UBB.threads Forums General Militaria Flags, Field Gear, and Miscellaneous Militaria and Regalia Forum Hogans Heros [?]

Well I guess the real POWs of WW2 wished their camps were even a tiny bit like the TV show! But sadly,,they weren't

IF you go see the original movie Stalag 17 [GREAT movie!] you might catch a few scenes of the POWS and you'll catch their 'dog tags' or Identity Tags..
They were square in shape. Could have been made out of zinc, aluminum, steel, even wood! They were issued by the Germans to the men after they were processed into the camp. The tag was supposed to be around your neck at all times. IF not, or you lost it you could catch a beating, hard labor [harder than the norm!] or the infamous 'Hole',,,OR,,all three!

In the late 1970s I started collecting 'dog tags'. From all wars, from any country. Around 10 years ago or so I stopped collecting them. Sold most and kept about 50 tags I really liked. SS tags, foreign volunteer tags, anything weird... Well 3 years ago because of SuperStorm Sandy I ended up losing most of my tags in the flooding. Gone! What I did find were in terrible condition but I held on to them.
To restore them I tried everything. Magical/miracle solutions that changed water into wine, etc. Nothing worked. Some did come out pretty good with sanding etc. and I've posted some rare ones on our forum..

I had 4 in really bad shape. 2 zinc and 2 steel. Again I tried various solutions, 'green pads' etc.
Today we changed the 'glass' in our glass beader cabinet. So I took them out of a 'soak' and hit them with the gun for 10 min each and wonder of wonders!! they came out pretty good!

So these first 2 are from the same camp... The infamous Stalag 366! These 2 tags are steel. They were rusted bad when I got them. They were ground dug finds... The camp was in Siedlce Poland. It was for allied infantry men. Mainly Soviet soldiers. The Germans mistreated them terribly. Many didn't have dorms. They had big holes in the dirt and were told to 'make themselves comfortable'. Upon entry the torture started. In Winter,,they were soaked with a hose and just had a pullover type shirt. They were beat, starved, totured the whole time they were there until the U.S. Army 12th Armored Division liberated them,,,Yeah man!!
Well here are the tags.. Those with interest in these tags, the camps , etc, please check out this really good site:

http://www.allstalags.com/

This next tag is from camp by Silesia....
It is Stalag VIIIB..
They are all for allied service men. Weird but usually the Allied Airmen were watched at a camp run by the Luftwaffe! Allied infantry by the Heer. Navy by the Navy. Later in the war not so much..
This camp had mainly British and French. Later the camp like many others got renamed/reclassified but you'd still keep the tag you were 1st issued.
If I remember right this camp had some good history so check that site or your favorite search engine for details..

last of the 4 tags.. A zinc tag. The camp was situated in Austria. A cool name Wolfsberg. The camp was also renamed/classified a couple times.. Again, a good history to the camp so check it out..
Interesting this tag is not stamped to a Stalag,,but to a Oflag.. That is a camp only for allied officers!

Please, is any of you have a square POW tag post a photo of it here!,,thanks...

Great tags, g, those are some rare items!

Yes Gaspare, my father-in-law was held in that same camp.
I have researched the camp and will provide some links here for those of you who have interest.
Pics Lamsdorf discussion

Wow now that's a grouping. Imagine going through that...assuming one survives, next 60 years of life would look like a cake walk.

Yea he survived a death march from Lamsdorf, (now in Poland) to middle of Germany as the Soviets approached. He held us spell bound telling the story.
March

Nice Read Lakeside. Quite an ordeal, those camps.

Paul ,thanks for the posts... ,[well no problems with provenance with that tag/group!!]

Those stories are mens true testament of survival, bravery and victory, ,wow, really something..
Those stories would make one hell of a movie!, I'd surely pay to see that!
Paul thanks again so much for posting these pieces of your families history..,G.