Jim; It's all getting a bit distant and vague now ~ that could be the whiskey and stout though!

But I believe the MIC is the next step. (Medal Index Card)
Basically, if ye turned up, they gave ye at least one medal. That was listed on a MIC. Find his MIC and ye have a handle on him and so can cross check all sorts of insidious little things. Parents, home address etc.
Only I honestly can't remember if ye find the MIC through his Service # or name. A.com / UK hold them though.
Either way, the chaps on GWF ~ if ye talk to them nicely ~ are quite capable of dissecting the man to the nth degree. They could trot out his units entire history, thus adding another, full, dimension to the background of the man.