Is there such thing as a blank dog tag?
Found this dog tag in my garden and cannot find any markings on it (each picture shows different side). Would there have been such things as "blank" dog tags? If it helps I can roughly estimate this dog tag is from early war 1939-1941 due to other items I have found.
Thankfully I have found this piece of metal nearby which gives the soldiers Rank (Gefr. - Gefreiter) and name (Hauck).
Hello Louis welcome to the forum...I would believe that blank tags exist that were never issued and were found later after the war.
I do not collect these tags and someone with greater knowledge who researches these tags will be along shortly to give you further information on.
The name on that piece of metal does not prove a connection to the tag and the stamping process on that piece of metal will be proven if done during the period or post war.
Hang tight someone will be along soon.
Regards Larry
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!!- Larry C
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
So in fact this isn't a dog tag for a soldier? Just a leftover one essentially?
Yes I would agree that I'm optimistic with linking the dog tag and the piece of metal!
Hi Louis.
It is not and area I collect either, but I would imagine that each Kompanie would have spare Erkennungsmarken just in case a soldier lost theirs and it needed to be replaced. So it could be the case that it was dropped at sometime during the war, or even dropped by a civilian after being found somewhere else.
If you google your exact location along with German units, there is a chance that you could uncover that some were stationed near by. Of course the Germans would often dig 'dump' pits too, so it could be the case that the things you are finding were discarded on purpose.
Here is a thread where 21 blank Erkennungsmarken were found -
Found 21 blank Dog Tags
Kind regards,
Will.
This one i find always interessted.
I have been trying to find out local history bout the area I'm in but its a very undocumented town with a population of 300 people really.
However, my neighbour has found a vast amount of stuff (some pictured below) which include dog tags so I'll send him a message about the units that were on the dog tags. When I found the dog tag I messaged him and he turned up at my house 5 minutes later haha.
I have found other German WW2 items - 80 odd bullets, gas masks, gas mask canister lids, german soldiers toothpaste and ointment sets so there seems to have been activity in my garden. The only thing I can find about my house is that it is assumed a German commandant used it during the war.
Is there a sort of database for tracking German units movements during WW2?
Hope you enjoy some of my neighbours finds - sorry I don't have close ups of his Erkennungsmarken
What an interesting collection of relics, in particular the Russian PPSh-41 circled in red.
The Wehrmacht officially adopted the converted PPSh-41 as the Maschinenpistole 41(r), unconverted PPSh-41s were designated "MP717(r)" and supplied with 7.63×25mm Mauser ammunition.
There are a lot of resources for tracking German unit movements online and Normandy seems to have had a lot written about it. If you are happy to give me the name of your village, or the general area it is in I will have a search for information.
Kind regards,
Will.
Maschinenpistole 41 (r) | FirearmCentral Wiki | Fandom
Yes he does have a lot of interesting finds like that. After the war to cleanup the area the English used part of his land to bury dead horses (shown by the stirrups found) that the Germans had used, and then also evidently threw in other goodies for him to find.
I'll send over my areas details in a private message and thanks for the offer to help!
Some interesting finds. Yes blank unissued ekm are not uncommon finds and were available for stamping replacements if lost or damaged. As far as your neighbours relic cache is concerned the Russian PPSH would appear to imply that it was from after 1940 (no Germans would have had one in 1940).
Nice to also find a personalised relic item from Gefreiter Hauck, can't see all of it so not sure whether it's part of a spork (folding fork/spoon) or something else. Sadly Hauck isn't an unusual name - there are 500 such listed with the VDK, although not all WW2 dated. If Gefreiter Hauck got to the Seine then he was possibly lucky.
just to add on here....I posted this before...I think it was in a Ratisbons auction
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