Highland Regiments footwear during the Great War

[Jacques]

To the seemingly unparalleled knowledge of forum members regarding everything kilt or highland history related on this forum, i pose these questions; At the beginning of WW1, were the British Army Highland Regiments wearing black or brown shoes? Also, i have read online most soldiers throughout the British Army had two pairs of boots, black for parade and brown for field/combat. Is this true? Generally, what colour boots would soldiers of the highland regiments been wearing once they were issued with boots and putties? i ask because all the information i have gathered online thus far have answered the aforementioned questions; yes and no.

Thanks much

Jacques

[figheadair]

I'd always assumed that British Army footwear was black until the most recent changes to the field uniform which introduced brown boots.

[McMurdo]

This old thread may help. I took a tour of the 48th Highlanders Museum here in Toronto some years ago. While the 48th is a Canadian Regiment I thought you might like to see this collection of photos

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-museum-28666/

[Bruce Scott]

From a discussion I recall on the Great War Forum, B2 brown boots were introduced in 1913 and the B5 version, also brown, later in the war. Two pairs were issued and, in some units, the second pair was blackened for parade use and walking out.

For further information it may be worthwhile asking the question on that forum, here: https://www.greatwarforum.org/




B5 Boot frpm: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30100412

[Jacques]

From a discussion I recall on the Great War Forum, B2 brown boots were introduced in 1913 and the B5 version, also brown, later in the war. Two pairs were issued and, in some units, the second pair was blackened for parade use and walking out.

For further information it may be worthwhile asking the question on that forum, here: https://www.greatwarforum.org/




B5 Boot frpm: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30100412

Thanks much. i think the forum you suggest will be of great assistance.

Jacques

[FossilHunter]

I don’t have it in front of me but the book Those Bloody Kilts mentions highland units being sent to France with brogues and spats which ended up being unsuitable to the muddy conditions in the trenches (there were problems with brogues simply being pulled off and lost in the deep mud leaving soldiers bare footed). Eventually highland units were issued the same boots, puttees, and helmets issued to their trousered counterparts both to simplify supply lines and improve effectiveness.

[Jacques]

I don’t have it in front of me but the book Those Bloody Kilts mentions highland units being sent to France with brogues and spats which ended up being unsuitable to the muddy conditions in the trenches (there were problems with brogues simply being pulled off and lost in the deep mud leaving soldiers bare footed). Eventually highland units were issued the same boots, puttees, and helmets issued to their trousered counterparts both to simplify supply lines and improve effectiveness.

Thank you FossilHunter, i too have the book and am presently going through it for the second time. Hoping this time around, i'll find the small morsel of information i seek. Either way, the book is still worth reading. But i have come to a few conclusions; Shoes issued to OR's in the highland regiments were likely polished black, boots issued to the British forces were initially brown with many being polished black for parade, smart dress, &c. Boots left in their original brown were mostly used for field/combat and merely kept clean and likely not polished (black). As an aside and further to your statement of the British Army attempting to simplify supply lines; i have read elsewhere that sometime in 1917 highland regiments began to be issued the exact same jacket/tunic as the rest of the army as replacement for worn out jackets with the cut out front. It was then left up to the individual regiments to use their own funds to have the jackets tailored. As most of these regiments were waist deep in a little fracas (or donnybrook?) called The Great War, with soldiers fighting across the Empire, most regiments chose to overlook this unsightly yet little detail until after 1918.

Your input is most welcome.

Jacques

[Bruce Scott]

. As an aside and further to your statement of the British Army attempting to simplify supply lines; i have read elsewhere that sometime in 1917 highland regiments began to be issued the exact same jacket/tunic as the rest of the army as replacement for worn out jackets with the cut out front. It was then left up to the individual regiments to use their own funds to have the jackets tailored. As most of these regiments were waist deep in a little fracas (or donnybrook?) called The Great War, with soldiers fighting across the Empire, most regiments chose to overlook this unsightly yet little detail until after 1918.

Your input is most welcome.

Jacques

As in this photo.

[Tobus]

As in this photo.

Here's another photo showing a mish-mash of different jacket styles. The two men in front have the proper style with the bottom cutaway. But in the 2nd row I see at least two men with the straight-cut jacket style. Since they dispensed with wearing sporrans at this point, I suppose it really didn't matter which style of jacket they were wearing.



As for footwear, I've seen a lot of reenactors wearing brown rough-out boots for WWI trench reenactments. Most WWI field photos are showing dirty/muddy boots, so it's impossible to tell what they were supposed to look like. Illustrations from the era seem to show both brown boots and black boots with varying lengths of puttees (the photo above shows long puttees). I think it varied greatly between regiments, as well as resupply during different points of the war. They were probably more interested in just keeping boots on their soldiers' feet rather than caring whether they all had the same thing. If I were reenacting a period uniform, though, I'd probably go with black boots and short puttees like this:

[Jacques]

Here's another photo showing a mish-mash of different jacket styles. The two men in front have the proper style with the bottom cutaway. But in the 2nd row I see at least two men with the straight-cut jacket style. Since they dispensed with wearing sporrans at this point, I suppose it really didn't matter which style of jacket they were wearing.



As for footwear, I've seen a lot of reenactors wearing brown rough-out boots for WWI trench reenactments. Most WWI field photos are showing dirty/muddy boots, so it's impossible to tell what they were supposed to look like. Illustrations from the era seem to show both brown boots and black boots with varying lengths of puttees (the photo above shows long puttees). I think it varied greatly between regiments, as well as resupply during different points of the war. They were probably more interested in just keeping boots on their soldiers' feet rather than caring whether they all had the same thing. If I were reenacting a period uniform, though, I'd probably go with black boots and short puttees like this:

Some more great examples and information. And i'm back on the fence again. Thanks Tobus. But as close as i can interpret from all the photos i've had access to, your comments bear merit. The darker (black?) seem to be the more prevalent colour. It's just so hard to tell from the all too often grainy black and white photos. But the black shoe polish/wax that was used may have provided some water proofing (possibly meaning more frequent use), not every soldier might have had two pairs of boots (black for parade and unpolished for work parties and combat), and the highland regiments did switch from from the longer putties to the short ones during the war. That is, if the information i discovered online is correct.
Then again, maybe the soldiers in the trenches were more concerned about clean weapons, ammunition, clean water, rations and could have cared less about the condition of their boots. Seems like there are so many possible answers for such a simple question.

*Note to Tobus: i owe you an apology Tobus, can't believe i got your name wrong on my first draft.