jdproject Posted 16 December , 2019 Share Posted 16 December , 2019 I recently acquired these ankle boots from a larger collection of mostly German militaria. All leather uppers are quite dry and inflexible and are well worn but very much intact. There's an interesting pattern of alternative lace hooks and eyelets near the upper portion of the boot with leather laces that appear quite original to the boots. Boots are notoriously difficult to identify and these unfortunatley have no visible markings that I can see. They appear to be great war vintage and have the characteristics and pattern of the B5 British boot. However, the hobnails, toe plate and lace hooks seem more like German to me. Any feedback and comments would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRANVILLE Posted 17 December , 2019 Share Posted 17 December , 2019 Purely on instinct, I would say they are most likely from the inter-war period - possibly American. They are round-toed as opposed to the square-toe of the British B5 circa WW1. From the look of them, I would think that that if they were given a good soaking in something to nourish and rejuvenate the leather, they could well give penty of service yet. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MURAT Posted 17 December , 2019 Share Posted 17 December , 2019 (edited) It's a pair of french 1945 pattern boots.They are very similar with british B5 boots but are post ww2 boots. They are typical of the Indochina or Algeria wars .Hooks are probably a modification of the initial pattern . Gérald Edited 17 December , 2019 by MURAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chasemuseum Posted 19 December , 2019 Share Posted 19 December , 2019 On 18/12/2019 at 10:05, MURAT said: It's a pair of french 1945 pattern boots.They are very similar with british B5 boots but are post ww2 boots. They are typical of the Indochina or Algeria wars .Hooks are probably a modification of the initial pattern . Gérald Thanks, very much appreciated. A thread on French Army boots by someone with the knowledge and access to good photos would benefit a lot of readers. Please consider. Cheers Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdproject Posted 19 December , 2019 Author Share Posted 19 December , 2019 Thanks for your comments gents. The toe plates are secured with phillips style screws which were first made in the early 1930's so the boots are likely at least interwar or perhaps later. I wasn't expecting the possibility of these being French pattern boots. I'm certainly interesting in seeing samples / photos for reference. Since the boots are so similar to the B5's they're an ideal substitute for the real thing in my WWI CEF collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MURAT Posted 19 December , 2019 Share Posted 19 December , 2019 Hi, here a picture of a pair of french 1945 pattern boots from Militaria magazine no 200.In France good museums like Notre Dame de Lorette or la Targette near Arras used this pattern of boots for many of their british mannequins . They realy look like good british boots when they are well worn. Gérald Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdproject Posted 19 December , 2019 Author Share Posted 19 December , 2019 Thanks for posting the pics Gerald, very interesting to see how my boots must have looked straight out of the box brand new. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRANVILLE Posted 20 December , 2019 Share Posted 20 December , 2019 On 19/12/2019 at 01:22, jdproject said: Thanks for your comments gents. The toe plates are secured with phillips style screws which were first made in the early 1930's so the boots are likely at least interwar or perhaps later. I wasn't expecting the possibility of these being French pattern boots. I'm certainly interesting in seeing samples / photos for reference. Since the boots are so similar to the B5's they're an ideal substitute for the real thing in my WWI CEF collection. I think the philips headed screws are simply the result of the boots being worked on over the years. They have almost certainly been re-soled at some point. You can see the older slotted head screws on the French pair in the previous posting. Personally, I would look for some old and tarnished slotted head screws of the right size and replace the philips screws. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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