Exactly, there's nothing worse than a pebble in your boot when you can't stop to remove it. I hated wearing puttees because they were a PITA to roll properly when you were pressed for time before morning parade.
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- Thread starter jwhc
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Exactly, there's nothing worse than a pebble in your boot when you can't stop to remove it. I hated wearing puttees because they were a PITA to roll properly when you were pressed for time before morning parade.
Rod B
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
They belong in the same class of ancient euqipment such as the weights we had to put in our trouser legs above the putees or gaiters.Duane, lesser known Hindu god and Brother to Kali (Goddess of Time, Creation, Destruction and Power) signed up in 1938.
I believe the US troops called them leggings , they were not popular with the troops
help keep mud, rainwater and snow out of your short boots.
Are these actual combat boots from WWII? I’ve never given them much thought or a close look.
They're not going to live long in the trenches, no sense giving them good boots.
Grizz
They allowed Russia's hard-pressed factories not to be distracted by making socks, and soldiers in the field to improvise replacements if need be. They did, though, need to be worn correctly.
Foot wraps would be a real learning experience for "sock people". Interestingly, the US made and supplied the Russians with large quantities of valenki (felt boots) during WW2. They also shipped them a mountain of SPAM to keep the troops fueled up.
Portyanki (in russian) or "onuce" (in polish) were supplied to troops in rolls and cut as needed,when needed.Same roll could have been used as bandages (we practiced this in scouts field medic course a lot).
Foot wraps can be made from any old shirt (some are better than others) and discarded or washed.By wrapping more or less of them any boot can be fitted to any foot and it will be sufficient.
It all comes down to cost,disposable nature and ease of replacement in the field.My grandfather wore them in rubber boots all the way till his last day.
It never occurred to me that boots have come such a long way. Probably not the quietest things either.
The P-39 Airacobra was one of the prettiest and graceful fighters there was, but it was a real dog when it came to doing its job. It was handicapped by poor of high altitude performance, maneuverability and range. It came into its own when the Soviets used it in a ground attack role.
I looked at the one in the Pima County Air Museum a couple of years ago and really wished that it had done better.
There was also a lot of speculation about how a couple of RR Merlins might have improved the P-38, but it never came to that. The P-38 still did OK with the Alison engine which was a big govt investment in GM. The Merlin was swapped into the P-40 and didn't change that much, but it changed everything in the P-51.
51 minutes long. Typical US handling of subject matter, their product must always the best.
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