Oh, be sure to brush off heavy, loose rust with a brass toothe brush.

I have used EvapoRust for years. It does not remove paint or ink markings. In your case, I would tape off the cardboard, brush on, then cover treated area with Saran Wrap or plastic bag so it will not evaporate.    Judging by your pics, it may take hours most likely a day or two refreshing the liquid. Also, I have had success applying, covering with plastic and putting out in the sun to accelerate the process. The key is refreshing so as to not let it dry out.

Here’s his entry for Find a Grave but no luck with an obituary in 1994.  

I appreciate it, guys. I have so many projects all the time, I'll never get to 0 before I get to 0! Every project builds skills that add to the next one even if apparently unrelated. I don't think anyone would mistake this knife as original but I like to show that people can do more than you think. No exceptional skills - just care and persistence. Dave  

So I’ve been trying to compare as many parts as I can recognize against the data sheets that were so kindly provided (you guys are awesome).  Any drawing number I can find seems to match these sheets and most of the visible parts do as well (no idea what the firing pin looks like).  The glaring exception is what appears to be later War lock-bar sights.  I also read about post-war chroming of the pads at the muzzle end and I’m not sure if this barrel was chromed.  The pads don’t have any parkerizing on them so maybe they’re chromed but dull?  Hopefully a learned eye can offer an opinion. Here are some photos of the muzzle:

Ben Macintyre describes in his 2016 book 'SAS: Rogue Heroes' how jeeps were dropped in northeastern France after D-Day for SAS operations in this area. Quite a few of these drops went disastrously wrong, but even more actually work and allowed several SAS units to operate in this area with their heavily armed jeeps.   The more recent TV series with the same name based on this book is actually quite good to watch. Not an historical account by any means (as they claim themselves at the start of every episode) it is quite entertaining nonetheless.    

I looked for that name in the Air Medal award cards at NARA but no-go with that ASN.

It's in absolutely amazing condition. How is the owner going to handle the rear panel? Is any of the rear script left? How is the condition under the hood?   Lots of questions 🤭   Next time you go there, could you maybe see if there are any markings (left) on the heads of the body to frame bolts?         

For US field gear this is a good page on Facebook.  Just a heads up they do not allow sales on the page. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18krs1TsLy/

. Hi Kevin,   here's the front cover of the 1954 Meccano magazine French edition      Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 02 July 2O26.   ..