WW2 ID card or something else?

Hello,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but I'm hoping someone can help shed some light on what this old ID card belonging to my uncle could be.
All I know is he was exempt from being deployed out during the Second World War as he had tuberculosis as a child, but my dad reckons he may have been a Home Guard. My uncle died in 2000 leaving no children or a wife, and didn't seem to pass his story on to anyone.
Google has come up with nothing helpful. It may not even be WW2 related but either way, it would be good to eliminate this possibility from my research.
Thanks!

 

Looks like SIS/MI6.

 

Was his name Hyman Jaffa?

 

You really should post this information over on our sister site, WW2T (World War 2 Talk). It's heavy with British/Commonwealth types who can probably tell you right away about what you have there. Good luck and let us know what you find out when you do.

 

I would be surprised to learn that an under cover special agent would carry an ID with special agent and number. Maybe it was a spoof piece of paper that he kept after a Home Guard training session. It looks like something kids would print with their John Bull Printing Set!

 

Good point. I was thinking the same thing.

 

The emblem on the card looks like it could be legit. It is very similar to the emblems on the ID cards of the period. The card says "SPECIAL AGENT" What was his employment? Maybe it was related to his job. Or it could have been a volunteer position in the war effort. Why does everyone infer that it was an undercover position?

 

The emblems would be very easy to reproduce, as it is the Royal cypher for the time. I would have thought if it was for a 'special agent' then more identification would be provided, i.e what department (MI9 for example), photo, name etc etc otherwise anyone could have one.

I am also unsure that in UK circles during WW2, we would have 'special agents', most of those in 'Intelligence work' would have been uniformed and hence by rank and other identifiers would void the need for a 'card'

Thats my thoughts anyway

TD

 

The phrase "ID Card" is a specifically US term never used in the UK in WW2.

The card in question is manifestly a spoof never intended seriously to deceive anyone.

It bears no relation whatsoever to anything the man concerned may or may not have done during WW2.

 

Nothing to do with WW2 because that's a Queens Crown.....so current Queen Elizabeth II and consequently early 1950s at the earliest.

It looks like part of a cover sheet from a standard issue Civil Service note book. Certainly someone 'having a laugh'!