In this topic I want to to show what the influence was on Commonwealth means of Identication like the AB64 Army paybook (including documents and photographs), and dogtags when they have been in water (including Sea water) buried in the ground.

                                                                                                            FRESHWATER

I will start with freshwater, let me start by saying that it will be an indication as for example, I don't have a river current at hand, and also not the process of the decompossing that possible had also had influence.

On 17-09-2019 the items have been placed in the two chest pocket of a battledress on put in a pond with plants, I have made photographs of the items before and will take them out again around 28-09-2019, will have a look at the condition, photograph them and put them back in for another two weeks as soon on until it will impossible to take them out or read them, I suspect that the dogtags will less longer then the Army paybook, photograph and documents, but we have to wait and see.

17-09-2019

28-09-2019

We took the dogtags and the paybook out this afternoon, after 11 days in the water.

The dogtags were clean from being in the water,still good readable but were getting a little softer, and bendable.

The paybook, and document was still together, readable, as where the photographs although they are very fragile.

But as can been seen on the photographs the inkt was started running out. It was possible to very difficult to get the pages from each other. Next time when we taken them out it will be around weekend of 12/13 October.

18-10-2019

We took the dogtags and the paybook out this morning, after 31 days in the water.

The dogtags were clean from being in the water,still good readable but were getting a little softer, and bendable.(same as two weeks ago)

However  the paybook, and document though still together, one can see that it is getting harder to read, one of the photographs is start to fall apart.The Battledress itself is smelling, and very sitff/rigid.

In open water circumstances/decompsing body I presume the paybook/photographs and documents will be gone with another 2 weeks time.

Next time when we taken them out it will be around weekend of 16 November.

16-11-2019

We took the dogtags and the paybook out this afternoon, after 2 months in the water.

The dogtags were clean from being in the water, readable but were getting a little softer, and bendable, and as you can see the grey one is starting to fade.

The paybook, and document though still together, hetting harder to read and half of the photograph is gone now.The Battledress itself is smelling, and very sitff/rigid.

In open water circumstances/decompsing body I presume the paybook/photographs and documents would have far more gone. time.

25-01-2020

After a good 5 months in the water we took them out for the final time.

From this we can say that the best thing to identify a person would be his dogtags, looking at the Army Paybook, a lot depended with what kind of inkt the details were written, but think we can say that identification by means of an Army Paybook after a long period in the water would be nihil.  The same for the photographs they are also gone. I have posted a number of photo's from today, and will end with 2 of the most important pages from a paybook, page 2 "Soldiers name and description on attestation, and page 3 "Description on enlistment, from the start on 17 September 2019 and today 25 Januari 2020.

Coming September we will do the same, but this time buried in a garden.

                                                                                               SALT WATER

Have taken sand and water (5l) from Breskens beach and put this in a aquarium (28-09-2019) with a waterpump to keep up a short of flow, put 2 dogtags on a cord a in a military shirt, will let it in the water for a month or so take it out and photograph the dogtags, then will leave it in for another 2 weeks or even more. Will do the same proces after this but then with a paybook. Again as mention above it will be a indication.

28-09-2019

13-10-2019

We took the dogtags and shirt out this morning after 16 days in the water.

The dogtags were clean from being in the water,still good readable but were getting a little softer, and bendable.

If I would have bend them more they would have been broken in two.

From this and the above freshwater dogtags you can say that in circumstances of the decomposing body, moving around in the water,being maybe wet and dry by the sun and the body being bumping on to the bottom, rocks,etc,etc, the dogtags easily could have been broken up, or damaged making them unreadable.

Will taken them out within 2 weeks time around 26/27 October.

27-10-2019

We took the dogtags and shirt out this morning after another 2 weeks in the water.

There is not much change soft, and bendable, but not much else.

22-12-2019

After in salt water for 3 months, I decided to take it out for the last time so see its affects on the dogtag. Not much seemed to have happened, the grey one is more benable then the red one, but thats all.

                                                                                                            BURIAL

Part 2 is burial, let me start by saying that it will be an indication as for example, the battldress is buried without the process of the decompossing of a human body that possible had influence.

On 31-03-2020 the items are buried, I have made photographs of the items before and will take them out again with a couple of months time, will have a look at the condition, of the items and photograph them.

31-03-2020

16-10-2020

                                                                                                            BURIAL

Today after almost 7 months being buried I thought it was time to see, if and what was left of the battledress, Army paybook, photographs and ID tags.

Again bare in mind that it was only the battledress, and no human body with it, and decompossing of a body. Nevertheless were amazed how far it had rotted away. I try to take it out as careful as I could, but it came apart. Nothing left of the photographs, and the Army paybook, The ID tags, as you can see the grey one is almost gone, the red one probably a little protected by the grey one still is slighthly readable, but again what would have happend if there was a decompossing proces. I think we can easily saw that the British/Commonwealth dogtags were no use at all if they were not buried within a short time after being killed or buried.

        FIRE