This is a USMC marked officer’s musette bag which has seen some serious action in the Pacific. The bag is named to Paul N. Gardner who was with the III Amphibious Corps. He enlisted in 1942 and saw action shortly thereafter. He rose to the rank of Sergeant Major and shows up in the Marine Corps muster rolls throughout the war with good history.
Early in the War, the Marines Corps purchased Army pattern Musette Bags and by late 1942 they contracted their own version. The Marine Corps version was slightly larger than the Army bag, and the shoulder strap is designed to allow the bag to be worn across the shoulder or converted to a backpack via a snap-tab on the bottom.
