National Archives · Record Group 1941–1946 Launch price ends in --:--:-- A Field Guide · No. I
A Research Guide

Find the war your family never talked about.

Somewhere in an archive, there is a record of where he was on the day he was captured, the camp that held him, and the train that brought him home. This is the step-by-step guide to finding it — the forms to file, the files that survived the 1973 fire, and how to read what comes back.

See the guide → Where the records are →
16MAmericans served in uniform in WWII
143kUS prisoners of war in the National Archives POW file
1973The fire — and the records that survived it
V-mail letter from T/5 John Cunningham in Italy to Mildred Cunningham, June 29, 1944

“All I am doing is sweating this getting home alive and in one piece.”

V-mail · Italy · June 29, 1944
I.
The Guide

One guide. Every archive that still holds his story.

Service files, enlistment cards, unit morning reports, prisoner-of-war records, missing air crew reports, escape and evasion reports, burial files, the German and Japanese side of the paperwork. What each one is, where it lives, how to ask for it, and what it can tell you.

The WWII Family Archive & Military Records Research Guide

How to find, request and read the records of the men and women who served
Two German prisoners of war being driven to a prison camp, Normandy, 1944
Army · Navy · Air · POW · Home Front
Illustrated PDF guide · 86 pages · First Edition

The complete map from a name on a photograph to a documented service history.

Start with what is already in the house — a discharge paper, a dog tag, a letter. Turn it into a serial number, a unit, and a date. Then follow that unit through the records, day by day, to the camp, the ship, or the field where his war happened.

$27
What you get
  • The Research Guide — every record type, where it is held, how to request it, and how to read itPDF
  • Request Letter Templates — eight ready-to-fill letters: NPRC, county clerk, state archives, College Park, VA, Bundesarchiv, medals, and a researcher briefAppendix C
  • The Abbreviations Decoder — 250 wartime codes and military shorthand that make old records unreadableAppendix A
  • The Family Research Log — printable workbook to track every request, reply and clueAppendix D
  • Lifetime updates — every revision and new edition, free 
You pay once$27
Get the guide · $27 → Instant download · Pay once · Yours forever
II.
The Map

Where his records actually are. And how to ask for them.

Most families stop after one letter to St. Louis comes back saying "destroyed in the fire". That is where the real search begins. These are the main record sets the guide walks you through.

The recordWhat it can tell youWhere it lives
Personnel file (OMPF)Enlistment, training, units, awards, dischargeNational Personnel Records Center, St. Louis — open to the public once 62 years have passed since discharge
Army enlistment recordSerial number, date and place of enlistment, civilian job, educationNational Archives online database (Access to Archival Databases) — free
Draft registration cardAddress, employer, physical description, next of kinDigitized and searchable online, including free on FamilySearch
Morning reportsWhere his company was, day by day — wounded, missing, capturedNational Personnel Records Center — these were not lost in the 1973 fire
POW data fileDate of capture, camp, liberation — US prisoners in Europe and the PacificNational Archives online database — free
Missing Air Crew ReportThe last mission: aircraft, crew list, witness statements, last known positionNational Archives — widely digitized
Escape & Evasion reportHow a downed airman got home: helpers, routes, debriefingNational Archives — digitized in the online catalog
The other side's paperworkGerman and Japanese POW cards, Red Cross registrationsNational Archives (US), The National Archives Kew (UK), Bundesarchiv, ICRC

On July 12, 1973, a fire in St. Louis destroyed an estimated 80% of the Army personnel files for soldiers discharged between 1912 and 1960.

It did not destroy his story. Pay records, morning reports, VA files, unit histories and hospital records were kept elsewhere — the guide shows how to rebuild a file from them.

Sources: National Archives and Records Administration (NPRC, AAD), U.S. Army Center of Military History.

III.
What's inside

Exactly what you get for $27.

Six chapters and four working appendices, in the order you should work through them. Each one: what the record is, where to ask, what to write, how long it takes, and how to read it when it arrives. Skip the sections that don't fit your family.

Start here

Everything already in the house.

  1. The discharge paper in the drawer — and what each box means
  2. Dog tags, uniforms and patches as evidence
  3. Interviewing the family before it is too late
  4. Letters, V-mail and the censor's stamp
The service file

Asking St. Louis the right way.

  1. The SF-180, line by line
  2. Next of kin vs. the general public
  3. "Destroyed in the fire": the reconstruction route
  4. Final pay vouchers and VA claim files
The unit

Following his company day by day.

  1. Morning reports: how to request and read them
  2. After-action reports and unit journals
  3. Unit histories and reunion associations
  4. Placing him on a map, on a date
Prisoners of war

From capture to liberation.

