Where did the boots go?

[GlenBanna]

I notice that in many of the photographs of dead British soldiers on the battlefield their boots have been removed. Did the Germans take them or their own side? Did the Germans ever wear British boots?

Glen

[trenchtrotter]

Oh yes. It was common for dead men to have their boots salvaged by others. I suspect nationality didnt come into it. If your boots were worn or if damaged I am sure that pending stores resupplying you would use what was at hand.

During most of the war the Germans had leather shortages so they commonly stripped the dead of boots.

And of course remember the boots in All Quiet On The Western Front!

TT

[GlenBanna]

Oh yes. It was common for dead men to have their boots salvaged by others. I suspect nationality didnt come into it. If your boots were worn or if damaged I am sure that pending stores resupplying you would use what was at hand.

During most of the war the Germans had leather shortages so they commonly stripped the dead of boots.

And of course remember the boots in All Quiet On The Western Front!

TT

Interesting Thanks

Glen

[SiegeGunner]

During most of the war the Germans had leather shortages so they commonly stripped the dead of boots.

We hear this frequently, but I've never knowingly seen a photo of a German soldier wearing enemy boots. Does anyone have one? I'm sure that, locally, men with worn-out or damaged boots helped themselves to whatever was available – probably favouring German issue boots, where possible – but I doubt whether this completely explains an apparently systematic practice.

The Germans had systems in place for salvaging and recycling equipment and useful materials – sometimes to facilities in the rear of the war zone and sometimes all the way back to Germany (including recuperation of the carcases of casualty horses and the hides/bones of animals slaughtered for meat – which many believe to be the basis of propaganda stories about processing human bodies). I have no documentary evidence to support the theory, but wonder whether the boots of enemy dead were collected and shipped to Germany for issue to POWs and foreign labourers, which would have the indirect effect of saving scarce leather for the making of (inter alia) 'proper' German army boots.

The German term for recycling in its broadest sense (Verwertung, meaning to recover the value of something in whatever form is most useful – so re-using boots as boots, wood as fuel, metals as scrap, etc) was certainly in use at the time of the Great War.

Mick

[truthergw]

A pair of re-soled & heeled, well polished boots would be much more comfortable to wear than a brand new pair.

[pmaasz]

Some of those killed at the battle of Rifle Wood on 1st April 1918 were found in August still on the ground where they fell, but the Germans had taken their boots.

[phil@basildon]

Apparently the Germans troops regarded the British boots as superior to their own and would "help themselves" at every opportunity. I have never seen any evidence of boots being taken from POW's however.

[SiegeGunner]

Apparently the Germans troops regarded the British boots as superior to their own and would "help themselves" at every opportunity. I have never seen any evidence of boots being taken from POW's however.

Apparently ... But have you any evidence, Phil, of Germans actually wearing British boots - as opposed to British stories saying that the Germans collected boots to wear themselves?

Mick

[phil@basildon]

Apparently ... But have you any evidence, Phil, of Germans actually wearing British boots - as opposed to British stories saying that the Germans collected boots to wear themselves?

Mick

That was as quoted in a recent publication. Were there any identifying features of both British and German boots that would stand out in photographs? I have seen photographs of dead British soldiers without their boots so someone must have taken them.

[SiegeGunner]

I have seen photographs of dead British soldiers without their boots so someone must have taken them.

So have I – but I haven't seen any of Germans wearing them, which is why I'm interested to discover whether boots were collected systematically and sent elsewhere for re-use.

[rachelwilsdon]

Hey guys,

Ive just come across this thread, and I thought I would share a few quotes from somes books I've gotten for my dissattion, that you might find intressting.

"Another soldier recounted his distaste at seeing a fellow soldier steal the boots from a dead German, 'We thought that was terrible until one of the cooks took a chisel and a pair of pliers and knocked out his gold teeth" unkown source, N.Hanson, the unknown soldier, 2005 p.70

However bad that was I found a much worse eppisode,

"I take 3 men. we examine a trench & find it full of dead Germans ...and allow me to take some of their bottons. I find one helmet, mostly bones in thiers clothes...The helmet I find contained a head, to which was affixed the body. the endeavour to pocure the helmet resulted in head leaving body with helmet. Great diffeculty in getting rid of head, eventually successful. very pleased with work." Lionel Sotherby, ‘Lionel Sotherby’s Great War’, Ohio University Press, 1997, p.124

I hope this helps.

