Yesterday was bonkers with nine donations coming in...however, this was literally a end of the day walk in. A man brought in a trunk that was purchased by his son-in-law's father at a yard sale over 30 years ago; it contains the artifacts of a Sergeant First Class in the 323rd Field Signal Battalion. There's a number of other souvenirs, like a section of MG08/15 ammo belt with rounds in it, a Mauser 5 round stripper clip (full), pieces of shrapnel, tags from French and German equipment, a section of barbed wire, and this hat. It's not looking very sexy right now, so it's going to need some TLC to get it "displayable". I saw no markings inside, but it looks like the soldier's initials are lightly inked on the crown. You can see where the upper cockade was as well...hoped to find those in the box but no joy in Mudville. Still, a very nice surprise to close a busy day:

 

Mark sends

I forgot to add, the chin strap is still intact.

 

Mark sends

Excellent mutze, shouldn’t be too hard to bring back it’s original shape.