Highland Regiments footwear during the Great War

[The Q]

The original boots that were issued to the First Canadian Division at the beginning of the war were complete cr_p. They were of such inferior quality (another purchasing boondoggle by our infamous Minister of Militia, Sir Sam Hughes) that they fell apart as they camped on the Salisbury Plain during the winter of '14-'15. They were rubbish ... almost like cardboard .

Nothing changes, when the boots DMS that I was issued with in the 70s and 80s were replaced by more modern type boots they fell apart in hot temperatures..

The current boots sole falls apart in time as the rubber degrades, soldiers were putting them on and they'd disintegrate on the first walk. The MOD now has a policy of disposing of them after 5 years on the shelf. Unfortunately they tend to buy huge amounts at a time...