Hi all...


Just got back from France, where I found a dog-tag

Bernard Eugene 1920 Dunkerque 507 ... It appears to be made of copper.

I was walking around the top of the Napoleonic fort at Calais and it was in the spoil from a mole hill.

It may have some interest to the French but, I don't know how to go about informing them.

So, was hoping for some advice


Tony

Originally Posted by tonyh

Hi all...


Just got back from France, where I found a dog-tag

Bernard Eugene 1920 Dunkerque 507 ... It appears to be made of copper.

I was walking around the top of the Napoleonic fort at Calais and it was in the spoil from a mole hill.

It may have some interest to the French but, I don't know how to go about informing them.

So, was hoping for some advice

Is it a dog tag or a braclet? In WWI the soldiers wore bracelets on their wrists. If its a bracelet it would be oval shaped like an egg. If its 1920 chances are, this guy was a WWI vet.

As for its future...

It depends on who you want to give it to. If you are trying to find the original owner (who is most certainly dead BTW as its 86 years later) or his family your best bet in to try the Ministry of Defence and ask for veterans affairs (bureau des anciens combattant) and they can direct you. There must be an archive somewhere of Soldat Bernard Eugene. The '507' could refer to his regiment for example the 507th Regiment D'Infantrie. Could be a lead...Otherwise perhaps a Museum, les Invalides in Paris has a large display of WWI memorbilia, there might be other private collections. Actually you could drop les Invalides an email as well, perhaps they'd know how to better direct you.

Frankly I'd just keep it, Its so long ago I doubt you'll find the original family. Consider it a souvenir...

Yep..

It's oval.

Thanks for the advice...

I will have to think this over.

Tony

Do you have a picture of it?

Mmarsh, since you're in France, could you maybe find some contact numbers for him for the places you've listed?

If you're looking to give it back to the French, I'd definitely go through Veteran Affairs/Ministry of Defense before a museum, if nothing else (and I know it's probably a long shot) you might be able to find a family member.

If you want to keep it, it wouldn't hurt to contact them just to see if you can find out a little more about it.

Cool find, btw.

Thats what I thought it was. Its the standard issue id bracelet.

Try the Ministry of Defense Contact address

http://www.defense.gouv.fr/sites/defense/contact_form

I will contacted them...

Tony

Whatever happened with this? The family would probably be interested, or ya could just keep it. Probably worth some money being almost 100 yrs old.

Dunno, Tony never contacted me again.

While I admire his dedication to returning it to its owner, the soldier to whom it belonged has most certainly since passed away, as has his relatives most likely. If I were him I would either keep it as a souvenir, sell it, (lots of collectors for this sort of thing) or perhaps donate it to a museum.