Other Sources of Information

You will find The Durham Light Infantry collection deposited in the Durham County Record Office, reference D/DLI. It includes an extensive collection of photographs, from the Crimean War onwards. You can see images of the DLI photographs by searching our website.

Official Army Service Records

Pre 1920 Service Records

You will find records in The National Archives.

Post 1920 Service Records

You will find records held by The Ministry of Defence.

Other ranks (not officers) who enlisted in the regiment between 1920 and 1945, or who were discharged from the regiment between 1920 and 1958, are recorded in the enlistment and discharge books deposited in the Record Office. You will find details of our holdings in the Durham Light Infantry catalogues (ref:D/DLI) which can be searched online. The books do not contain as much information as the service records held by the Ministry of Defence.

You will find lots of advice on tracing soldiers on The Long Long Trail, a website devoted to the First World War.

The Regimental Collection

You will find in the collection such records as army lists, war diaries, digests of service, regimental and battalion histories, scrapbooks, photographs, muster rolls, regimental journals and newsletters, order books, newspaper cuttings, to name but a few.
You will also find the records of individual soldiers which were presented to the regiment and the regimental museum by servicemen, ex-servicemen and their families or executors, and by collectors of militaria. You will find full details of our holdings for each battalion online.
The collection also includes records of the following:

• Volunteer Forces before 1860
• Durham County Volunteer Corps
• Durham Home Guard
• The Royal Artillery
• Durham Light Infantry Museum and Trustees
• The Durham Light Infantry Association
• The Light Infantry
• Territorial Army and Volunteer Reserve Association of County Durham
• British Army

In the Record Office library you will find various histories of the regiment and of specific battalions. Some of the latter publications can be purchased from Durham County Council's online shop.

You will find full details of our holdings online.

You will find timelines for each battalion in the Record Office. Please contact us for further information.