A METAL detectorist has taken to social media in a bid to find the family of a WWII prisoner after discovering a tag originating from a Nazi war camp.
Stephen Miller had been exploring woodlands with friend Philip Walker in Pembrokeshire, Wales last month when he stumbled upon the rusted metal tag wedged into the ground.
The 33 year-old initially thought the piece of metal was a dog tag due to the visible inscription on it and attempted to clean it.
However, he soon came to realise that the tag was in fact once worn by a prisoner of war in Nazi POW camp Stalag VII-A, which was located in Moosburg, Bavaria during World War Two.
Shocked by his finding, history-buff Stephen began researching in a determined bid to find the family of who he now believes was a Mr Ernest Dymond from Cape Town, South Africa.
Images show the bronze rusted tag with two holes punctured on each side.
The item shows a haunting inscription and reflection of the past as it reads: “Stala[g]. VII/A. 9102.”
The tag has now been split in half due to erosion over the decades, but still shows the prominent inscription in the center.
A further image shows a National Archives record of Ernest Dymond from Cape Town, South Africa.
It states that he was at Camp Stalag VII-A between 1939-1945 with the Prisoner of War Number 9102, matching the number on the tag.
Scaffolding supervisor Stephen took to social media to share his finding, writing: “Hi all. Found this in the woods in Pembrokeshire.
“Kinda [sic] creepy when I found out what it was, happy hunting all”.
The post received dozens of likes and comments as many other detectorists shared their thoughts on the discovery.
One person wrote: “So many questions with one find. I wonder if it was lost or discarded.
“A lot of human history implied in a small item.”
Another said: “Could be an escapee”.
A third commented: “Wow, my grandad was a prisoner of war in that camp”.
A fourth added: “I’d love to find a dog tag, something to research”.
Speaking today, Stephen said: “I found it while out with a friend, Phillip Walker, [in a] permission in Pembrokeshire.
“I didn’t know what it was at first. I thought maybe a tag off a dog so I gave it a quick wipe and saw a ‘Vll’.
“I shouted over to Phill, quite excited as you don’t see anything written like that anymore but we couldn’t make out what it was.
“So, I put it [away] safe, ready to clean it up as soon as I got home. I found out it was someone’s prisoner of war number from Stalag VII-A camp in Germany – I absolutely couldn’t believe it.
“I was kind of creeped out finding out that it was someone’s prisoner of war tag, knowing what he probably went through but really excited to find out about whose it was, how it got there.
“Did he lose it or discard it? So many questions.
“I would say it is a rare find and was better than finding gold. I’ve had hours of researching it – it’s been really interesting learning a bit about World War Two camps.
“We believe it could be an Ernest Dymond of Cape Town.
“I would love to reunite his family with it if they would like it knowing what happened in there. I’ve been trying but nothing yet.
“People class treasure as gold and jewellery but this was far better. It’s been really exciting looking into it.”
Stalag VII-A was set up in Southern Bavaria and had an estimated 76,248 prisoners in the main camp and around 40,000 working in factories or on farms and roads.
It was liberated on 29 April 1945.
