Larry confirms NO BLOOD GROUP Been racking my brains for the time when blood groups became standard on British Army Identity discs... I'll have to dig out my notes, but ,off the top of my head, 1961 rings many bells. Dave PS...That O4 has still got me thinking...I was certain that I had some WW2 discs with it actually on the rear, but was wrong...mine were all Australian tags with the expected 'A2' on the back
This morning I paid my usual weekly visit to my old friend Larry Fox and as the result of an earlier phone call he had made ready his box of memorabilia. Amongst the many WW2 items he has kept were his identity disks and I took a couple of pics to refresh my own memory of what was inscribed, my own no longer being around. I pointed out to Larry that the cord was not the original, which was of a much stouter variety.
(Sorry for the offtopicness) Was the 'Jew' on the ID a problem when being taken prisoner by Germans? And was any religious belief stamped on the ID?
Maddymoss Have you asked/checked with the family to see if the other dog tags set is for James ? If you can get his service number that will tell you all you need to know, its a long shot be maybe the answer you are looking for.
Heimbrent (Sorry for the offtopicness) Was the 'Jew' on the ID a problem when being taken prisoner by Germans? And was any religious belief stamped on the ID? I was lucky enough not to have been captured during my time with the 4th QOH and like to think that if I had been caught I would have had time to ditch my disks. With ref to "any religious belief stamped on the ID? " certainly all the main religions. I understand that modern day non-believers sometimes give "Jedai" as a religion on census forms and on Army enlistment forms A more sobering story about the use of the word "Jew" on identity disks was told by my nephew here: BBC - WW2 People's War - The night my father was killed in action It describes an SS interrogating officer using my late brother's identity disks to intimidate a fellow crew member.
Hi Maddy, Not sure how much details you have on the action where J McEwan was killed. I have been doing a great deal of research into this action, specifically because it was where my Grandfather was captured. I have a map showing where J McEwan fell on the morning of the 27th and several first hand accounts of the fighting in the area. If you are interested drop me a line and tell me if you'd like me to share it with the forum. all the best Iain
Hi Maddy, thanks for the PM. I've just dragged together a few bits from my research, so you have something to read. My accounts of the Seaforths aren't hugely detailed yet as I am concentrating on the RSF. Once I've translated both my Dutch and French manuscripts fully,I'll let you have the relevant bits! The aerial extract is from 1941 and the raster map I have created myself. The location of the temporary grave is from some notes written by local historian, who interviewed the locals that were made to bury the dead after the action. Sorry it's not much. all the best Iain
Sorry it's not much. Dont say its not much. I am sure Maddy appreciated it a lot and I enjoyed reading it too... Dee
Skimmod, Many thanks for that information. It was very much appreciated. Your information gave me a glimpse into John McEwan's past, a past I knew nothing about. For that I thank you. Oldman, On the premise that the dog tags in my possession belonged to John's brother, James, I'm visiting Glasgow in mid September to hopefully find the information required by the MOD to take this enquiry forward.
Maddymoss Hope you find what you are looking for to confirm either way, let us know the outcome. By the way did you try the Regimental museum to see if they had any information regarding the unit members service numbers?
All roads appear to lead to the MOD Service Records site hence my intended visit to Glasgow for more personal information. Meanwhile, at your suggestion, I have emailed the Highlanders Museum and hopefully receive a positive reply.
No worries Maddy, my pleasure. When I get more, so will you The highlanders museum can be very helpful indeed. The guy I deal with is called Sandy and he's marvellous! They have a website and forum(which isn't very busy) mostly me asking damn fool questions Intro But they are a good bunch, worth dropping them a line to chat to them before hand.
Just received a reply from the Highlanders' Museum to my email. In the end the solution was quite simple, but as all that generation of the family is now dead, for me, finding the correct information without the help given was a problem. Number 2823481 belonged to John McEwan who was killed in action in 1940. Number 2828171 belonged to his brother James who came out the army in Sep. 1946. Problem solved, thanks to all who helped.
No worries! I'm going over to visit Ypres later this year, to do some battlefield survey work and I'll take a picture of John's grave and post it up here for you. all the best Iain
Skimmod, Thanks very much for your offer. I would very much appreciate a photo of John McEwan's grave. Again, thanks everyone for all the assistance given me in my quest.
I have deliberately held off putting my oar in, while the more knowledgeable people sorted Maddymoss's problem, But I can say it is entirely possible to have two numbers even if (without the pressure of war) it is by cock up!! I joined the RAF in 1976 and was issued a number on the first day, however two weeks later I was told I had been given the wrong number and was issued with a new one, of course by this time large amounts of paper and the odd computer had been filled in. I spent the next twelve years having arguments with stores and Personnel over my number as repeatedly my old number came up and occationally some helpful person would try to change my records back to the old number!! The Q
This thread is a perfect demonstration of Occam's Razor: If two hypotheses match the observations equally well, and neither appears more probable than the other, the simple one is to be preferred over the complicated one, because simplicity is practical. Sherlock Holmes would have got it straight away but the benefit of hindsight, the biggest clues were; 1. the 2 ID disks. Mustard asked if they would not be buried with the body, Owen replied that the green one remained on the body, the red one was retained for recording purposes, so the chances that a family/next of kin would receive both dog tags from a casualty and they have the wrong ID are lottery type odds. (Drew raised that question). 2. The dog tags only had the initial "J". Top names of the 1920's tell us that John and James were the 2nd and 3rd most popular names of the period when these men were likely to have been born. Oldman also asked if it were for "James" However had that all been resolved straight up we would not have got to know: The colour of the disks The risk that having Jew on the ID tags brought. When blood groups went on the tags. That incorrect numbers can be issued and corrected leading to bureaucratic nightmares. And so on. It's also interesting to note that the official response would be on the lines of "not a known casualty. Thanks for your enquiry. Can't help further.". And I don't mean that to be disrespectful to the people who work in the archives, they just don't have the tools/time to be able to deliver that kind of information. I think that it's time that a lot of these archives were made more easily accessible to people who have a real and deep interest in the field, that way many more people would get answers to important questions about their families, who they are, the sacrifices they made and so on. And finally it is always delivered at a price that is absolutely unbeatable.
CMP Thanks for reviewing the thread it makes interesting reading, as you go through you find posts sometimes go off at a tangent but they always come back to the point.
