Dog tag found of a soldier from Olgiate who fought in the Second World War. Now, the search is on to find members of his family

A military dog tag engraved with a name and a date of birth, which belonged to a soldier from Olgiate Olona who fought the Second World War, was found by the association “Gruppo ricerche storiche”(“Historical Research Group“), who, for more than 10 years decided not to hang it on a corner of a house, or to sell it to earn some money. Instead, the history enthusiasts of the association, who seek out these historical relics and, when they find them, try to identify the soldiers’ families, have sought to trace the legitimate owner of the tag.

Their search has now brought them to the Olona Valley. “We found a tag, which belonged to Giuseppe Colombo, who was born in 1903 (or 1908, the number isn’t clearly distinguishable), who was the son of Giuseppe Colombo and Giuseppina Landoni. The town of Olgiate Olona appears on the tag, but we don’t know if it refers to Giuseppe’s birthplace or the place of his residence. Does anyone know any of his family members?” This was the message that Maurizio De Angelis published on the VareseNews Facebook group, called “Oggi in valle Olona” (Today in the Olona Valley), in the hope of finding some of the relatives of this Giuseppe.

De Angelis himself talked to us about his work. “I come from Rome, I am 57 years old, and officially, I work as a cook. However, the historical searches that I do with four friends is like a second job. In the ten years of searching, we’ve returned 130 tags throughout Italy. We found some of them ourselves, especially around Rome, in the landing area of Anzio, where the soldiers fought. But we often receive letters from people who find the tags using metal detectors. They give them to us so that we can find the soldier’s family, through our research. In the case of the soldier Giuseppe Colombo, the tag was discovered in Liguria, near Genoa. His name doesn’t appear in the list of fallen or missing soldiers, so he should have returned home after the battles.”

This type of historical research has changed over time, thanks to technology. “Of course, ten years ago, tracking the movements of soldiers was different; people would use the telephone a lot and just contact the municipal offices to access the archives. Now, thanks to social networks, searching is often easier and the “virtual word of mouth” helps us. We do everything completely free of charge; what we ask of the soldier’s family is a photograph of him, if they have one, and which family member we should send the tag to.”

The tireless work of the “Historical Research Group” has also led them, virtually, to the United States. “We collaborate with an American department that gives us information on the names of the missing soldiers and on the last place they were sighted in Italy. But the most unusual search related to the Vietnam War. A few years ago,” De Angelis confided, “we were contacted by a person who had the military tag of an American soldier in Vietnam. Well, in that case, it was returned to its rightful owner; the soldier (as he later told us) had been wounded in a battle, in which he had lost his dog tag. When he arrived back at the base, while he was being treated, he was given a new tag. After so many years, he was able to have back something important that belonged to him.”

Now it is the turn of the Olona Valley. “We sincerely hope to find Giuseppe Colombo’s relatives; we’re already in contact with the municipal offices in Olgiate, and we’re hopeful, because the search has aroused the interest of a lot of people, and by sharing, maybe we’ll soon be able to locate some of the soldier’s relatives and return the tag to them.”

And we are helping in Maurizio’s search. If anyone has any information about the soldier Giuseppe Colombo, who was born in 1903 (or 1908), the son of Giuseppe Colombo and Giuseppina Landoni, who fought in Liguria during the Second World War, please contact the editorial staff of VareseNews. May the research of these keen friends continue.

 

Translated by Alessia Tropolini, Giorgia Perinelli, Elena Gandelli and Denise Mura

Reviewed by Prof. Rolf Cook