Irench M|||tary Ident|f|cat|on 18811993

1he hlsLory of lrench mlllLary ldenLlflcaLlon goes back Lo 1881 when Lhe flrsL dog Lags" were
lssued Lo Lhe Lroops 1hese were orlglnally falrly haphazard affalrs wlLh Lhe surname flrsL
name and daLe of graduaLlon from baslc Lralnlng (glven how lrance had unlversal mlllLary
conscrlpLlon aL Lhe Llme Lhls was falrly easy Lo esLabllsh) 1he reverse slde was lefL blank Lo be
engraved upon Lhe soldler's reLlremenL" lnLo Lhe LerrlLorlal and reserve forces aL Lhe end of hls
acLlve duLy servlce


1hls sysLem was updaLed ln 19171918 when Lhe lrench lnLroduced a breakable perforaLed
meLal lozenge whlch was Lo be worn around Lhe wrlsL 1he lnformaLlon conLalned Lhereon was
Lhe same as Lhe 1881 model wlLh Lhe class" daLe and name of Lhe soldler on Lhe fronL and Lhe
back reserved for engravlng upon reasslgnmenL Lo reserve and LerrlLorlal forces 1hls sysLem
conLlnued LhroughouL Lhe lnLerwar perlod and lnLo WWll



uurlng Lhe reformlng of Lhe lrench army under Lhe ausplces of ue Caulle and Lhe lree lrench
lorces Lhe lrench were lssued Amerlcan mlllLary dog Lags whlch were engraved ln a slmllar
manner Lo Lhose of uS forces 1hese were much more deLalled Lhan anyLhlng whlch had
prevlously been lssued by Lhe lrench mlllLary and lncluded Lhe soldler's lasL name flrsL name
class" number place of recrulLmenL blood Lype rellglon and unlL deslgnaLlon 1here were of
course varlaLlons based on wheLher or noL a parLlcular soldler was a colonlal or meLropollLan
and so on



ln Lhe posLwar years Lhe lrench mlllLary reverLed Lo an older sLyle breakable Lag wlLh less
lnformaLlon Lhan before Speclflcally Lhe new dog Lags feaLured Lhe surname flrsL name and
census" number of Lhe recrulL 1he census number was an 8dlglL composlLe number
conLalnlng Lhree vlLal sLaLlsLlcs 1he flrsL Lwo numbers lndlcaLed Lhe class" number of Lhe
recrulL Lhe second number lndlcaLed Lhe deparLmenL ln whlch he was recrulLed and Lhe flnal
four dlglLs represenLed Lhe enllsLmenL number of Lhe recrulL As such a soldler who Lurned 18
and became ellglble for mlllLary servlce ln 1934 who enllsLed ln Lhe uordogne and was Lhe one
LhousandLh recrulL from LhaL class and deparLmenL would recelve Lhe census" number of 34
241000 ueparLmenL numbers may be found here
hLLp//enwlklpedlaorg/wlkl/ueparLmenLs_of_lrance#Maps_and_Lables

lL should however be noLed LhaL Lhe recrulLmenL cenLers for Lhe lorelgn leglon are ln arls
(73) and ln Aubagne ln Lhe 8ouchesdu8hone deparLmenL (13) 1hls dog Lag was also lssued ln a
braceleL form


ln Lheory Lhese dog Lags were Lo be lssued aL Lhe beglnnlng of an overseas operaLlon and Lo be
kepL wlLh Lhe soldler's ldenLlflcaLlon book and were Lo be reLurned upon Lhe compleLlon of an
operaLlon Powever lLs lssuance was haphazard and enforcemenL was lax As per Lhe
LesLlmony of an Algerlan War veLeran
1hose who cared abouL Lhem only really pald aLLenLlon Lo Lhem durlng mlllLary operaLlons ln
Lheory all servlcemen were lssued dog Lags durlng Lhe Algerlan war Command dldn'L puL a
whole loL of lmporLance on how Lhey were worn ersonally l had mlne aLLached Lo Lhe venL
holes of my cbopeoo Je btoosse My notkls dldn'L have any LaLer on when my reglmenL wenL
Lo Chad l placed Lhem on my web belL ln facL we really dldn'L glve a shlL abouL Lhem Lhe only
aLLenLlon we pald Lo Lhem was Lo make sure we had Lhem before a shorL mlsslon and Lhen Lo
keep Lrack of lL afLerwards

Sources
hLLp//lagrandeguerreculLureforumneL/colffesunlformesequlpemenLslndlvlduelseL
collecLlfsf33/lesplaquesdldenLlLefrancalsesL847030hLm
hLLp//wwwmll[eepcom/modules/news/arLlclephp?lLem_ld278
hLLp//wwwladeLecLloncom/dp/message74034hLm