Description
Physical description
Identity discs and cord: one circular red composite fibre disc and one octagonal dark green composite fibre disc linked by thin cord.
History note
Identity discs associated with the British Army service of (7665248) Lieutenant Harold Thomas Bowles. Born on 6 September 1916 at the Military Hospital Poona, India, H T Bowles died in London on 27 November 2000. Three previous generations of his family had been professional soldiers, but poor eyesight prevented Bowles from following the family tradition and joining the King's Own Royal Regiment. However, he was eventually called up for service in the Pay Corps on 2 April 1940 and commissioned in June 1942 after 3 months at an OCTU (Officer Cadet Training Unit). Bowles served in Ashford, Middlesex, then in London with units of RAPC. He transferred to War Office (F9) and worked there until 1946. Following a further transfer, this time to the Intelligence Corps, he was demobilised in June 1947. While with the War Office, he also did duty in Hyde Park on an Anti-Aircraft Gun site. Bowles was later called up for "Z" training in the RARO (Royal Army Reserve of Officers) from 30 June to 14 July 1951.
History note
A note on Identity Discs:
Serving troops of all ranks were issued with a set of identity discs. This set consisted of a red and a green disc together with a 38 inch length of of thin cord. Both discs were worn suspended on the cord around the wearer's neck and beneath the uniform. The No 1 green disc was tied to the suspension cord 6 inches apart from the No 2 red disc, and an additional red disc was issued to mark the anti-gas respirator. The ID discs (although not the one issued to mark the ant-gas respirator), showed the soldier's army number, his initials and surname in full and his religious denomination. The official abbreviations were as follows:
CE - Church of England
CI - Church of Ireland
Pres - Church of Scotland and Presbyterian
RC - Roman Catholic
Meth - Methodist
BAP - Baptist
Cong - Congregationalist
J - Jewish
SA - Salvation Army
CSci - Christian Scientist
U - Unitarian
PB - Plymouth Brethren
Q - Quaker
For soldiers who declared themselves to be of a denomination not on the list, or who professed no religious affiliation, no entry was stamped on the disc. On being commissioned officers were allocated a personal number, and this number was inscribed on the officer's ID disc in the same manner and with similar information as for the ID discs of other ranks.
The green identity disc was left with the body or remains and the red disc removed. Where only one disc was found on a body regulation stated that it should on no account be removed. For a number of reasons,including the heat in the desert and the humidity in the jungle areas, these composite fibre discs suspended on what amounted to a piece of string, proved far from durable. In the event, for jungle scales, metal ID discs were introduced with a nylon, rotproof, cord.
Stamped into both discs.
7665248
CE
Bowles H T