Taken from I Corps itel file dated Jan. 1940 - WO 167/125. Posted for ref but I thought Dave would be interested in this:
I'm not really sure, but I think it was the first unit a soldier was in that is stamped on the ID. Afaik only the WASt can tell you the identity of a soldier based on his ID disc.
correct only the frirst unit, so if they went to another unit, they still had their first unit number which made it sometimes very difficult to find out who he was, a fire (Ithink during the war) in their records left them also with a gap in their files.
The plate is stamped twice with the details of the soldier. If the soldier is killed the plate is broken into two pieces and half remains with the body and the other with the person who removed, which is then handed to the commander to be forwarded to the graves registration office. Regards Tom
Taken from I Corps itel file dated Jan. 1940 - WO 167/125. Posted for ref but I thought Dave would be interested in this: Thanks for that Andy. Interesting to see mention of zinc tags as early as January 1940 (most were aluminium at this stage). It also shows how blinkered British military intel must have been throughout the 1930's to be so unsure about them and what they mean...after all, they had been of that pattern for nearly 15 years at this point and there had been no secret about them in German documentation. They even get a write up in US Army notes on the German Army from (at least) as far back as 1936! Dave
I think the 'Unit' issued an ID tag to the soldier as against the Soldier keeping his own ID tag as in the British army.. could be wrong though !
I think the 'Unit' issued an ID tag to the soldier as against the Soldier keeping his own ID tag as in the British army.. could be wrong though ! German army, they actually did keep their ID tag.
I came across these German ID discs today on line. They are for members of two Panzer Battalions during the war. Reading the above thread, I am understanding it correctly, that a soldiers name was not written on his disc, just his unit and number? Another question; does anyone know what the small letter O stands for on the second disc?
I have no idea but from the shape of the stroke it might be a zero rather than an O. It looks the same to me as the zero in 507.
I have been exploring deeper into my earlier question and have discovered that the letter on the lower half of the second disc, does signify the soldier's blood group, so thanks again.
I think that you will find that the 507 Panzer Regiment had TIGER 1 Tanks. Heavy Panzer Battalions. Regards Tom
Thanks Tom. I was only repeating the info for each disc that was given on the original images. It is the first time I had seen such items and found them rather interesting even though they are off-topic for me.
