leigh Posted 30 September , 2004 Share Posted 30 September , 2004 one tag says 73771 CONG RGA the other 73771 CONG 155S 73771 is the mans number he was in the RGA. 155S is for 155 Siege Battery. What does the CONG stand for ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDick Posted 30 September , 2004 Share Posted 30 September , 2004 If alongside name, number and unit I would think it would be his religious grouping. In his case a Congregationalist, a Christian (Anglican?) denomination. Not too sure what they get up to, though: meet together, I would think would be a good bet. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leigh Posted 30 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 30 September , 2004 Is religion a standard thing to find on a tag then Richard? Regards Leigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGEL Posted 30 September , 2004 Share Posted 30 September , 2004 Could be his name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leigh Posted 30 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 30 September , 2004 Just found this site with a google tags Looks like Religion was pretty standard. It says C. was the short way of putting Congregationalist so I am happy to go with Cong standing for that. A gold star for Richard. His name is on the top o fthe tag Nigel, appologies for not saying that. Regards Leigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeppoSapone Posted 30 September , 2004 Share Posted 30 September , 2004 If alongside name, number and unit I would think it would be his religious grouping. In his case a Congregationalist, a Christian (Anglican?) denomination. Not too sure what they get up to, though: meet together, I would think would be a good bet. Richard Actually Non Conformist rather than Anglican Dick. IIRC what we now know as Methodists are a fairly new thing, from the inter-war period. They were formed from more than one sect - Wesleyans, Congregationalists and Primitive Methodists. I know that John Wesley was knocking around a long while ago. What I am saying is that a number of organisations inspired by him merged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 30 September , 2004 Share Posted 30 September , 2004 Just found this site with a google tags Thanks for the link to that site, Leigh. Most interesting. Bear in mind though that the aluminium tag mentioned actually pre-dates WW1 by 8 years (though it survived into it and lasted longer in the AIF than in any other Commonwealth/Empire force) and the fact that "official" ID tags had been issued as far back as 1869. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDick Posted 1 October , 2004 Share Posted 1 October , 2004 I recently acquired a dog tag (among other stuff) for a South African soldier of Dutch extraction. His religion was stamped as D.R., the Dutch Reformed Church, an evangelical sect of Protestantism. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeppoSapone Posted 1 October , 2004 Share Posted 1 October , 2004 I recently acquired a dog tag (among other stuff) for a South African soldier of Dutch extraction. His religion was stamped as D.R., the Dutch Reformed Church, an evangelical sect of Protestantism. Richard Dick Is this WW1 or WW2? Interesting thing about the WW2 South African discs, told to me by a South African veteran of the fighting in North Africa. They did not wear the standard "Empire" discs as a pair around the neck. They wore just the red one that way. The green one was worn "like a watch" on the wrist. According to this source this was his whole unit, not just a personal preference. Unit in question was 1st Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles. IIRC they were in 1st South African Infantry Division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDick Posted 1 October , 2004 Share Posted 1 October , 2004 Hi Tony This was a WW2 disc, and it was just the one red fibre tag. Wearing the green one one the wrist actually makes a lot of sense considering that one would be left on the body. I also heard - can't remember where - that some South African 'green' octagonal discs were actually white in colour. (Perhaps a local supply necessity or else to be different.) I recall that I was told this/read this quite recently, so if it is news to you I shall attempt to find out the source. On a related point, I saw a South African WW2 Death Plaque on ebay (US) a while back: a maltese cross with the Union insignia on a wooden backing, with a separate plaque inscribed with name and date. Has anyone else heard of these or know anything else about them? I assume they are quite rare since 'only' about 3,500 SA Commonwealth troops were died during WW2 (predominantly in N Africa and Italy, although one-third were captured at Tobruk). Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGEL Posted 1 October , 2004 Share Posted 1 October , 2004 There is a place in Ireland called Cong, would that have anything to do with it, was he an Irish soldier, Cong is actually just down the road from me its where they made the film The Quiet Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leigh Posted 1 October , 2004 Author Share Posted 1 October , 2004 I dont think he is from Ireland Nigel, but it is an interesting thought. I am still at an early stage and will keep that in mind, He might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeppoSapone Posted 1 October , 2004 Share Posted 1 October , 2004 I also heard - can't remember where - that some South African 'green' octagonal discs were actually white in colour. (Perhaps a local supply necessity or else to be different.) I recall that I was told this/read this quite recently, so if it is news to you I shall attempt to find out the source. On a related point, I saw a South African WW2 Death Plaque on ebay (US) a while back: a maltese cross with the Union insignia on a wooden backing, with a separate plaque inscribed with name and date. Has anyone else heard of these or know anything else about them? I assume they are quite rare since 'only' about 3,500 SA Commonwealth troops were died during WW2 (predominantly in N Africa and Italy, although one-third were captured at Tobruk). Richard Very interested Dick, as I have never heard of such a thing. I have these "discs" in all colours from a very dark green to a very light khaki, but have never seen white. Would like to see whatever you can come up with. Other parts of 8th Army were none too pleased with the Springboks' performance when Tobruk fell, as the town had survived when surrounded earlier in the war. Hence the parody on a South African song sung by soldiers from other Empire countries: "There's fifty thousand Springboks in the old Transvaal, but none in Mersah Matruh"(sp?) No doubt very unfair, but that's the forces for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDick Posted 1 October , 2004 Share Posted 1 October , 2004 Tony Ebay rings a bell regarding the white dog tag. I think it was being sold with some SA WW2 medals on US ebay, and the lot appeared original (and of course SA WW2 medals were named) and the dealer appeared from his description to be quite knowledgable about the subject. Aside from the photo, the seller made reference to it being the 'usual' -or similar term - white dogtag worn by SA forces. However, I'll ask my SA researcher when I next email and see what he knows. Also, I've found the ebay lot with the WW2 SA Death Plaque (it ends about this time tomorrow night (GMT)). If Racing Teapots sees this: do you know anything about them? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...2272637136&rd=1 Richard (And I wonder whether the rest of the 8th Army still sang that song after the fall of Singapore eight months later?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 1 October , 2004 Share Posted 1 October , 2004 If Racing Teapots sees this: do you know anything about them? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...2272637136&rd=1 Richard First time I've ever seen one! I'd be interested to know if this was an official item, or if anyone has more information on this plaque. Thanks for telling us about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDick Posted 1 October , 2004 Share Posted 1 October , 2004 Is rather novel, isn't it? I'll ask about it when I next contact the chap in SA and post any details. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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