French 1943 I.D. Bracelet....information?

[blinky]

I received this French I.D. bracelet from a fellow forum member several months ago and was curious about the information on it. On the front is the name "MOREAU ANDRE" and what I assume is the date 1943. On the back is "BLOIS 1". Blois I know is a town in France, is that where he was from or drafted from or where his unit was based? Also, if 1943 is the date, was he in the Vichy army? Or is 1943 just like a service number.

Thank you in advance

Eric

[blinky]

The reverse

[blinky]

ok, maybe an easier question: is it even WWII?

Eric

[3 DSK]

Hello, this is my grandfathers I.D. bracelet. He joined the french in Syria together with a lot of other poles which had escaped from Poalnd just after the outbreak of WW2. They got french equipment. He attached the little german eagle to his bracelet during the siege in Tobruk. A 500kg german bomb fell 5 m away from him and didnt go off, so he used this a his lucky charm. Apperently it work since he made it through the war. In case of these handed out to the poles the numbers on it has nothing to do with the year they were issued. Hope this was to any help

cheers

Jacek

[blinky]

Hi Jacek
You are probably right, I don't see why they'd put the year on there. 1943 seems a bit short to be a service number though.
Your grandfather's bracelet is amazing! I don't imagine there were a lot of Poles who joined the French army...or at least compared to those who joined the French air force! Is it marked on both sides with the same information?

Eric

[Jean-Loup]

As far as I know, the 1943 is the year of the guys "class", so I guess the year that he turned 18, and could go to military service.
I am realy not certain though.

That second dog tag is extremely interesting, witht the small german eagle on it!
JL

[Historama]

also interesting is that Eric's ID doesn't have a blood group stamped on it, but on Jacek's it may be that lone "0" above the serial number.

[3 DSK]

You are absolutly correct - the 0 is the blood group. And all the information is stamped on both sides.

cheers

Jacek

[blinky]

Thanks for the additional information guys
As I said, I'm in the dark when it comes to French ids!

eric