Help with romanian WW2 dog tag

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PanzerVI
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Help with romanian WW2 dog tag

#1

Post by PanzerVI » 22 Feb 2014, 21:55

We have for some time now in our posession a dog tag from a dead romanian soldier in WW2 in the battle of Oradea/Nagyvarad/Grosswardein which we cannot properly identify.

Thing is that unlike german identification plates, romanian ones weren't press stamped but marked with a kind of paint. The only thing stamped were the words Regiment, Matr (matricol, meaning registration number) and Ctg. (category?)

It's been in the ground all these years and time left its mark on it. I was wondering if anyone here could help me identify what was written, if there are any chemical procedures to see the letters and numbers (perhaps UV light?) or reactive sollutions to see that. We haven't attempted further cleaning/brushing etc in fear of damaging the plate and losing those numbers.

Here are some clickable pictures of said dog tag :
Image
screen capture freeware

Image
how do i print screen

If someone could help I'd be very grateful.

Cheers

Bogdan S

vitharr
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Re: Help with romanian WW2 dog tag

#2

Post by vitharr » 06 Apr 2014, 13:14

Hello Bogdan
as I see from the pictures you have posted, this is indeed a Romanian dog tag. The Ctg stamped does not mean category, but it refers to the year of the enlistment (from romanian - CONTINGENT). The romanian dog-tags were also stamped, as the german ones. The piece that you posted might be a blank, meaning that it was never used. In Romania there are a lot of these blanks that are being discovered and sold on the market. Some of these were further used at the beginning of the communist period, but many were left unwritten.
Best regards from Romania
Sever


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PanzerVI
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Re: Help with romanian WW2 dog tag

#3

Post by PanzerVI » 06 Apr 2014, 16:17

Hello Sever
Thank you kindly for your reply. This wasn't a blank as it was on a dead, burried unidentified soldier we came across. We found also several on various metal detection parties that were blank (never used) in large amounts. I've seen plenty that werent stamped but painted. Could you provide some pics of the ones you're reffering as stamped please ? Thanks
P.S do you have an idea of how we can identify this one as to see the markings ? Not sure any soldier would have worn a blank dog tag around their neck, and thats exactly where we found this one: below his skull.

vitharr
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Re: Help with romanian WW2 dog tag

#4

Post by vitharr » 07 Apr 2014, 10:53

Hello again Bogdan,
if it was found near the skull than surely it must have belonged to him and must have had also a number. This is the first time for me though, to see a painted dog-tag. Here is a link in which you will see an example with a stamped romanian dog tag
http://s6.postimg.org/4lgyt0669/DSC05292.jpg
It would be extremely usefull to identify the name of the fallen romanian hero and, maybe, to search for his relatives. Unfortunately, the plate wears many signs ot time-passing, and the task might proove difficult. Maybe with UV light, although the paint is a very sensitive stuff.
I wish you best of luck and hope to keep in touch
All the best
Sever

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PanzerVI
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Re: Help with romanian WW2 dog tag

#5

Post by PanzerVI » 07 Apr 2014, 11:05

Thank you kindly Sever

We shall try with UV light and after that I shall try electrolysis on it as last restort, not sure what else can I do really besides than those two options.

We'tr trying to convince authorities to errect an unknown soldier tomb in the vecinity (village near the forrest) and give this man a burrial, he's been there 70 years now ... like a dog ...

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Simon H
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Re: Help with romanian WW2 dog tag

#6

Post by Simon H » 29 Apr 2014, 11:44

PanzerVI wrote:Thank you kindly Sever

We shall try with UV light and after that I shall try electrolysis on it as last restort, not sure what else can I do really besides than those two options.

We'tr trying to convince authorities to errect an unknown soldier tomb in the vecinity (village near the forrest) and give this man a burrial, he's been there 70 years now ... like a dog ...
Don't use electrolysis on it, that will not do anything but risk removing paint further as the surface is disrupted. Fortunately I have never come across a Romanian dogtag in my searches. As this was with remains I would like to ask if there was any other personal effects that might also have been marked by the owner?

For example, any leatherwork remaining? Name or service details might be found inside boots/belts. On metalwork; sometimes name or initials are scratched onto canteens/ mess tins, knives, spoons. Man made or organic items: names scratched onto combs, brushes.

The German VDK will unfortunately not repatriate single Axis losses and so in this case the fallen soldier would most likely stay near where he fell. It would be for the souls of the local people whether to afford this man a marked grave, if only as "unbekannte Soldat".

Best of luck,
Kind Regards,
Simon
WW2 Battlefield Relics: German Erkennungsmarken Identification.

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