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Sunday 16 February 2014

Dorset Museums 2-The Keep Military Museum, Dorchester


Here's a military 'guess what I've got here, sarg?'. One of a host of small but telling objects to be found at the museum of the Devon and Dorset regiments.

No idea?... It's a deserters stamp... believe it or not it was considered a humane way of tattooing 'D' for deserter. 

The inhumane method was to trace a letter 'D'  on the left-hand side of the body. The skin was then pierced with a bunch of  ordinary sewing needles after which gunpowder was rubbed well into the wound to create a permanent mark of military disservice.

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