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Okay, one more for you guys..

A

Anonymous

Guest
The CE is church of England [I think] and the LI of the 8OBLI is light infantry [I also think}
I do not know what the 8OB stands for or what the coin is. The date is 1882; coin looks Turkish? Greek?
Anyway, it is an interesting piece.
Fair winds
M
 
PTE = private
J. ROWLEY = J. ROWLEY <img src="/metal/html/wink.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=";)">
16097 = id number?
CE = common era
80 = 80th
B = battalion
LI = light infantery
I'm probably way off.... <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":)">
 
....That looks like a copper Greek Lepton with a bust of George I (1863-1913)
Pictured below a silver 5 Drachmai
 
8th Overseas Battalion
but...
Below is a link to the Canadian Soldiers of WWI data base
The service number 16097 does not show up, yet both numbers on either side are there (16096 & 1609:geek:?
And why is it stamped on an old Greek coin?
Strange find, Mike...
 
...a couple hits from here and there:
>>>"I have an ID tag on the back of a french coin which reads F BATTERS 4679 1/6 WEST YORS REG, it is from 1916. I wish to trace the family is there any way I can do this? the tag/coin has small dents in it which could be from shrapnel"<<<
Pic below:
>>>The American Civil War (1861-1865) provided the first recorded incident of American soldiers making an effort to ensure that their identities would be known should they be killed on the battlefield. Their methods varied, and all were taken on by the soldier's own initiative. (42% of all Civil War dead remain unknown) In 1863, before the battle of Mine's Run in northern Virginia, troops wrote their names and units on paper tags and pinned them to their clothing. Many soldiers took great care in marking all of their personal belongings. Some troops made their own id tags out of wood, boring a hole in an end so that they could be worn on a string.
The commercial sector saw the demand for an identificatuion method and provided products. Harpers Weekly Magazine advertised "Soldier's Pins" which could be mail ordered. Made of silver or gold, these pins were inscribed with an individual's name and unit designation. Private vendos who fallowed troops also offered id tags for sale just prior to battles.
Soldiers also fasioned tags out of coins by scraping one side smooth and engaving or stamping name and unit.<<<
Mike, I wonder if the one that you found was fashioned to replace a lost tag?
 
It may be a boer war item, for all I know. I have tried to find something about it. Hopefully Dean will be able to enlighten us
All the best
Sunny skies
M
 
During WWI, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry had 17 battalions.
The 8th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers) Formed at Oxford, October 1914, as part of K3. October 1914 : attached as Army Troops to 26th Division. 25 January 1915 : became Pioneer Bn to 26th Division.
The 26th was the last Division to be formed for the Third New Army (K3), it began to assemble in the Salisbury Plain area from September 1914. Embarkation for France began on September 1915, and the concentration of units west of Amiens was completed just under two weeks later. However, the Division was not destined to remain on the Western Front, because in November 1915 it moved to Salonika, today called Thessalonika, where it then remained. (Ah-ha! the Greek coin! <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":)"> )
The Division incurred casualties of 8,022 men during the war, a figure much lower than its peers, reflecting the less active front in Macedonia.
 
...I'm going with the theory that Buddy lost his tags and had a new one made up on the Greek coin while he was stationed in Greece.
In 1915-16, that coin would have been 30 years old and would have still been widely circulated (take a look through your change and see how many coins you have from the 1970's)
I am also assuming that if the make-shift dog tag returned home, so did Private J. Rowley. Possibly he was a British or Commonwealth citizen that immigrated to Canada after the war?
There are some great searchable databases available on line at the British War Office and the Gov't of Canada listing Honour Rolls from the Great War, Medal Recipients, etc, but I have not yet found a J. Rowley with Regiment (Service) Number 16097...
In Canada blocks of these numbers were given out to recruiters, so if it is a Canadian number, you can tell who was standing in line in front and behind on the day the fellow signed up. I think it is interesting that the numbers 16096 and 16098 appear in the Canadian database, but there is no record for 16097.
I have also just read that Regiment Numbers were sometimes changed, and that it was common enough for a fellow to have more than one in the course of his service.
 
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