WWII Boots - Service, Jump, etc.

[SamMarlowPI]

lol i mean i wasn't just comin' on here and asking without looking for myself as well thanks for all the info,pal.
i've always liked the look of the leggings...but the double buckle are more practical for combat

 

[cowboy76]

lol i mean i wasn't just comin' on here and asking without looking for myself as well thanks for all the info,pal.
i've always liked the look of the leggings...but the double buckle are more practical for combat

Actually the double buckle are an easier boot to work with if you are a reenactor doing late-war european theater impression late 1943 and into 1945. Anything earlier will require you to use the roughout boots with leggings. I always thought the leggings look was and is the quintessential WWII Army grunt look. It was the standard norm to see...

M1943 boots will not be accurate and NOT to be worn if depicting a soldier before 1944 (unless you were a greenie a new troop, tehn you would have been issued the new boots....but then again you probably already know this.

 

[thunderw21]

Cowboy did a good job pointing you in the right direction.

I'd like to show you a rare variation of the M1943 DB combat boot.
Below is a pair of U.S. Army British-made russet service shoes (British-made being rare enough) that have been converted to M43 combat boots by the addition of the leather cuffs.
Note the leather soles and hobnails that were prevailent on British-made shoes but not on U.S.-made shoes.

Also, there was the M1944 shoepac. Meant as a wet and cold weather boot, the shoepac was not worn as an overshoe but rather on their own. They caused some problems because men would march miles in them, causing their feet to sweat horribly. When troops stopped marching their sweaty feet would freeze and get frostbite. Shoepacs were good boots, they were just misused sometimes.
The shoepacs are the second from the right in the photo below.

On the very right in the photo below are felt arctic snow boots. These were meant to be used by mountain troops and were used in the states but never in combat. Designed like the M43 DB boots, the arctic boots were very effective in keeping the wearer's feet warm and were eventually replaced by the pressurized "Mickey Mouse" boots.

Left to right: Postwar French DB boots cut down to look like U.S. Army roughout boots; a standard pair of M43 DB combat boots; the British-made pair of service shoes that were converted to DB configuration; M1944 shoepacs; and lastly the arctic boots.

And just for kicks and giggles, here are the postwar French DB boots that I cut down paired with some leggings.

Like you said, leggings are very impractical but they work. Cowboy is right, anything before late-1944 will be leggings. Even up to the end of the war some soldiers were still stuck with leggings but by that time the M43 boots were phasing the leggings out.

 

[cowboy76]

Hobnails!!!! Ahhh,..reminds me of my WWI reenacting days!! "...watch out for that wet rock!!!..." WHAM! :eusa_doh:

Pac boots,....good LORD they suck to walk in,...those and the Micky Mouse boots,...those are worse!!! Hmmm,...I think one time a pai of pac boots worked out well for me though...I "think"???

 

[SamMarlowPI]

thats a nice collection you got there...thanks for all the info fellas...ill stick with rough outs with leggings and paratrooper jumpers...

 

[cowboy76]

Glad to help brother!! Always a pleasure to help educate in any way possible! If I dont know the answer someone asks me, my general rule is to find it!

 

[SamMarlowPI]

yep i do the same

 

[cookie]

these are the WWII paratrooper jump boots right?
http://www.d-daykleding.nl/webshop/images/boots.jpg

but what kind of boots did the regular infantry wear, like the Rangers? M1943s?
what kind in Vietnam? don't worry i'm not being lazy, i am researching as i ask this...

I notice that what price glory and soldier of fortune have some new style repro boots...the Mexican War ones are particualrly nice

 

[BellyTank]

I once had a pair of buckle boots, in rough-out but very smooth, and the boot part was the same cut and last as the Russet Army Bluchers, with a perforated toe-cap, the buckles were nickel and they had a full rubber Goodyear sole, rather than a tap.
They had the usual kind of army stamp in the boot, not USMC.
I thought they were probably quite rare. Thought they might have been an early prototype. Sold them to a militaria shop.

B
T

 

[Alan Eardley]

For cheapster re-enactors, the post-war Dutch army boots copied the US 'jump boots' (including bog toecap) and the French double buckle boots can be resoled to resemble the US boots from a distance.

Alan

 

[thunderw21]

I once had a pair of buckle boots, in rough-out but very smooth, and the boot part was the same cut and last as the Russet Army Bluchers, with a perforated toe-cap, the buckles were nickel and they had a full rubber Goodyear sole, rather than a tap.
They had the usual kind of army stamp in the boot, not USMC.
I thought they were probably quite rare. Thought they might have been an early prototype. Sold them to a militaria shop.

B
T

They were a prototype.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

yah...war looked good back then...

 

[Jovan]

I beg to differ...

 

[SamMarlowPI]

i said looked, not was...

 

[MrBern]

There are pix of rangers who wore a lot of brit gear including a very heavy service shoe w/ lug soles. Almost looked like Timberland construction boots. But they were not typical troops.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

There are pix of rangers who wore a lot of brit gear including a very heavy service shoe w/ lug soles. Almost looked like Timberland construction boots. But they were not typical troops.

do you happen to know where i could find these photos?

 

[cowboy76]

i said looked, not was...

I know what you mean,....the look of the uniforms and such. I have to tell ya though, make sure you dont EVER say something like that arounda WWII vet!! I'm not jumping on you or anything, I'm just saying, I once heard a vet spaz out on a guy that said something similar....you can understand why.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

I know what you mean,....the look of the uniforms and such. I have to tell ya though, make sure you dont EVER say something like that arounda WWII vet!! I'm not jumping on you or anything, I'm just saying, I once heard a vet spaz out on a guy that said something similar....you can understand why.

oh no, never...i actually borrowed that little saying from the subtext of the WWII forum, "so much style it made a war look good"...i've been around plenty of vets, i know to be careful...i really shouldn't have said that though, so i apologize to all...i should've put soldiers instead of war...

 

[MrBern]

do you happen to know where i could find these photos?

Sure, it was a book that had some Robert Capa shots.

U.S. ARMY RANGERS & SPECIAL FORCES OF WORLD WAR II
http://www.cibmedia.com/main-search-detail.asp?idsearch=SM-6826

Amazon should have plenty of copies as well.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

Thanks, Bern