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I’ve still got my Identity card, but it’s not my original one as I gave that one up when I entered the services.

The objective of these identity cards isn’t the same as those being proposed now. The Identity cards that we had, although they were an identity card, throughout the war were never used really for identifying yourself. I think main object of the identity card during the Second World War was what it said on the front a ‘National Registration’.

You had to register your given code number, that’s pre-determined.

When they were originally issued, I was BKFJ434. The final digit determined where you were in your household, so in other words, there was my Mum, my Dad, and my brother, and he was older than me so, My Mum would be BKFJ432, my brother would be BKFJ433, and I was BKFJ434.

Now, every time you moved address, they stamped it and then that was your change of address. Your card would be used to identify you when you were issued with ration books.

So every time you were issued with a ration book, they’d stamp the back of your card, and you couldn’t get a ration book until you showed your identity card.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Bill Kendall and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

See more of Bill's stories:

• A White-Faced Inspector
• Chipolatas and Chips
• Doody
• Given a bit of cheek
• High-Tailed it home
• How it all began
• ’Let him go and let him tarry’
• In a split second timing
• Oranges and Lemons
• Rotten Bananas
• Waste not, Want not
• It was coming straight for me
• Using more of my nine lives
• Tiny and Shiny
• Free post
• Time just came and went
• No. 1 London

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