First World War Improvised Identity Discs Sergeant Frederick Ernest BRUCE 243
1914 - 1918Two (2) small round improvised Identification discs made from Egyptian 50 Piastres coins hung from a metal chain. One side of each disc is the original coin and the other has been ground flat and the soldier’s details engraved on it. Each coin has had a hole made for a small ring that the chain passes through. The chain has a round clasp.
These discs are engraved with the name Frederick Ernest BRUCE 243. Frederick came from Cossack in the north of Western Australia and enlisted on 4 November 1914. He joined 10th Light Horse Regiment as a Private and his unit sailed from Fremantle aboard the HMAT A47 Mashobra on 17 February 1915. He served at Gallipoli and then in Palestine and was promoted to Sergeant in January 1918. Sargeant BRUCE returned to Australia on 10 July 1919. The A.M.G.S. engraved on the discs stands for Australian Machine Gun Squadron who provided fire support for the Australian Light Horse Brigade in the Middle East.
Details
Details
Disc one obverse “F E BRUCE / 243 / 3RD A.M.G.S. / C. E. and reverse 5 / Piastres / 1915”
Disc two obverse “F E BRUCE / 243 / 3RD A.M.G.S. / C. E. and reverse 5 / Piastres / 1917”
During the First World War identity discs were issued to those serving in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). In August 1914, orders were circulated that each man wear an identity disc showing his name, number (if relevant), unit, and religion. Only other ranks had service numbers, officers did not.
In late 1916 Australia adopted the British regulation to issue each member of the AIF with two discs, both made of compressed fibre: an octagonal green disc and a circular red disc Given that it was over two years from the declaration of war until the Department of Defence finally ordered two discs be worn, many soldiers had a fear that they may be unidentified if they were killed. This fear could have contributed to large numbers of Australians wearing unofficial commercially produced or improvised identity discs in addition to their officially issued disc. Discs made from ground down foreign coins were particularly popular.
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