Royal Field Artillery: Driver Sewell's home-made dog-tag

[whitehound]

I have in my possession a home-made British military dog-tag which I acquired in a box of assorted broken jewellery etc.. I believe it dates from WWI.

The tag is made from an Italian bronze coin of Vittorio Emanuele II, which dates it between 1861 and 1878 (although of course one doesn't know how old the coin was when it was converted). The coin is about the size of a modern 2p bit, very worn and slightly bent in a way which suggests it was worn for a long time. The "tails" side has been ground smooth and then decorated by boring little dots in it with some sort of sharp implement, to form words, and then a hole has been bored right through on either side to take a cord.

There's a ring of decorative dots around the edge and then inside that it says:

Dr. P. SEWELL

PRES.

R.F.A.

*25197*

(or it could be 2S197)

I thought at first that "R.F.A." referred to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, but I contacted someone at the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and they suggested it might in fact be from the Royal Fleet Artillery. I contacted a Lt Col WAH Townend at the Royal Fleet Artillery, and he in turn suggested the Royal Field Artillery, and that Dr stood for Driver. PRES probably means Presbyterian.

Lt Col Tonwend said "early identity discs were made of aluminium and soldiers often made their own from a stronger metal. That it is an Italian coin may be because the soldier served in Italy (General Plumer took five British divisions to Italy in November 1917), or it may have been one he found or was given at home and he never served in Italy at all."

If there are any relatives of Dr P Sewell around - or for that matter any collections of WWI memorabilia - who would like to have this tag I would be happy to send it to them.

[apwright]

There's a medal card for a 23197 Dvr Philip SEWELL, Royal Field Artillery. Went to France on 21/12/14.

His Service Record also exists (wrongly indexed on Ancestry with no.23163).

A butcher from Canongate, Edinburgh, aged 23 yrs 23 days on attesting on 30/9/14.

Served with several batteries in France and Salonika.

Demobilized on 31/3/20. His father was John of 12 Waverley Park, Edinburgh.

Adrian

EDIT: P.S. Welcome to the Forum!

[whitehound]

EDIT: P.S. Welcome to the Forum!

Thanks

Wow, that was quick - and yes, the second numeral *could* be a 3 if his hand slipped a bit while he was doing the cross-bar. Here's a scan of it - though it hasn't come out very well.

And yes, I acquired it in Edinburgh. That seems like a definite hit - and it's nice to know he survived.

So - wonder if there are any descendants of his around who'd like it back? Unfortunately the Scottish records aren't online - you have to go to the Records Office and pay.

[headgardener]

It would have been worn on his wrist, rather than round his neck, hence the 'bend' in the coin.

Lot's of these unofficial ID bracelets were made, I've heard that men would wear them on both wrists together with the regular tags round their necks so that, in the event of them being killed, it would give them the best possible chance of their bodies being identified.

[Rockdoc]

There were Italian troops on the Salonika Front, of course, so he need not have served in Italy itself.

Keith

[centurion]

The tag is made from an Italian bronze coin of Vittorio Emanuele II, which dates it between 1861 and 1878 (although of course one doesn't know how old the coin was when it was converted). The coin is about the size of a modern 2p bit, very worn and slightly bent in a way which suggests it was worn for a long time. The "tails" side has been ground smooth and then decorated by boring little dots in it with some sort of sharp implement

Looks as if it has been done with a standard metal punch (and a hammer) such as was (and probably still is) used to mark a piece of metal, for example to show where to drill (and provide a means for the bit to gain purchase). A simple tool but not one the ordinary soldier would have in his kit. Armourers might have one and the divisional workshop certainly would

Edit - the neatness of the punching also suggests that the coin would have been held in some form of vice, this would also have made filing it smooth much easier as well. Your man had access to a workshop.

[Rockdoc]

There were RA fitters associated with the guns, too, Centurion. I know that the fitters with the AA Sections made parts from scratch so they would have needed marking-out tools as well. I would imagine their colleagues with the field guns were just as capable.

Keith

[Tyrim]

Keith,

Were the Fitters called that officially or would they have been classified as Gunners? My GF was a Gunner with the RGA but before the War he was a smith's helper. After being injured he transferred to the RE and resumed that kind of work. I was wondering if he might have done that with the RGA as well.

tyrim

[Mk VII]

Fitter would be a trade, as distinct from a rank.

[Tyrim]

Mk VII,

So it would be possible to have the rank of Gunner and work as a fitter in a battery. That's interesting. So he might have been doing that in the RGA but there's no way to prove it. Still, an interesting possibility.

Thank you, MkVII

tyrim

[whitehound]

Edit - the neatness of the punching also suggests that the coin would have been held in some form of vice, this would also have made filing it smooth much easier as well. Your man had access to a workshop.

Hmm - mebbe. Then again he might just have found a convenient spot on a gun carruage where he could wedge it in while he worked on it. There are a few dents and notches in the rim but they don't look as if they're from a vice - more like normal wear and tear on the coin, when it was still in circulation.

I wonder - if he was a driver of horses, could he have had leather-working tools for mending harness, including an awl? Or have brought some of his own butcher's tools.

