Highland Regiments footwear during the Great War

[Laird O'the Cowcaddens]

As a young Jock/squaddie in the oh so distant past, we polished EVERYTHING including our "gutties" (plimsoles/sandshoes) even the soles of our leather brogues. As for Dubbin, we used to keep hidden what we called "field" boots. These were a well broke in pair of DMS boots used only for field exercises/maneuvers that had been laagered with dubbin to help keep your feet dry as possible. The only way to revitalize them back to barrack standards was to burn them with a candle/bic lighter to get the dubbin out; which usually was unsuccessful. I agree that the replacement boots for the standard DMS(Doc Martin Specials) where in my opinion a catastrophe, so I bought my own non-issued boots and only wore issued when absolutely necessary. RHIP(Rank Has Its Privilege's).

[Jacques]

As a young Jock/squaddie in the oh so distant past, we polished EVERYTHING including our "gutties" (plimsoles/sandshoes) even the soles of our leather brogues. As for Dubbin, we used to keep hidden what we called "field" boots. These were a well broke in pair of DMS boots used only for field exercises/maneuvers that had been laagered with dubbin to help keep your feet dry as possible. The only way to revitalize them back to barrack standards was to burn them with a candle/bic lighter to get the dubbin out; which usually was unsuccessful. I agree that the replacement boots for the standard DMS(Doc Martin Specials) where in my opinion a catastrophe, so I bought my own non-issued boots and only wore issued when absolutely necessary. RHIP(Rank Has Its Privilege's).

Dear Laird O'the Cowcaddens;
Thank you for the post. From my past experiences with British Army and the RAF (a fine alternative to the army) serving in Canada, i knew it would not take long before some Squaddie would come and prove me right. Polishing the brass fire extinguishers in barracks, did you do that as well? We Canadians must have learned that from you.

Jacques

[The Q]

Dear Laird O'the Cowcaddens;
Thank you for the post. From my past experiences with British Army and the RAF (a fine alternative to the army) serving in Canada, i knew it would not take long before some Squaddie would come and prove me right. Polishing the brass fire extinguishers in barracks, did you do that as well? We Canadians must have learned that from you.

Jacques

In the RAF but...
Only if the extinguishers were brass,, but they weren't, they were painted red, with the appropriate band of colour for the extinguishers contents. But they did have to be spotlessly clean, and if they had chrome parts, they had to be shining.

The brass door and window fittings had to be polished, along with the linoleum floors ( no electric polishers!!!) . Glass spotlessly clean, every crook and cranny also spotless. The inspecting SNCO wearing white gloves would run his hands over every surface including the tops of the doors on the light bulbs on the ceiling and at the head of the bed.
And then the toilets and showers.. Every surface spotless and shining.

In basic and early trade training.. Bed packs, the bed had to be stripped of all sheets and blankets. Bar one blanket, They were folded into a specific pattern, see photo below, that's not a box holding the sheets, but the bed cover, carefully wrapped around.
Note, the One blanket on the bed, the three lines of the weave straight down the middle, bulled shoes beneath the bed, and number 1 hat carefully positioned.
The photo furniture is exactly as I remember it. Except there was no card in the middle front of the bedpack.
If they didn't like it, your bed pack was likely to be thrown out of the window.. Raining or not..

I notice the basic error in that photo, the bed should be centred under the light on the wall... Someone would be in deep xxxx.

Once past the early trade training, the bed packs were not required, unless the flight was in serious trouble for something. Instead the bed had to be made properly, hospital corners, perfectly smooth and flat.

Boots DMS that's Direct Moulded Sole, can still be bought, though that's not the current issued boot. https://www.cadetkitshop.com/product...boot-size-6-12 an awful lot of polishing needs to be put into this new pair..

Oh the contents of the two cupboards had to be carefully laid out in a prescribed manner, including plimsoles painted in whitener, but definitely not on the soles...

[Jacques]

In the RAF but...
Only if the extinguishers were brass,, but they weren't, they were painted red, with the appropriate band of colour for the extinguishers contents. But they did have to be spotlessly clean, and if they had chrome parts, they had to be shining.

The brass door and window fittings had to be polished, along with the linoleum floors ( no electric polishers!!!) . Glass spotlessly clean, every crook and cranny also spotless. The inspecting SNCO wearing white gloves would run his hands over every surface including the tops of the doors on the light bulbs on the ceiling and at the head of the bed.
And then the toilets and showers.. Every surface spotless and shining.

In basic and early trade training.. Bed packs, the bed had to be stripped of all sheets and blankets. Bar one blanket, They were folded into a specific pattern, see photo below, that's not a box holding the sheets, but the bed cover, carefully wrapped around.
Note, the One blanket on the bed, the three lines of the weave straight down the middle, bulled shoes beneath the bed, and hat carefully positioned.
The photo furniture is exactly as I remember it. Except there was no card in the middle front of the bedpack.
If they didn't like it, your bed pack was likely to be thrown out of the window.. Raining or not..

I notice the basic error in that photo, the bed should be centred under the light on the wall... Someone would be in deep xxxx.

Once past the early trade training, the bed packs were not required, unless the flight was in serious trouble for something. Instead the bed had to be made properly, hospital corners, perfectly smooth and flat.

Boots DMS that's Direct Moulded Sole, can still be bought, though that's not the current issued boot. https://www.cadetkitshop.com/product...boot-size-6-12 an awful lot of polishing needs to be put into this new pair..

Oh the contents of the two cupboards had to be carefully laid out in a prescribed manner, including plimsoles painted in whitener, but definitely not on the soles...

Q,
A little different this side of the pond; we had electric buffers, only one stripe on the blanket, and as our boots were smooth leather they must have been infinitely easier to polish. A lot of good memories though.

[Ninehostages]

We had "Biltrite" boots.

[Laird O'the Cowcaddens]

Looking back I can laugh at all the "Basic Training" imaginative practices we endured in the first couple of months after induction. The first billet I was assigned to was called Napier Barracks, it was a open style with 16 beds on each wing with the ablutions in the middle of the building with a "Torpedo tube" crapper with a flusher valve at one end.
It had coal stoves in the middle of each wing and waxed and "bumpered" the floors with a long handled short haired brush and an old piece of blanket for extra shine. The beds were exactly the ones shown in the photo, and they sagged badly if some of the metal clips were absent, so you sometimes had to wire them closed. Bye the way, we called the sheet and blanket thing a :bed block". I had not thought of these things in nearly 50 years. All my yesterdays, thanks for the memories.

[Ninehostages]

Looking back I can laugh at all the "Basic Training" imaginative practices we endured in the first couple of months after induction. The first billet I was assigned to was called Napier Barracks, it was a open style with 16 beds on each wing with the ablutions in the middle of the building with a "Torpedo tube" crapper with a flusher valve at one end.
It had coal stoves in the middle of each wing and waxed and "bumpered" the floors with a long handled short haired brush and an old piece of blanket for extra shine. The beds were exactly the ones shown in the photo, and they sagged badly if some of the metal clips were absent, so you sometimes had to wire them closed. Bye the way, we called the sheet and blanket thing a :bed block". I had not thought of these things in nearly 50 years. All my yesterdays, thanks for the memories.

... deployed to Crimea, after that?