Army 'dog tag' or what?

[maddymoss]

Thanks all for your interest and help. Your comments have clarified most of my questions and enlightened me.

The only questions bothering me relate to his army number. Why the two different numbers for J McEwan, both in the Seaforths, and why two dog tags still attached if he was killed in action?

Was John McEwan issued with a new number? If he had, is this his old one, as suggested, or is it simply a clerical error type of mistake? Somehow I can’t buy this one.

To quote Sherlock Holmes:
‘When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth’?

So, did it belong to his brother, James? I don’t know if he was in the Seaforth Highlanders or even in the forces, but I think this requires a bit more research.