An Introduction to IJA dog tag specifications and regulations (1894-1945)

[Rod G]

OMG!

As someone who's tried putting the story together using bits and pieces from the world wide web there is nothing like it anywhere else. This latest effort is the perfect companion piece to the Guntai Techo article.

Bravo Nick!!!

Rod

[Nick Komiya]

Looks like the list links are all working. They show up shortened, but they are complete. That is a relief.

[Striking 9th]

Thanks as always for your very hard work Nick. Great information as always.

[Nick Komiya]

I see now on the E-Stand a dog tag that has had the numbers chiseled in using something like a screw driver. Please be aware that such improvised tags are mostly fakes using original blanks that have been around in great numbers for years (Nakata used to sell blanks too). Dog tags were generally not stamped under circumstances that required such time-consuming field improvisations. They were not done in the field, but done before leaving Japan, and tag numbers up to the standard company size of about 200 were all pre-stamped in sizable lots in advance. Using a screwdriver to stamp these in quantity is simply unthinkably time-consuming, while with stamping dies it went much faster. Also replacements received their tags already at the replacement unit in Japan before being deployed, so there really was no excuse for field-made tags. Remember that these tags do not have a person's name on them, so they were not made for a certain individual, but rather pre-stamped with consecutive numbers like theater tickets with seat numbers and then handed out. So for instance, if one had to stamp serial numbers 10 to 19, I imagine one will stamp 10 tags with the same "1" and then add the 0 to 9 to each rather than stamp one complete tag at a time.

[Nick Komiya]

There are legitimate examples of hand carved EM tags done by hand in officer tag fashion, which spilled over into another thread, so I will provide the link here to keep all tag issues consolidated under this roof.
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=820550

[kaigunair]

E-P-I-C.

Incredible information Nick and thanks for all the time and effort you put into it.

(makes me glad I kept that particular tag and its companion too ).