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December 13, 2013

Lost & Found Case #19: U.S. Army Dog Tag Found in England

Found Dog Tag Buddy U.S. Amry
Buddy 7111. Message Center. APO 874. US Army
 Claire sends photos of this American Dog Tag. Her grandfather found it in or near Whittington Barracks, Lichfield, England. 

 With only one name (Buddy) it seems like a rather unusual soldier's dog tag to me. I'm wondering if the U.S. Army used dogs and issued tags for them. 

BUDDY
7111
MESSAGE CENTER
A.P.O. 874  U.S. ARMY  

Hopefully one of Olive Tree Genealogy's fabulous readers will know something about this I.D. tag! UPDATE: I just found reference to A.P.O. 874:

 APO 874 was located at Whittington Barracks, Lichfield, England during February, 1944 to May, 1944. This Army Post Office serviced the units assembled in the Lichfield area of England for the invasion of France, which started on June 6, 1941 [http://en.allexperts.com/q/Military-History-669/WW-II-Replacement-Co.htm#b]

We have five unsolved cases of soldiers' dog tags for anyone wanting to put on their sleuthing hat! 
The open cases are:

#18 T. W. Kelly
#16 George Coleman
#15 Lester Lorfing 
#11 John Thomas Dryborough
#6 George H. Stevens
at

1 comment:

  1. Unknown5:29 PM

    Single-name "Buddy" assigned to the Message Center was most likely a German Shepherd assigned to the U.S. military working dog program. Dogs were frequently used to carry messages or "post" through high risk areas as it was easier for them to traverse the high risk areas quicker and easier.

    My father was at Normandy and assigned to supply. They also used horses and horse-drawn carriages, believe it or not.

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