Dog Tags & ID Bracelets: Types and Information Thread.

[Ramonewiz]

Thought I'd share my Dad's tags and his army book.
This site looks gr8 - loads to explore.

Thanks

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Welcome to the WRF and thanks for your post. Don't hesitate to tell us more about your father's service.

Cheers,
Tony

[Ramonewiz]

Thanks - much appreciated. Only ever heard Dad talk about the war once.
I have a few small items of his - just need to figure out which threads best to post them on

[Pieter1942]

Thank you very much for the addition to the thread Ramonewiz!

Can you post some detail-pictures from the tags and army book? Would be great to see these !

Kind regards,
Pieter.

[Ramonewiz]

No problem- happy to share. As you can gather, I know very little so any thoughts / comments are welcomed.

Thanks

[Ramonewiz]

As promised. Doesn't say a great amount. Here are a few pages

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Hi again, thanks for the added posts. The 1926 birthdate on the tag tells me your father was very young at the time of the war. The tags also tell us that he served in the 2nd Corps. Do you recall your father mentioning possible forced / slave labour in Germany during the war years?

Regards,
Tony

[Ramonewiz]

Hi. Here's the little i know. When the invasion came, Dad was taken into one of the German camps. He'll only have been about 14. I'm not sure if that was one of the Hitler youth camps. Each Sunday, there was a parade and the bigger lads were sent to fight at the front. Dad was small and so it was a while before he was picked out. They were marched across Europe and Dad was proud to say he never shot anyone- he shot over their heads.
In Italy, the Poles were always looking to get to allied side. He and a friend risked it over no man's land. A soldier pulled a gun on him n Dad said 'Don't shoot - I'm a Pole'. This was the only English he knew and fortunately the soldier didn't pull the trigger. He was taken to the camp and shared all he knew.
I think Dad was a radio operator. He said 1 time he was going down the road in a jeep with a lieutant and a shell came and took the officer's head off his shoulders. He said it was impossible for people to understand the horrors of war.
At the end of the war, they had choice of going to England or USA. The radio broadcasts had said any Poles returning to Poland would be killed. He had no idea if his family was still alive, but he had been told by them that he should make a life somewhere else if there was a war (my Grandad was also a prisoner in the 1st world war and took him 4 years to return after it finished). I think Dad ended up near Coventry before moving to Yorkshire.

[Ramonewiz]

These were my Dad's

[Pieter1942]

Thank you very much for the story and the detail-pictures from the items that belonged to your dad!

Kind regards, Pieter.