Highland Regiments footwear during the Great War

[Ninehostages]

Very interesting site, I hadn't realised the military had ever issued boot polish / dubbin. The site talks of its issue in WW2. But we certainly weren't issued with it by the 1970s we had to buy it ourselves.. Meanwhile there's a tin of cherry blossom not 3 feet from me.

Dubbin makes sense if you're wallowing around in the Flemish mud. So does the whale oil that they rubbed on their feet, lest they rot off to the ankles.
I will tell you though, having been in the Navy that dubbin will render your boots "unpolishable" and they will never shine again. (lube oil , diesel, JP-5 do that, too)