DOG TAGS

Discussion in 'WW2 Militaria' started by FAUVELbrownell, Jan 14, 2012.

  1. FAUVELbrownell

    FAUVELbrownell Junior Member

    Hey all,

    could anyone tell me if their service numbers were on the dog tags.

    I only need answers from people who are 100% sure on what they are saying or is what in the posters mind is known to be true, please dont guess as the service number is about to become part of a tattoo and obviously if iv got the number wrong then that would not be good for me lol

    How many digits do service numbers have?

    Maybe if anyone owns any dog tags they may know

    Thanks
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  3. 0.303

    0.303 Junior Member

    Hi

    If you are looking for British Service numbers, the Commonwealth used "Identitiy Discs".

    Identity discs

    .303
     
  4. 591-research

    591-research Junior Member

    The number varied in length. my grandfather was an officer and his number was 6 digits long, but previously he had a longer number when in the ordinary ranks.
    I have seen some service numbers which had prefix of letters then a number, somtimes also with a forward slash somewhere in the string of characters.
    This was common in WW1 and less common in WW2.

    If you are making up a service number for a tattoo, then it doesn't matter how long or short it is as long as the numbers have meaning to you. e.g a significant date, or your favourite lottery numbers or perhaps your national insurance number if you have one.
     
  5. Ken445

    Ken445 Junior Member

    Army other ranks have 8 numbers. Officers 6.
     
  6. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

    O pos or other (Blood group)

    Number:

    Name:

    Initials:

    CS/RC/CE etc (Religion)

    some sources suggest force: army/RAF etc , mine do not specify.

    My regiment- only issued on active service and withdrawn to be held with a soldiers AF2026 (personal records) when on home posting or equivalent.
     
  7. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Attached Files:

    Slipdigit likes this.
  8. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    FauvelBrownel

    Hey all,

    could anyone tell me if their service numbers were on the dog tags.

    I only need answers from people who are 100% sure on what they are saying or is what in the posters mind is known to be true, please dont guess as the service number is about to become part of a tattoo and obviously if iv got the number wrong then that would not be good for me lol

    How many digits do service numbers have?

    Maybe if anyone owns any dog tags they may know

    Thanks

    Been giving your request some further thought.......................

    The thought of "someone's" service number being tattooed on "someones" body strikes me as a little odd and I hope you will forgive my curiosity.

    Would you care to elaborate in response to our info on numbers ?

    Best regards

    Ron
     
  9. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

    1970s several lads had their blood group tattooed onto a shoulder.The Medical Officer was unimpressed. His view was that most tattoos were carried out in a state of inebriation and the chances were that the choice of blood group would have been a guess at best! Some would have been close if they had tattooed B***fast fortified wine!


    Tattoos. Something I have never wanted to have. I saw at first hand (no pun intended) . My commissioning board the initial phase a regular army colonel and four territorial ranks from the brass shelf. All very informal a drink in the ante room and then invited in to be interviewed. An ex gunner was also shortlisted. After all had been seen the regular colonel beckoned me over and shook my hand and a few others , he then asked for a few lads to follow him, sadly they were ones not accepted. It might shock some today (this was some thirty years ago) that the gunner had been turned down as the tattoos on his hands were not acceptable.
     
  10. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

  11. Combover

    Combover Guest

    Not so. If we're talking WW2 British Army tags here, blood group did not appear.

    It went:

    Number
    Religion
    Name, initial


    Some tags were different e.g Polish, had a lot more info on. Canadian tags had the rank of the officer on them, which must have wreaked havoc when they were being promoted quite a bit.

    If the wearer did not have a religion, it was simply left blank so only Name, Initial and Number were on there.

    I.D Tags :: FIRE 1944

    :)


    O pos or other (Blood group)

    Number:

    Name:

    Initials:

    CS/RC/CE etc (Religion)

    some sources suggest force: army/RAF etc , mine do not specify.

    My regiment- only issued on active service and withdrawn to be held with a soldiers AF2026 (personal records) when on home posting or equivalent.
     
  12. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

    Yes so - could anyone tell me if their service numbers were on the dog tags. Is there an era specified in this question?


    How many digits do service numbers have? Again the question is not did!
     
  13. Combover

    Combover Guest

    Wills read my post. Not so to blood groups on ww2 british army tags.

    Also given that it's been posted on a ww2 forum and not in an area designated for non ww2 topics...

    Like I said. Not so.
     
  14. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

    How many digits do service numbers have? Regardless of the forum the question is framed to ask about service numbers now not WW2. Had he asked how many digits did discs have that would refer to another time. You keep referring to WW 2 ID discs I have not done so and I say again the question above does not ask that. What am I to do read the question differently? It seems to be pretty clear.
     
  15. Combover

    Combover Guest

    Ok wills whatever you say mate.

    The answer to the service number question was given above. I was correcting your post. Are we not safe to assume that as it was asked on a forum dedicated to ww2, they refer to that?

    The clue is in the title of the website mate, hence why I keep referring back to ww2. Seems pretty clear.
     
  16. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    C'mon chaps, let's wait to the chap returns eh?
    If it's only for a tattoo it's not that important is it ?
    He might even mean a GI's number on GI's dogtags. A workmate of mine had a dog-tags tattoo , it had his dead mate's 'gaming' name on it, the dogtags were US stylee.
    ;)
     
  17. sparky34

    sparky34 Senior Member

    my great-grandad served with the 14th regiment of foot [ 1860 ] and his
    number was 13 , that would have been an easy one on a dogtag ...
     
  18. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  19. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

  20. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

    Combover we arrive at - you say To mate o - I say tomato and that of course is what forums do! Heaven forbid we all agree all of the time!

    Yours

    Aye

    Wills.
     

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