Not that unusual an item. For me the spectre of the deadly MG08 on the frontlines in the first war is one of the iconic images of that conflict.
Could only find two casualties named Karl from Darmstadt;
Not that unusual an item. For me the spectre of the deadly MG08 on the frontlines in the first war is one of the iconic images of that conflict.
Could only find two casualties named Karl from Darmstadt;
I suppose you are right. I have a pair of German binoculars that were found in a house clearance that are marked to a MGK of the 64 Infantry Regiment.
I’m very impressed that you’ve managed to narrow it down to two possible owners from a tiny fragment of tag like this. I also tried to search on the casualty lists but I got many, many results searching with ‘Karl’ and ‘Darmstadt’. I assume that you narrowed it down searching with a reference to ‘Machinengewehr’? I know the tag was recovered in Latvia, but I don’t know whether that might give further information on which of the Karls this belonged to.
It’s tantalising stuff when you manage to limit to a small number of possible owners.
It was a very long shot. Having now had a look at the units both men were in sadly neither saw action in Latvia. Both fell on the Western front. Sorry for getting your hopes up.
No worries at all. You’ve been able to tell me far more about my tags than I’d ever have been able to find out myself. There were clearly many Karls from Darmstadt and with just a small fragment of it, getting a positive identification to one man was going to be tricky.
I thought it was worth picking up as the perforated line was a little unusual; I know there were variations with holes and dashes, but I’d not see one quite like this before.
Given that it is only a quarter of the ekm it’s also possible that it was from a PW location but again it’s only supposition on my part. Cheap addition I expect but an alternative example of production.
You're certainly right about it being a cheap addition. The seller finds various WW1 and WW2 Russian and German items in Latvia and Lithuania and never asks much. I have picked up a few fragments of broken tags and you occasionally get a nice variety of units and tag models in there.
I used to spend far more on buying things like this, but nowadays I am suspicious of some of the complete 'dug' tags you see offered for sale. There seem to be some examples which turn up on the market with remarkably fresh-looking stampings to very desirable regiments.
This sliver of tag was also in the latest lot with the MGK-marked tag. There didn't seem much point in posting it; all I can make out is that it perhaps belonged to a Landsturm fellow.
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I definitely remember a kid at school bringing a WW2 Panzer Grenadier tag in to school for our WW2 project. His grandfather had taken it in Normandy and it hung on the wall on its original string for a few weeks...
Hello all,
I have come by another M1915 half tag. I wanted to ask whether anyone could glean anything from the markings, partial though they are!
The first name appears to be 'Cormlius', which is a name, but not one I've heard a lot. I thought it was was 'Cornelius' but, the 'm' in 'Rem' seems identical to that in the first name.
Best wishes,
Simon
He doesn't feature on the Vdk database. Only thing I can add is that Königstrasse, Aachen, if that is the address still exists today. Is there any marks on the other side?
Hi BlackCat,
Sorry for the tardy reply - it's been a busy old week. No markings on the other side.
I have just now found a reference to a 'Remarque, Kornelius,Aachen,Preußen 1248' in the Verlustlisten records. His DOB is given on the record as 16.2, which tallies with that on the tag.
However, that would be quite a discrepancy in the spelling of the first name! I don't know what to think.
Names do get mis-spelt so it might be him.
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