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BERKSHIRE RECORD OFFICE

Guide to World War 2 Records

Introduction and Further Information

Berkshire Record Office
9 Coley Avenue
Reading
RG1 6AF

Tel 0118 901 5132
Fax 0118 901 5131
Email arch@reading.gov.uk
www.berkshirerecordoffice.org.uk

Introduction
The Berkshire Record Office was established in 1948 to locate and preserve records relating to the county of Berkshire and its people, and to make them available for research to anyone who is interested in the county’s past.

This is a guide to the sources that can be used to study World War 2 at the Berkshire Record Office. If you would like to visit the office to carry out your research, please make an appointment (see contact details above). Please ask for our free leaflet Essential Information for Visitors.

Who Did What?
During wartime many emergency functions were run by the Government. This guide is to those carried out by the local councils in Berkshire. The two most important local councils at the time were Berkshire County Council and the County Borough of Reading, which were responsible for effecting emergency orders. These principal councils either carried out the orders themselves or delegated them to the other borough or district councils.

If you are interested in a particular place or area, find out which borough or district council it was in to see which records survive. For all places other than Reading, check the entries for Berkshire County Council throughout this guide.

This guide also includes place-specific records for towns and villages throughout Berkshire.
Organisation of this Guide
This guide is divided into the following sections:
· Air Raid Precautions
· Bombing Raids
· Home Guard
· Civil Defence
· Evacuation Scheme
· Remembrance
· Home Front

The reference that you find after each entry is the code to quote if you would like to see that record. Some references are for more than one item. Please ask staff for advice.

This guide is correct as of January 2006. It will be updated in paper form as new material relevant to World War 2 is deposited. Please contact us to receive the most up to date version.

Further Information

Service Records
For information on individuals serving in World War 2, please contact the Ministry of Defence Veterans’ Agency:
Army Personnel Centre, Historical Disclosures
Mail Point 400, Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glasgow
G2 8EX

Local Regiments
Information on the Royal Berkshire Regiment can be obtained at the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire (Salisbury) Museum. The contact details are:
58 The Close
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP1 2EX
Tel: 01722 419419
www.thewardrobe.org.uk

War Memorials
The Imperial War Museum undertook a survey of war memorials in the UK, entitled the National Inventory of War Memorials. For further information, please contact:
Unit C, Walnut Tree Walk
London
SE11 6DN
Tel: 020 7207 9863
Email: memorials@iwm.org.uk

War Graves
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2 Marlow Road
Maidenhead
SL6 7DX
www.cwgc.org

The National Archives
For central government operations during World War 2, please contact:
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 4DU
Tel: 020 8876 3444
www.nationalarchives.org.uk

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