Two questions on WW1 dog tags

[rustbucket]

I've seen several dog tags with some of the information "x'ed" out- why was this done?

Also saw one that only had a four digit serial number. That seems awfully low, but is it possibly legit?

Thanks for your kind assistance.

[MAW]

Information was X-ed out for supposed security purposes at times....(as if the evil Hun couldn't figure out what unit you were in some other way)

 

......other times it may be because information changed.........

 

It's relatively common to find.

 

Four digits would be very low....I'd like to see a pic of that one.

[bellasilva]

Also done when a dog tag (more specifically WW1, Pre-WW1) was reissued to another soldier. If all the information is stamped on one side, this became a possibility. I have one such example in my collection

[world war I nerd]

Before WW I each soldier in the pre war Army was identified by a one, two or three digit service number. This number was also referred to as a "roster number" because it was the number that appeared next to his name on the company roster sheet. The roster numbers were also stamped onto the soldier's dog tags and frequently stenciled onto his field equipment as a means of identifying both the soldier and his field gear.

 

Every company in the Army, regardless of the branch of service, used the same system. The company numbers in each company always began with No. 1, followed by No. 2, etc. The result being that every company in the Army had a different man, but with and identical number, such as "6" or "18" or "162" or whatever as his personal ID number. Multiply that by thousands of individual companies and you have a system of identification that is error prone at best.

 

As the Army grew to an unmanageable size, in March of 1918 the system of using roster numbers was abandoned and replaced by sequential serial numbers. The serial numbers, which began with the numeral "1", were issued sequentially and by 1919, Army serial numbers had passed the 6 million mark.

 

During the transition period from roster to serial numbers, both the roster and the serial number were sometimes stamped onto the soldier's dog tag.

 

As already mentioned above, the guys who were in the Army early had the lower numbers composed of one, two, three and four digits, while the late volunteers and draftees had numbers composed of five, six and seven digits.

[Petermedic]

Interesting topic. I recently found in the Meuse-Argonne region the remains of two US Army knives with inscriptions that I know think might have been roster numbers.

 

 

The first one says: U.B. Smith 148

I first thought that 148 indicated the 148th Inf Reg of the 37th Div but now think this might be a roster number.

 

The second one says: HQCO 351 44.

This presumably refers to a member of the Headquarters Company of the 351st Inf Div of the 88th Div with roster number 44.

 

Questions to world war I nerd: do you think these are roster numbers?

Are company roster sheets archived anywhere?

 

Thanks

[world war I nerd]

Peter, my guess would be the same as yours ...

 

The first one (148) is likely a roster number, but there's also a slim chance, as you mentioned, that it designated the 148th Infantry Regiment. But in my opinion, the roster number is more probable. The second one (44), I would definitely say is a roster number.

[Petermedic]

Thanks for reply World War I nerd. The upper knife might have belonged to a Upton Bell Smith, CoA, 140th Inf Reg, 35th Div who got wounded in the fight for Exermont on 29 September 1918 during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. I guess only the 35th Div archives - if existing - can supply a roster number for definitive confirmation.

[hink441]

This is an interesting topic. I have this mess kit and I think the number 130 could possibly be a roster number. What do you guys think?

 

This particular unit had some men that were part of the "Lost Battalion". I have been unable to ID the owner of this kit though.

 

[mccooper]

Here is a pic of a mess kit I have, since we are talking numbers now. Always though it was 332nd MG Co., but....is it? Or? Thanks.

 

southridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Petermedic]

Hi guys, well according to what World War I nerd wrote I would say

 

77th Division / 306th Machine Gun Battalion / Company D / roster number 130 / ASN 1713192

Without a name you would need access to 77th Division archives - if existent - to identify him, I guess.

Very nice illustration of a machine gun btw.

 

The other would be 86th Division / 322nd Machine Gun Battalion / Company C / roster number 74, I guess.