Thread: British WW I Razor

I have seen these on here before and it's to my understanding that there was a shortage of razors for the troops so the went around and collected old razors scaled them in honey blond horn then burned letters and numbers in the scales to go along with the unit they went to My question is does any one know where I can find what unit these razor went to. It looks like 1GG 7679 stamped or burned into the horn scales. The Razor is a J. Allen & Sons Sheffield and looks to be near wedge thanks in advance for any info.

The letters 1GG is more than likely the "1st Battalion Grenadier Guards".
A unit with a long honored history.
The 7679 is probably the individuals service number assigned. The problem is, that the 7679 is usually precided by a "letter" ( I believe). This greatly narrows the owner down. A member from across the pond with a military background could shed light on this service number, maybe.

If it was one of our (U.S.) service numbers, it would be easy.

You will be very lucky if you can trace who the razor went to!

For starters, there was no such thing as an individual service number (yours for life) issued before 1922. The date is the year after the official honour rolls were compiled, and surviving records were sometimes reclassified with another, longer number. Before that there were Regimental Numbers, pay numbers, issued by the company the soldier served in. These numbers were not unique and could be re-assigned a number of times.

Secondly, most of the WW1 records were lost - german bombing in 1940 - during WW2. Most of the 'A' to 'C' records were destroyed. More officers records than enlisted mens records survive. Of the 40% or so that remain, there are what is known as 'burnt' records and 'unburnt' records, ie some are fire-damaged. So much was lost that we can only estimate the amount of men that served during WW1 - nobody knows for sure. It is not uncommon to find two or more individuals with the same numbers, which further frustrates the issue.

If the soldier was wounded and discharged his record is probably still on file, but you know neither the forename or the surname, nor rank, so it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. However, you might find some useful links here and here. Good luck!

Regards,
Neil

Take good care of it!

Originally Posted by Hirlau

The letters 1GG is more than likely the "1st Battalion Grenadier Guards".
A unit with a long honored history.
The 7679 is probably the individuals service number assigned. The problem is, that the 7679 is usually precided by a "letter" ( I believe). This greatly narrows the owner down. A member from across the pond with a military background could shed light on this service number, maybe.

If it was one of our (U.S.) service numbers, it would be easy.

Where did you find the info that 1GG was the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards ? I knew it was the unit that they belonged to but was not sure of the following # 7679 I know there are other post on here about these razors but I can't find them. Thanks for the help

I've known of the Grenadier Guard since I was young & read about the 2 World Wars. Through high school & the service, I read mostly about the military. That was a time for leisure reading, I call it. When my career started, reading became about my job. I just started leisure reading again the past few years.

I used reasoning, that the 1 was for 1st & knowing that the British got issued straights, that GG was for Grenadier Guards, I don't know of another unit with GG in the British, other than the term "Governor General", which is a position, not a unit,, there may be several though.

Basically Slam, it was an educated guess.

I have a link that may help you here. (I hope) I found the regiment number 7679 but without further details this is as close as I could get. p.s. the only guards with a service numger 7679 were in the scottish, irish and welsh (aka dragoon) guards. no grenadier guards I'm afraid The National Archives | Search results:regiment no: 7679
HTH

You assume that 7679 is a regiment number?
O.K.,,,,,,,,,then what does "1GG" stand for?

Originally Posted by Hirlau

You assume that 7679 is a regiment number?
O.K.,,,,,,,,,then what does "1GG" stand for?

one good guy.

O.K.,,,,,,,,,,
you sure it's not, " 1 Gilbert Grape " or "1 Gone Golfing"