Source: File: Identity
Tags: Fergus Read. See an original image at: <http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/first-world-war-identity-tags>
[Accessed
25 September 2016]
Issued as an
unseen part of uniform,
To be common
amongst all armies
On each side - ideas
of identity discs
Had been around
since 1862 when
ID was worn by
all Union soldiers -
Though the
American notion was
Officially
rejected, many soldiers
Chose still to
wear them two years
Later came ideas of Hundesmarke.
Supposedly Koenig
Wilhelm raged;
'My soldiers are
not dogs!' forbidden
The Prussian
soldiers continued
The reference -
in and out of favour
The badge gave
superstition - for
Some as herald of
death - then1870
The Franco
Prussian war officially
Provided the
recognition tag to all
Prussian troops, obligatory
by 1878.
Other countries
copied France like
Belgium in the
late 1880s - while
Britain already having
description
Cards in tunic
pockets from 1890s.
Then, January
1907 Army Order 9
Of British army
produced identity
Disc -
specifically stating stamped
Aluminum discs to
be worn about
Necks on a cord, 42
inches long.
Amendments came at
war's break -
1914 with cost of aluminium
too great
Led to new discs being
devised, from
Brick coloured
vulcanided asbestos -
The disc still
stamped as from 1907 -
Yet some choose
to acquire privately
Bought bracelet
forms - while some
Had second disc;
in want of a stamp
An alternative
record was written in ink.
With such
exceptions, identifying
The dead was made
hard - methods
Of administration
were to remove
The disc from the
body - an enquiry
Run by Commission
of Graves
Registration made
recommendation;
By May 1916 making
a second disc.
Highlighted by the Army Order 287,
By September 1916 was compulsory.
In the act of administration of dead
Newspapers publicized the fact that
Each British soldier were to wear
Two discs - Disc Identity no 1, green,
Also made of vulcanised asbestos,
Cut into a lozenge shape - while red
Disc would be Disc identity no 2 -
This latter disc in event of a soldier
Or officer dying would be removed.
The tan ID would hang from below
The green on 6 inch cord, on a longer
Cord, holding the green disc, would
Remain on the body into the burial -
As regulated by Army Order 287
Of 1916, every active personnel were
To wear them around the neck; any
Neglect to do so would be a breech
Of discipline, active from November.
The original pattern of aluminum
Was stamped with a man's name,
Regiment, rank, religion all along
With a service number - a change
Was made to drop religion and
Rank, but reconsideration restored
Religion - with any man's alteration
To rank led to a new one stamped -
Such was idea to solve problems.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1916. Soldiers'
Identity Discs. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 25 September 1916. P.6. Col.5. Available at:
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213292/Daily-Telegraph-September-25-1916.html>
[Accessed: 25 September 2016].
Source: File: Weapons,
Equipment And Uniforms - Identifying
the Dead: a Short Study of the Identification Tags of 1914-1918. Available at: <http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/the-great-war/great-war-on-land/weapons-equipment-uniform/1033-identifying-dead-short-study-identification-tags-1914-1918.html>
[Accessed 25 September 2016]
Source:
File: WWI Identity Tags. Available at: <http://fmlhw.webplus.net/ww1identitytags.html> [Accessed 25 September 2016]
Source:
File: Hodgkinson, P., 2007. Clearing The Dead. Available at: <http://www.vlib.us/wwi/resources/clearingthedead.html> [Accessed 25 September 2016]
Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 25 September 2016).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Uniforms
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