[centurion]

Hmm - mebbe. Then again he might just have found a convenient spot on a gun carruage where he could wedge it in while he worked on it. There are a few dents and notches in the rim but they don't look as if they're from a vice - more like normal wear and tear on the coin, when it was still in circulation.

I wonder - if he was a driver of horses, could he have had leather-working tools for mending harness, including an awl? Or have brought some of his own butcher's tools.

From what I can see from the photo the size and circularity of the dents preclude any thing other than a punch. an awl wouldn't do it. This requires striking the punch with a hammer so both hands are needed and the disc needs to be firmly gripped and resting on a resistant surface. Using a vice, if done properly, should not leave marks (thats why some vices have tin covers that can be placed over the jaws so any marking is left on the softer tin). Also filing down one side of the coin would be much easier if it were properly gripped. Metal working files are not part of a leather workers kit

I suspect Rocdoc has the right of it and your man borrowed the workshop facilities available

[centurion]

Of course there is an alternative - someone in the RA workshops had a nice little sideline turning out ID discs and things to order

[Rockdoc]

So it would be possible to have the rank of Gunner and work as a fitter in a battery. That's interesting. So he might have been doing that in the RGA but there's no way to prove it. Still, an interesting possibility.

Gunner is the rank of the Artillery equivalent to Private in the infantry so there would have been lots of Gunners who didn't have a lot to do with firing shells. Apart from the fitters, there were saddlers and farriers, for example. Tradesmen would advance in the same way as other members of the RA so there would have been Bombardier and Sergeants, too. Jobs that were too much for the Battery fitters would either be done by Workshops operated by the Inspectors of Ordnance Machinery (IOM) or supervised by their people. In the Diaries of the Salonika AA Sections I've come across references to Staff Sergeants coming out to a position to oversee things like changing a piece.

It doesn't necessarily follow that the tag was made by someone in the Army. I have a paper-knife my Grandfather brought back from Salonika, dated 1917, that is made up from a Turkish Mauser bullet and a piece of sheet brass. The design on the blade is quite intricate and I've always thought it was more likely he bought it from a local than from a colleague. I've no proof either way but that's my gut feeling.

Keith

[centurion]

Does the head section of the coin give a denomination?

[whitehound]

No - just the name of the king of Italy. But it's a large, fairly thin bronze coin - it must be a pretty low denomination. I could ask an Italian friend about it.

There are a few scratches on the coin. The ones on the heads side look fresh - they must have happened when it was rattling around in a bag of junk jewellery. But the ones on the dog-tag side are old and patinated and probably happened when it was being filed smooth.

The holes have been made with three sizes of tool - a great big one for the cord-holes, a tiny one for marking out the letters and a medium-sized one for the full stops. The medium=-sized one seems to have been tried out on the heads side - there are two random pits on the king's jaw.

[centurion]

No - just the name of the king of Italy. But it's a large, fairly thin bronze coin - it must be a pretty low denomination. I could ask an Italian friend about it.

There are a few scratches on the coin. The ones on the heads side look fresh - they must have happened when it was rattling around in a bag of junk jewellery. But the ones on the dog-tag side are old and patinated and probably happened when it was being filed smooth.

The holes have been made with three sizes of tool - a great big one for the cord-holes, a tiny one for marking out the letters and a medium-sized one for the full stops. The medium=-sized one seems to have been tried out on the heads side - there are two random pits on the king's jaw.

A drill and a small and medium punch probably.

I asked about the value of the coin as I wonderd why it wasn't easier to find a round piece of metal (which I would assume anyone involved with artilley could probably find). Perhaps he thought that bronze wouldn't irritate his wrist?

[Tyrim]

"Gunner is the rank of the Artillery equivalent to Private in the infantry so there would have been lots of Gunners who didn't have a lot to do with firing shells. Apart from the fitters, there were saddlers and farriers, for example. Tradesmen would advance in the same way as other members of the RA so there would have been Bombardier and Sergeants, too. Jobs that were too much for the Battery fitters would either be done by Workshops operated by the Inspectors of Ordnance Machinery (IOM) or supervised by their people. In the Diaries of the Salonika AA Sections I've come across references to Staff Sergeants coming out to a position to oversee things like changing a piece."

Rockdoc,

Thanks for that information. I never thought to divide the battery strength by the number of guns. It would be about 40 men per gun so obviously there were many more men in supporting roles than actually doing the firing. That opens a whole new area of speculation for me.

Thanks again,

tyrim

[headgardener]

I asked about the value of the coin as I wonderd why it wasn't easier to find a round piece of metal (which I would assume anyone involved with artilley could probably find). Perhaps he thought that bronze wouldn't irritate his wrist?

I just thought that it was a nice souvenir at a time when foreign coins would have been a rather exotic novelty. I've seen lots of these over the years, always understood them to be reasonably common. Someone posted one on here yesterday, belonged to a nurse. I think it was a Belgian coin. Almost exactly the same type of thing; name unit and religion engraved or impressed on the flattened (filed) reverse of a coin.

[whitehound]

"Does the head section of the coin give a denomination?"

My Italian friend says it's 10 centesimi di lira - quite a low denomination coin.