Very rough shape ID disc

[1942Arisaka]

I bought my first ID tag recently for a whopping $13, and it's in pretty rough shape. I spent some time lightly cleaning it with just a paintbrush and water to see if I could uncover anything. Supposedly it was dug from Kurland (it did ship from Riga, Latvia so probably true). Is there a record of what units were at Kurland?

I have a picture before I did any cleaning and my rendition of things I could make out on it. Black letters are things I can see somewhat clearly, faded letters are things I can barely make out (some of it is guesswork). Does any of it make sense? What can you tell me based on what is there?





Thanks!

[MAP]

Lexicon Der Wehrmacht might be a good place to start. I am not verse in German units

But a guess would be 3rd Panzer Grenadier Training (Ausb) Unit A. Roll # 97 and Blood type "O"

Just a guess.

[timeout]

I cant help with the ID but what I can say is, I like the art work, as a picture paints a thousand words, For me it shows that you have taken some time and put in alot of effort into trying to get an answer. I am sure most people would have passed this by, me included. I do hope someone can help you.......paul.

[1942Arisaka]

Thank you both for the input! I am still trying to learn my way around the lexicon but have found nothing yet. I feel like there are characters after PzG but it is too corroded to tell, and the G is mostly guesswork on my part. It almost looks like it could be an S too.

A lot of the effort is looking at the "artifacts" of the stampings as the compressed metal seems to corrode differently. I am not at all confident that is a 3 either, but I would expect a number to be there. Perhaps Company 3? I also expect there are characters after the A, perhaps Abt.

Even if I can't figure this one out, I have gotten a lot of entertainment for my money, and just maybe if the story is true I am hopefully paying some respects to a fallen soldier. I plan on putting together a small display for the Battle of Kurland regardless.

I think if there was a resource that showed the individual units at Kurland that would really help narrow down the possibilities.

Thanks again!

[MAP]

Thank you both for the input! I am still trying to learn my way around the lexicon but have found nothing yet. I feel like there are characters after PzG but it is too corroded to tell, and the G is mostly guesswork on my part. It almost looks like it could be an S too.

A lot of the effort is looking at the "artifacts" of the stampings as the compressed metal seems to corrode differently. I am not at all confident that is a 3 either, but I would expect a number to be there. Perhaps Company 3? I also expect there are characters after the A, perhaps Abt.

Even if I can't figure this one out, I have gotten a lot of entertainment for my money, and just maybe if the story is true I am hopefully paying some respects to a fallen soldier. I plan on putting together a small display for the Battle of Kurland regardless.

I think if there was a resource that showed the individual units at Kurland that would really help narrow down the possibilities.

Thanks again!

Would hope it is not from a fallen soldier. I would hope it was just discarded or thrown away. If a fallen soldier then it was likely recovered by a "black digger" (i.e. basically criminals) discarding the remains and just taking any items of value.

Sorry...not trying to rain on your item.

[1942Arisaka]

Gotcha, I didn't really think about that... grave robbing would be a good way to put it I guess. I noticed some sellers say in the description "found without a body" but this seller did not explicitly say that. His wares are a pretty random assortment, but like you said, hopefully he is doing it right.

If I may ask, what circumstances might lead to a soldier throwing away his ID tag?

[MAP]

Gotcha, I didn't really think about that... grave robbing would be a good way to put it I guess. I noticed some sellers say in the description "found without a body" but this seller did not explicitly say that. His wares are a pretty random assortment, but like you said, hopefully he is doing it right.

If I may ask, what circumstances might lead to a soldier throwing away his ID tag?

I don't know. I have heard of groups being found together ( like they were discarded.

[BlackCat1982]

I'm having trouble even seeing the PZ part of your guesswork. You could try electrolysis on this and see if the iron corrosion comes away. But you need to do this very carefully as it might just disintegrate completely. I think I see a 3 on the right, but this will be part of the unit and not the Kompanie number (which would be on the left).

[1942Arisaka]

I'm having trouble even seeing the PZ part of your guesswork. You could try electrolysis on this and see if the iron corrosion comes away. But you need to do this very carefully as it might just disintegrate completely. I think I see a 3 on the right, but this will be part of the unit and not the Kompanie number (which would be on the left).

Sorry, I guess it would help if I included a photo post-cleaning. Hopefully these can clear up any confusion. I am hesitant to do any more to it, as it is about as fragile as a potato chip and you can see I already did some damage to the right side. I may try to cast it in epoxy to stop any further deterioration, but that plan isn't set in stone. I think about the only thing solid left on it is whatever metal plating was applied.

[BlackCat1982]

Check out the link below. Nearly all Pz Ersatz und Ausbildungs Abteilung were renamed as such in later versions of the Pz Ersatz Abt. If you can make out a 3 at the lead end of the stamping then it will be for the 3rd Kompanie, sadly there isn't enough to read which Unit it is from.

Panzer-Ersatz-Abteilungen - Lexikon der Wehrmacht