Were dog tags reissued every time soldier was transferred to new unit?

[avenger]

I picked up a soldbuch that came with a dog tag.

Since the Germans put units on their dog tags, I presume they had to reissue them when a soldier was transferred? And, judging by all the soldbuchs and wehrpasses I've seen, that can happen fairly often. Still, it was hard enough for them to keep up with awards and entries into documents, so it seems hard to believe they actually did this. Did they reissue them, or did the soldier just keep the one they were first issued with as they moved about?

Thanks guys!

[Eike41]

Avenger,

It has been my experience that they kept the tag for the most part. A good example is the "stamm kompanie" tags you see. These were issued to recruits while in training and they kept them when moved to the field units. Other examples include the training units, reserve units and replacement units all who seem to have kept their original tags. I am sure there were exceptions but this is the general rule.

[BlackCat1982]

Good to get a Soldbuch with a tag as well. Agree with Eike, they generally only got reissued if lost but could be given new if moved to another unit. No hard and fast rules but always better to ask hereabouts if you gave any doubts before you buy.

[MAP]

So....if a dog tags purpose (partial purpose) was to identify the soldier, how would you be able to ID a german soldier if he had his original tag but has since moved to one or more other units? They don't have their name on them, only a role #? Would seem quite cumbersome and prone to mistakes given all the hand written paper work...

Just curious? I think Scott's question is very intriguing...

[avenger]

If it adds to the discussion, the dog tag that came with my new soldbuch has the unit at the time the pass was issued on it, shown on the first page.

I found this bit of info as well, regarding that first page, issuing unit info:

For anything but very early-war books, the unit name here is often the only rubber stamp on this page. This is especially true if the unit that issued the dogtag is the same one that issues the Soldbuch. The unit name will be a rubber stamp, with the ID tag number hand-written in nearby. During the initial mobilization in 1939, rubber stamps had not yet been made for all units, and the ID tag stamps were a lower priority than, lets say, the unit seals or unit name stamps. Therefore, very early books will often have this ID tag unit name written out. If the book is a replacement, of course the unit issuing the book would not have the rubber stamp of the unit that originally issued the man his dogtag, so the EK inscription will be hand-written in these cases as well.

That last line seems to imply the tag would remain tied to the issuing unit, even if transferred or the pass reissued, like Eike41 mentions. I know with US dogtags, they show the issuing area/service command of the soldier. Perhaps the Germans followed a similar convention then, just more specifically tying the man's tag to his issuing unit rather than with the US tying it to a larger corps areas?

Here's my dogtag and page one entries:

[BlackCat1982]

So....if a dog tags purpose (partial purpose) was to identify the soldier, how would you be able to ID a german soldier if he had his original tag but has since moved to one or more other units? They don't have their name on them, only a role #? Would seem quite cumbersome and prone to mistakes given all the hand written paper work...

Just curious? I think Scott's question is very intriguing...

There were/are records for Axis forces personnel, the equivalent of an allied soldiers record. They include his place of enlistment as well as the home unit and then subsequent unit/s that person was attached to. This data is not available to the public. The most we get back for a discovered tag is the fact that the owner had either survived the war or was killed/listed as missing.