Rachel xx

[truthergw]

So have I – but I haven't seen any of Germans wearing them, which is why I'm interested to discover whether boots were collected systematically and sent elsewhere for re-use.

I wonder if frontline troops would be wary of wearing the enemy's boots? It may have affected your chances of a safe surrender. Perhaps the boots would be for rear echelon troops or even civilians to wear.

[SiegeGunner]

We could perhaps do with the help of one of the forum's German equipment specialists.

I'm not sure if they were the only pattern of boot in front line use, but most German soldiers wore laceless leather boots (similar in shape to wellington boots), of the kind referred to in WW2 as jackboots, into which they tucked the bottoms of their trousers. A German soldier who acquired a pair of British short lace-up boots would therefore need to either improvise puttees or let the bottoms of his trousers hang loose. In either case he would look conspicuously different from his comrades. I've no doubt that some did try it, for a longer or shorter period of time, but am unconvinced that the number of these would account for the quantities of boots apparently systematically collected from the dead.

The 'scrap value' of boots is minimal (they could perhaps be ground up for leather fibre from which to make composite 'leatherette'), so it seems reasonable to suppose that if they were indeed collected, it was for re-use as footwear. As German soldiers were accustomed to their own kind of boots, I tend to think that they would have been issued to POWs or civilian workmen.

[mmjjm@btopenworld.com]

I am sure that I have seen pics of german soldiers with puttees, I will see if I can find some, don`t know what type of boots they are wearing with them though. If I can find them I will post.

Off topic but may be of interest, I have a couple of pics of british military cobblers repairing boots.

Martin

[CGM]

martin1 said:

Off topic but may be of interest, I have a couple of pics of british military cobblers repairing boots.

Martin

Hello Martin, If you haven't seen it before you might like to have a look at this thread, and maybe comment.

 

Regards

CGM

[mmjjm@btopenworld.com]

Pics of military cobblers

Martin

And another pic

Martin

[mmjjm@btopenworld.com]

Found the pics of german troops with puttees and boots, here is one

Martin

[mmjjm@btopenworld.com]

And another

Martin

[phil@basildon]

And another

Martin

Interesting, I can see three different kinds of footwear.

[Jack Sheldon]

The practice of German front line soldiers taking the boots and socks of the enemy dead became ever more common as the war dragged on and the German soldiers began to be issued with rubbish ersatz boots and socks, which had more cardboard and cellulose in them than anything else. As a result there are loads of photos taken during the 1918 spring offensive of this occurring - and not only to the British army. This first photo is a demonstration that recovery of boots was not official policy. It shows a group of British soldiers at Kemmel in April 1918. Some of their boots have been taken, but most have not. If a salvage policy had been in place, this would have been the final place systematic removal could have been carried out. As far as the boots and puttees combination is concerned, the men in the front line quickly began to appreciate its advantages. I have seen numerous photos of them being worn - especially by storm units. I shall try to locate some photos.

[Jack Sheldon]

The next photo shows two American soldiers killed at Estaires. No boots, but socks left on feet, which suggests that the job was done in a hurry or that those involved were happy with what they were wearing at the time.

[Jack Sheldon]

This photo is associated with the one which follows and is a close up of a Portuguese infantryman killed near Aubers in April 1918.

[Jack Sheldon]

To my mind, this photo is the clincher. The caption reads, 'British and Portuguese positions stormed near Aubers, to the west of Armentieres [during] the 1918 Spring Offensive. (The British footwear, known to be of good quality, has been gratefully appropriated by troops following up)'

[Jack Sheldon]

Now onto boots with puttees. This is a selection of views allegedly of the advance over the old Somme battlefields in early 1918, by which time boots and puttees seem to have become the universally preferred choice. For Bob's benefit, the first shot shows a flamethrower team in action.

[Jack Sheldon]

This next shot is of a group of gunners manhandling a field gun over a trench right up to the front line. I suspect that they were members of an Infanteriebegleitbatterie [infantry support battery], which advanced with the infantry as it went forward and engaged point targets at close range - an important feature of 'stormtroop' tactics.