I visited an 85 year old veteran of the Graves Registration Service last week and he had a few souvenirs. Among them was this unusual skull ring. He told me he took these things off bodies before burying them at the various military cemeteries where he worked, starting with the Blosville, France cemetery behind Utah Beach. His platoon buried mostly American troops but also sometimes handled German bodies as well. I made a little pile of mainly cloth insignia which I was interested in purchasing, but he said he has to clear the purchase with his Grandson before selling me anything.
I like cutoffs and most of what he had was in that category, although he also had stuff like belt buckles, flags and similar stuff that didn't interest me.
Anyhow, this ring is different from any I've seen before-the metal is thin and the prongs overlap, for easy size adjustment. There were probably many variants of these pvt purchased skull rings but how often do you get to see one with definite and direct vet provenance? That's why I'm posting this here. I will post next a pic of the other items I offered to buy from him-perhaps the deal will go thru in the future, but I'm not optimistic.

Here's the little pile of stuff I offered to buy without success last week. All the cloth eagles are cutoffs, with a piece of tunic material attached to the back. Unfortunately, at some point, the vet neatly trimmed each piece up to the edge. The bevo SS eagle is creased and will not lie flat due to careless storage; nothing a hot iron wouldn't fix in a hurry.
He had a lot more, but when his nephew borrowed his box of souvenirs to take to third grade class for show and tell, a lot of it did not come back. I prefer not to imagine what items were lost. However, he does think he has more WWII stuff stashed around his house and will try to find it for my next visit. Most of his GRS buddies are deceased from old age, as the burial personnel were mostly older guys, but this man was only 18 in 1944. He should be around awhile longer.

Mark, the skull ring is a good known pattern. Yes, there are many different patterns of skull ring. Direct from vet or from family is one of the best ways to get them!..Thanks for the view.

Beauty!

Mark,

Nice pictures, Thank You for sharing with us!

Chief

When the children get involved, the prices go up exponentially..