  1. The US POW data file and what its codes mean
  2. Camp records: Stalags, Oflags and the Pacific camps
  3. Red Cross registrations and parcels
  4. Liberation questionnaires and repatriation
The air war

The last mission, documented.

  1. Missing Air Crew Reports
  2. Escape & Evasion reports
  3. Aircraft serial numbers and squadron records
  4. German loss reports on downed crews
Navy, Marines & Coast Guard

Ships, muster rolls and deck logs.

  1. Muster rolls: who was aboard and when
  2. Deck logs and war diaries
  3. Marine Corps unit records
The fallen

For the families still looking.

  1. Burial case files
  2. American overseas cemeteries and memorials
  3. The missing and identification today
Across the ocean

British, Commonwealth and German records.

  1. The National Archives at Kew
  2. Commonwealth war graves and service files
  3. Requesting German records from the Bundesarchiv
  4. Japanese POW records
Reading the documents

When the paper finally arrives.

  1. Abbreviations, codes and military shorthand
  2. Dates, serial numbers and unit designations
  3. Spotting errors in official records
Keeping it

Turning a file into a family history.

  1. Preserving and scanning fragile paper
  2. Writing his story for the next generation
  3. Visiting the places: camps, cemeteries, museums
IV.
How a search unfolds

Three starting points. Three paths through the records.

Most searches begin with almost nothing. These are the routes the guide lays out for the three most common starting points.

Starting with a name and a state

"Grandpa was in the Army. That's all we know."

  1. Draft card → address, birth date, next of kin
  2. Enlistment record → serial number
  3. Serial number → personnel file request
  4. Discharge paper → unit
  5. Morning reports → his company, day by day
Starting with "he was a prisoner"

"He never spoke about the camp."

  1. POW data file → date of capture and camp
  2. Unit records → where and how he was taken
  3. Red Cross registration → the other side's record
  4. Camp history → daily life, the march, liberation
  5. Liberation questionnaire → his own words in 1945
Starting with "he didn't come back"

"His plane was lost over Germany."

  1. Missing Air Crew Report → the mission and crew
  2. Squadron records → the target and the losses
  3. German loss reports → where it came down
  4. Burial case file → what happened after
  5. Crew families → the people who remember

Every family's search is different, and some records were lost for good. The guide is honest about what each source can and cannot give you.

Archives II, National Archives research facility, College Park, Maryland
V.
About the guide

From the makers of .

We make long documentaries about the prisoners of the Second World War — the secret camps, the captured crews, the men who came home and never said a word about it. Every episode is built from the same records this guide teaches you to find.

After every episode, the same question arrives: how do I find out what happened to my own grandfather? This guide is the answer — the research method behind the channel, organized step by step, with the forms, the archives and the shortcuts written down.

It is the official companion guide to the channel — and most of the records it points to are free to request.

They kept the records. Most families never asked for them.

— Watch the channel

VI.
Order the guide

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Instant download — in your inbox within minutes of payment. Read on any phone, tablet or computer, or print it at the kitchen table.

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VII.
FAQ

Questions families ask before they start.

His file was "destroyed in the 1973 fire". Is there any point?

Yes. The fire destroyed personnel files, not his whole paper trail. Final pay vouchers, morning reports, VA files, hospital admission cards and unit records were stored separately. The guide shows how families rebuild a service history from these, and how to ask St. Louis for a reconstructed file.

I only have a name. Is that enough to start?

Usually, if you also know roughly where he lived. Draft cards and enlistment records are searchable by name and state, and they lead to a serial number — the key that opens almost every other record.

Does it cover prisoners of the Japanese?

Yes. The US POW data file covers the Pacific as well as Europe, and the guide has a section on the Japanese side of the records and the Pacific camps.

My relative served with the British or Commonwealth forces.

There is a full section on The National Archives at Kew, Commonwealth service files and war graves, and the German record cards kept on British and Commonwealth prisoners.

My family is German. Can I trace a German soldier?

Yes — the guide explains how to request records from the German Federal Archives, which now holds the former Wehrmacht information office files, including those of German prisoners held in the United States.

Do I need to hire a professional researcher?

Most families don't. Many key records are free online or free to request. The guide tells you when a paid researcher at an archive is worth it, and what to ask them for.

What format is the guide?

An 81-page illustrated PDF you can read on any device or print at home — including the eight request-letter templates and the printable research log. Updates are sent free.

What if it's not for me?

Email us and we will refund you.

Last call

Someone in your family kept these records. Go and ask for them.

$27 once. Instant download. Every archive, every form, and how to read what comes back.

Get the guide · $27 →