German dog tag
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by
Stork
The page prior to this one says, 'Identification from dead Bosch herewith.' Here's what I've come up with:
--- Heinr. is his first name- Heinrich
--- Google maps has several towns in Germany named Rengershausen- probably his hometown. I thought 'KR. CAS. SEL' might be the state that Rengershausen is in, but the 3rd + 4th maps here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historic_states_of_Germany show Germany in 1918 + 1919. Those 3 abbreviations don't match any of the states listed.
--- 12-2-98 - birthdate
--- 1 ERS BATL may be 1st Ersatz Battalion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XVII_Reserve_Corps_(German_Empire)
JR884K may be the Batallion's number.--- 3773 or 1293 may be his unit # or service #. The front has 'No,' the back has 'Nr-' those are probably abbreviations for 'Number.' The German word is 'Nummer.'
--- I have no idea about the numbers on the back, except 1293 (see above.)
The 3rd picture here is a German WW1 dog tag: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_tag
What's the point in having the same info at the top + bottom on both sides?
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I believe the dog tag could be broken in half , one left with the body, the other taken for (identification etc). Then I found this article re dog tags.
This disc, in Army parlance, now became "Disc, identity, No 1, green", with the original (1914) disc becoming "Disc, Identity, No 2, red". The No 1 disc was to be attached to the long cord around the neck, with the No 2 being threaded on a 6 inch cord from this disc. No 1 was intended to remain on the body whereas the No 2 was to be removed for administration. Stampings on this new disc were similar to previous issues. November 1916 saw this disc on general issue.
Link with photo: http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/the-great-war/great-war-on-land/weapons-equipment-uniform/1033-identifying-dead-short-study-identification-tags-1914-1918.html#sthash.sEP8riqc.dpbs
Probably why the information was the same on both sides!
PS - As you say he may have come from Rengershausen, which is a Place in Germany. see link with map:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=What+is+Rengershausen.KR.+Cas.Sel+in+German&rlz=1C1DSGL_enGB426GB426&oq=What+is+Rengershausen.KR.+Cas.Sel+in+German&aqs=chrome..69i57.47566j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=What+is+Rengershausen.in+German
Dog tag information - I also found this information in a link: IERs is Infanterieersatzregiment: infantry replacement training regiment
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=742411.0This German site http://www.altearmee.de/hilfe/erkennungsmarke.htm describes and depicts the standard dog-tag (Militaererkennungsmarke) introduced in 1915.
The information in the top half was as follows:
Name
Place of Birth
Date of Birth
Training or reserve unit
Recruitment/Regimental Depot and service numberThe lower half provides details of:
Active service unit
Company and service numberPosted
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
I agree re. the name - Heinrich Damm.
Kassel is a place in Germany (perhaps the spelling was different back then) and Rengershausen is a village just to the south west of it. Kr. stands for Kreis, I think - I'm never sure of the exact translation of this, but it's something like 'area'. So Rengershausen in the Kassel area.
You're right about the unit being 1st Ersatz Battalion - 1st Replacement Battalion. I think the stuff after that probably identifies the regiment this was a part of. I can't look it up right now, but I'd guess JR stands for Jaeger Regiment or something along those lines. I'd assume 3773 is his service number. Not sure about the numbers on the back.
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Ral I think you are correct about JR stands for Jaeger Regiment I think I read that somewhere in an article. PS I added to my original article later, before I read yours.
Posted
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
in response to marie.eklidvirginmedia.com's comment.
Thanks, Marie - I see you discovered it was actually I Ers Batl, rather than 1 Ers Batl. That makes more sense than what I originally thought!
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I found two German soldiers called Heinrich Damm who died in 115 http://www.volksbund.de/en/graebersuche/detailansicht.html?tx_igverlustsuche_pi2[gid]=e819d15b14e342839b35ba14f82e6aaa&cHash=8ba691a0e8affa2ea07ef94ceae2b75a and http://www.volksbund.de/en/graebersuche/detailansicht.html?tx_igverlustsuche_pi2[gid]=82f4d4641f565ba09bb510b9b25ae3a9&cHash=842ae04e2663116b369b2a67d6e8ec85
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Erik, these links mention 1915. In the diary of the 15 Btn Royal Warwiickshire Regimiment for 1918 - I made the comment - "Sample of 3rd trip wire identification from dead Bosche - Ref Patrol report 13-14/6/1918". Seems to be a few Germans with that name.
Posted
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
That's a useful website - I didn't realise there was such a thing for German war graves.
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