Historical information

German Prisoner of War identity tag stamped Stalag XVIIIA Nr 3527 - traced to Private Eric Salmon VX34416 Born 8/12/1918 at Footscray. Enlisted 3/7/1940. Embarked overseas on 3/2/1941 with the 2/6 Battalion. Embarked for Greece on 9/4/1941 and reported missing on 2/6/1941 Captured in Greece and sent to German POW work camp Stalag XVIIIA. Returned to Australia 24/7/45 and discharged on 25/8/1945.

Stalag XVIII-A was a World War II German Army (Wehrmacht) prisoner-of-war camp located to the south of the town of Wolfsberg, in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia, then a part of Nazi Germany.

Significance

As with all German dog tags, they are designed with a central perforation so that if the owner died, the bottom half of the tag would be broken off, while the other half remained with their body.

Physical description

Dark grey rectangle shaped piece of metal with small hole in three of the four corners and narrow cut out slots across centre line stamped either side with letters and numbers.

Inscriptions & markings

STALAG XVIIIA Nr 3527