"The Man Who Never Was"! What a great story, and lesson in attention to detail. You are so right about the details. I am amazed that my dad kept all of this. After VE day, my dad was in charge of disposing of captured "Iti and kraut" (his words) gear. I asked him why he never brought any home and he said he never thought he would have a couple of boys who would be interested in that stuff. Well this stuff is vastly more interesting to me than a helmet or weapon.
My nephew is a WWII Engineer re enactor and I have tried to explain that Soldiers were not all "cookie cut" from the same dough. That every Soldier (then and now) did and does things to his "kit" that makes it his own. Only in training was I ever held to "GI" standard on my web gear as far as what I carried (issued 2 ammo pouches? 3 must be better!). So he should build his character with personal details in mind. Now that I have said that maybe I can reproduce some of these things I have found in his granddads wallet and he can add it to his "kit".