Paperwork
Imagine if you could take a WW2 airborne trooper and turn him upside down and shake him until everything fell out of his pockets... what exactly would be on the floor around him?
​
Aside from the obvious items like ammunition, D-bars, first aid tin, water-bottle... what else could he have in his pockets? Every soldier was required to carry identification with them at all times, almost all would have an ETO ID card and pay-book somewhere on them, as well as a military driving license and other odds and ends.
You'll see and hear the word 'impression' a lot in re-enacting, after all this isn't just about dressing up! Re-enacting can go much deeper; your character can have a complete individual history. Alongside that you can have all the matching identification to make your story complete. Every GI has a set of dog tags, so you should already have an army serial number. Make sure that same number goes on all your paperwork.
Identification Card
The most important piece has to be your Identification card/book, shown below. Unfortunately, this is also the most annoying to make as it's brown pebbled pigskin outside cover and pale paper inside page requires that each piece be separately printed and stuck together with a piece of cheese cloth sandwiched in between! You'll need a suitable photograph, and you'll need to find some ink to do the fingerprints! However, if you take your time and don't rush it, these can look fantastic. However, not many soldiers actually ever had these, despite them being an impressive looking item once created. Most soldiers simply had the ETO ID card. However, should you wish to create one of these, then you'll be in the minority so it'll fit in well.
The original ID card was printed on a pigskin textured brown paper. You can see where the paper has worn, and the cheesecloth fabric reinforcement is visible. The interior is a beige paper. To make this card, print the outside on brown textured paper and the inside on beige paper. Spread glue on the entire back of both pieces of paper & sandwich a piece of muslin between the two. Stack a few books on top of this for a few days to let it dry. (make sure to protect the books from the moisture of the glue) Then, score along the two vertical folds, trim to size & fill out.
​
Don't forget to hand it to an officer for all the officer's signatures and counter-signatures that it needs.
Army Motor Vehicle Operator's Permit
A lot of soldiers were taught to drive in the in army and would have been issued Army Motor Vehicle Operator's Permits. Just like the UK driving license, everything is broken down into categories.
This permit is a simple one-piece card folded in half. and is one of the easiest pieces of identification to produce. Just don't go too crazy and start listing lots of vehicles on the card as most airborne troopers would have only ever used a jeep or motorbike! Sorry, no heavy tanks for you! Note that the card is initialed for vehicles you are NOT permitted to operate!
Paybook
Except for mail from home and food, the other most important thing for a soldier was getting paid! Not much point getting leave if you don't have any money to spend. So the pay-book was never forgotten about. Nothing to tricky about producing these, either.
Like the identification card the Pay-book is always made of different colours and textures of cardstock and paper. Although as this is just stapled together, it's really easy make.
The details shown right are for a member of the 82nd Airborne, so is of particular interest to us. You can refer to the pay-scale section of this website when filling out your Pay Record so you can fit it to your unique back-story and apply the appropriate allotments and entitlements. Also, before you go crazy and fill this out, think about your history in the service. Did you start as a private and then get promoted to PFC? If so, fill the card out to reflect this, making the relevant adjustments further along in the card. This will give your impression more detail and authenticity.
Immunization Record
​
The simplest to create, the dullest to fill out and the least interesting to look at! However, for the new soldier, this would be useful as they would have been vaccinated against lots and lots of things; most soldiers had never been treated for anything and lots of these new to the soldiering life had never seen a dentist before! So the dentists would kept very busy when drafting started!
The example at right gives you a good idea of when booster shots would be given; remember if you're a new recruit then your card will only have one of each shot. It's good to get multiple people to fill out this record for you, as they look odd when it's all in the same handwriting and same pen!
There were two patterns of Immunization Record, early (pictured) and late. This changed over on 23 September 1942 so choose the version that best fits the draft or volunteer date of your impression.
ETO Enlistedmans Identification Card
​
A little like the Immunization Register, its rather a dull-looking piece of ID. However, all enlisted men in the ETO would have been issued one of these cards - both simple in appearance and simple to recreate.
