A Brief History Of British Army Service Numbers

Service personnel for the British Army have been issued a seven or eight digit service number since 1950.

Before the 50’s, service numbers were issued at regimental level.

These service numbers would then stay with that soldier forever.

For example, if you or I were to join the Royal Tank Regiment before 1950, our service numbers would be somewhere between 7868001 – 7891868.

A more detailed explanation can be found here: WW2 Army Service Numbers

If we transferred to Royal Army Medical Corps later on, the number would stay the same but be different to those who started in the RAMC.

Army Service Numbers After WW2

Due to a huge influx in new soldiers, the British Army devised a new service numbering system.

Rather than being dependant on the starting regiment, service numbers would now be issued Army wide.

The table below shows you Army numbers from 1950 onwards.

British Army Service Numbers By Year

British Army Service Number Lookup

If you’re hoping to find military personnel by their service number then you’re out of luck.

There is no, open source database of Army numbers and the soldiers they’re assigned to.

Rather than trying to look up British Army service numbers, you could try and request military service records but only if that person passed away more than 25 years ago.

The Star Of A New Era

April 2007 saw the new Army numbering structure for all tri-services start with 3000.

This system should allow for ~10 million soldiers to have a service number beginning with 3.

At the current rate of new service personnel joining, it looks as though this system will be in place for a very long time.