Unit History Files

Unit files contain various documents relating to the history of specific RLC, forming corps and predecessor squadrons, companies, regiments and other units. Information in such files include detailed unit histories, summaries of operational tours, nominal rolls etc. Certain units have very large and extensively detailed files. However, there are other units, particularly those with a short history for which there is very little information or large gaps for certain periods of history.

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Campaign and Operations

The RLC Museum archive collection covers in significant detail the operations and campaigns which The RLC, its forming corps and their predecessors have been involved from the eighteenth century to 1993. Of particular importance are write-ups in sixty volumes of the RASC activities in the Second World War. This material is unique to The RLC Museum and considered by the National Archives to be of national importance.

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Vehicles and Equipment

Within the archive there is a large amount of material relating to the vehicles and equipment of The RLC and its predecessors. This includes sketches, plans and manuals of all major equipment and vehicles used by the corps and its predecessors.

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B’ Vehicle Record Archive

The RLC Museum Archive holds the 'B' Vehicle Record archive formerly held at the Museum of Army Transport in Berverley. 'B' vehicle record cards show the movement history of individual army soft skinned vehicles throughout their service life. The cards held at The RLC Museum date from the mid 1940s to the late 1980s and amount to 170,000 cards, of which a significant number relate to the RASC/RCT. Researchers are able to obtain a scanned copy of a specific vehicle history card through paying a research fee of £25 made payable to 'The RLC Museum Trust Fund'. For further details see the relevant section below.

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Corps Journals

The RLC Museum archive holds a complete set of RLC and forming corps journals dating from the nineteenth century to the present day. These are available for consultation in both hard and electronic copy. The journals provide information on Corps activities, unit news, corps sport, operations and it is also possible to glean information on individual soldiers and officers on such matters as gallantry awards, transfer between units and promotions.

RLC Archive.org

The RLC Museum Archive holds a complete set of RLC and Forming Corps Journals dating from the Nineteenth Century to the present day. The website www.rlcarchive.org has placed on-line all of those which the Forming Corps published between 1914 and 1964, covering the period from the start of the First World War to the end of National Service. The Journals can be browsed from page to page or searched by a word or phrase of choice.

The Journals are a valuable source of information on the activities of the Forming Corps and the lives of those who served with them. The Journals provide details of operations, exercises, unit news and Corps sport.

For those wishing to learn more of individual soldiers and officers who served in the Forming Corps the Journals can be a very useful source of research. The Journals published details of individuals’ promotions, postings, marriages and obituaries. Casualty lists, seniority lists and medal awards were also published in the Journals. At the very least the Journals can provide general background information to an officer’s or soldier’s time in the Forming Corps.

Also available on this website are the Quarterlies/Reviews of the Army Service Corps/Royal Army Service Corps (ASC/RASC) that were published between 1905 and 1964. These more scholarly publications provide a more detailed understanding of the work of the ASC/RASC. Articles in the Quarterlies were usually written by serving Officers on subjects that include doctrinal and technological developments within the Corps. The Quarterlies also published narratives of campaigns and operations, written with an emphasis on supply and transport in the British Army.

Over time, the format of the Journals did occasionally change. Consequently the content emphasis does vary. Please also note although this website offers access to all the Journals published between 1914 and 1964, within these years there were periods when some of the Forming Corps did not produce a Journal. However, activities and operations that did occur in years which Journals were not published are usually written up retrospectively when publication of the Journals resumed. Details for when the Forming Corps did not publish Journals are as follows:

• The Army Ordnance Corps did not publish a Journal between 1915 and 1919.
• The Royal Pioneer Corps did not publish an official journal until 1946. This website does include the Journal produced by 30 Group RPC between 1943 and 1945.
• The Army Catering Corps’ first Journal was not published until 1947.
• ASC/RASC Quarterlies were not published over the years 1915-1921 and 1940-1948.


Click >Here< For Access
 

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P Files

The RLC Museum archive collection also holds over 3,000 files relating to individual soldiers and officers. These files can refer to senior officers, those with notable gallantry awards or simply individual soldiers who have had their personal items donated to the museum. Material contained in the files can include obituaries, personal diaries,

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