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The medallion was an oval disk of a thin plate of aluminum, zinc or steel It was a rule for soldiers and officers to carry them in the field. The medallion provided information about the wearer such as blood group and service number amongst other things.
The medallion was supposed to be worn around the neck attached by laces, the laces were 80 cm in length. In practice, they often were in the left breast pocket or wallet. The top half had two holes for the laces, which moved the medallion. At the bottom there was only one hole. In case of a death the medallion was snapped in two by men charged with collecting the death medallions. These men carried around wires which stored the bottom half of the medallion by stringing the wire through the single hole. Then these strings were transferred to headquarters division, and notice of the death of the soldiers were passed to their families.
The medallion was an oval disk of a thin plate of aluminum, zinc or steel It was a rule for soldiers and officers to carry them in the field. The medallion provided information about the wearer such as blood group and service number amongst other things.
The medallion was supposed to be worn around the neck attached by laces, the laces were 80 cm in length. In practice, they often were in the left breast pocket or wallet. The top half had two holes for the laces, which moved the medallion. At the bottom there was only one hole. In case of a death the medallion was snapped in two by men charged with collecting the death medallions. These men carried around wires which stored the bottom half of the medallion by stringing the wire through the single hole. Then these strings were transferred to headquarters division, and notice of the death of the soldiers were passed to their families.