20100316-MOD Website Notice on ROS V3-U

Making a Request for Information held on the Personnel Records of Deceased Service Personnel (taken from

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the custodian of the Records of Service of Service personnel until they are opened to general public access at The National Archives. Subject to the payment of an administration fee of £30 per record and provision of a death certificate (except where death was in service),certain information can be provided from these records on request under the MOD’s publication scheme. The scheme allows for information in these records to be exempt from the general provisions of the Freedom of Information Actby virtue of section 21(1) of the Act (Information accessible to an applicant by other means).

Under the scheme, and in recognition of the duty of care owed to the family of the deceased subject, for a period of 25 years following the date of death of the subject andwithout the consent of the Next of Kin, MOD will disclose only: surname; forename; rank; service number; regiment/corps; place of birth; age; date of birth; date of deathwhere this occurred in service; the date an individual joined the service; the date of leaving;good conduct medals (i.e. Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (LS&GCM)), any orders of chivalry and gallantry medals (decorations of valour) awarded, some of which may have been announced in the London Gazette.

After this period, and if it is held, in addition MOD will disclose without the requirement for Next of Kin consent:the units in which he/she served; the dates of this service and the locations of those units; the ranks in which the service was carried outand details of WWII campaign medals.

The administration fee of £30 will be waived for requests from those who were the spouse or civil partner of the subject at the time of death (or parent if there was no spouse or civil partner).

Where the consent of the immediate next of kin has been given for its release to a third party, the 25 year threshold will not apply allowing the release of all the information available under the publication scheme at any time, subject to the payment of an administration fee of £30 per record and the provision of a death certificate (except where death was in service).

Before requesting information you are advised to carry out searches from sources that provide access to the details of deceased Service personnel at no cost, such as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) or theArmed Forces Memorial (AFM) Roll of Honour. The principle function ofthe CWGCis to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration of Commonwealth military service members who died in the two World Wars.The AFM is dedicated to members of the UK Armed Forces (Regular and Reserves) killed on duty, or as a result of terrorist action, since WWII.

While MOD aims generally to provide information where the above conditions are met, it will not disclose any information under the publication scheme where this could prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of its forces. In the very rare case where release of information from a record might be prejudicial, the applicant will be advised of the relevant Freedom of Information Act statutory exemption that applies to its non disclosure.

The information that is held on individuals varies depending on which Service they served with, when they served and the length of their Service (see Related Page on - Further information about Service Records held by MOD). In a small number of cases little or no information may be held. Applicants should be aware that the £30 administration fee is non-refundable whatever the outcome of the search.

How to apply

If you wish to apply for a search you should download, complete and send to MOD the following forms:

For those who are not the immediatenext of kin, and who are applying without the consent of the immediate next of kin,download and complete the Application Part 1 General Enquirers’ form and the Application Part 2 form for the appropriate Service. The forms for the three Services can be found at

For those who are the immediate next of kin or who are applying with the immediate next of kin’s consent, download and complete the Application Part 1 Next of Kin consent form and theApplication Part 2 form for the appropriate Service. The forms for the three Services can be found at