Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

Second World War Metal Identity Disc issued to Sapper Kingsley Charles MOHR WX26433 with Key

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Australian Military Force

1939 - 1945

Overview

Round metal identity disc issued attached to a metal keyring with a key. The disc is stamped with the name, service number, religion and blood type.

Historical information

In the First World War the army recognised the need for two (2) identity discs: one circular and one rectangular. The rectangular disc remained on the body of the deceased while the circular disc was collected for record keeping. Originally made of compressed fibre in the First World War, in the first few years of the Second World War they deteriorated in the tropics due to the conditions and were replaced with metal discs. In 1942 General Routine Order 649 specified the details to be stamped on the discs. The obverse side included the wearer’s Army number, initials, surname and the index letters of their religion (e.g. RC – Roman Catholic). The reverse of the disc indicated blood type through a combination of two (2) systems, using both a letter and a number. The “Moss System” allocated a number from 1-4 to identify the blood group while the “International Scheme” used letters such as A, AB, 0. Both schemes were used to speed up transfusions and avoid adverse reactions.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2023.14.11

Item type

Personal Effects

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 2

Material

Metal

Width

35 mm

Height or length

105 mm

Depth

1 mm

Weight

25 g

Inscriptions and markings

Obverse “WX26433 / MOIR K S / RC” with “O4” on reverse.

Contextual information

Sapper Kingsley Charles MOHR WX26433 was born in Northam on 29 August 1909 and was a farm labourer in Koorda, Western Australia, before enlisting at Guildford on 9 August 1941. A Sapper in the Australian Mechanical Equipment Company he spent 1495 days on Active Service in Australia and 625 days on Overseas Service from September 1943 – August 1944 and 10 March – 6 December 1945 before being discharged at Karrakatta on 24 January 1946. MOHR had lived in Denmark Western Australia before enlisting and returned there after the war.

Keywords

Second World War

Identity Disc

Year

1939 - 1945

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Social or spiritual significance

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity

Object’s condition or completeness

Well provenanced