Did the Luftwaffe wear socks or something else?

[Lighthunmust]

I was gonna say Dr. Scholl's Inserts.......it sounded German.

For originality and humor you win one of our delightful consolation prizes: Dinner for two at the spectacular Taco Bell located on the mysterious Pima Indian Reservation just a short walking distance from Lighthunmust Footwrap Contest Headquarters. (see note #1 and #2 in post #19 above, you will be dinning with our handsome and charming contest prize coordinator)

 

[Crimea_River]

I was thinking condoms.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

We are getting into the Top 20.

 

[Lighthunmust]

I was thinking condoms.

Did you visit the "Hitler's battle with venereal disease" thread just before you came here and get confused?

Is wearing condoms on your feet something peculiar to western Canadians due to you having some really strange looking feet?

Is it just the shape of your feet that made you think the equipment was condoms? I'll bet you could cry me a river of tears over the teasing you get at the beach.

Oh I get it! Pardon me for being slow. You thought I when I wrote "socks" it was because I was too embarrassed and prissy to write condom. You know I think I just figured out why many people have not posted to this thread. Honestly, it was never an intended double entendre.

For your special help in helping me overcome my naivete you too win one of our delightful consolation prizes. Get ready for excitement when you visit the exotic lair of Canadian snowbirds and participate in a photo safari led by our daring and courageous Lighthunmust Footwrap Contest Big Game Hunter. (See notes #1 and #2 in post #19 above)

Seriously folks, do any of you have military experience wearing footwraps? I truly am curious about your opinions about them.

 

[Njaco]

I actually hadn't heard of them before. I think its an item usually missed in all the history books.

 

[Capt. Vick]

I don't know about socks, but they tied their shoes in little nazis! LOL

 

[Lighthunmust]

I actually hadn't heard of them before. I think its an item usually missed in all the history books.

It has only been two months since I learned about how important they were considered to be. What I find interesting is they were apparently easier and faster to dry. I humped a ruck for several years mainly at Fort Bragg and remember what a pain it was to keep your socks dry. The other interesting thing is that a hole in a footwrap is easier to deal with than one in a sock. I would like someone to chime in that has experience with them. It cannot be low cost and tradition alone that kept them in use for so long. They apparently require precise folding or they rapidly cause problems. Did Luftwaffe pilots and aircrew use footwraps or did the prestige of their positions merit socks being issued?

 

[Njaco]

Find a few pics and a discussion on another forum....

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=39625&st=40&p=304274entry304274

The one pic is Red Army soldier T.F. Stebakov to wrap up feet in foot wrap before march. From Imageshack.

The other pic is explained on that forum.

 

[Lighthunmust]

Thanks Njaco, that is a very interesting site. I remember how much time I spent ensuring my feet were kept in good shape. During the 1980-90s I tried various socks of different materials, issue wool, the synthetic mix sold at the Post Clothing Sales, Polysomething (middle-aged moment, need to drink my coffee), and Thermax. I never had much problem keeping the water out of my boots unless wading or fording, the problem was sweat and quickly drying out wool after removing the sock. The two last materials listed worked the best, but still I used alot of moleskin and bandage tape. The fact that something other than socks were used by major military organizations until very recently is very interesting. Socks could not have been to expensive to prohibit use in the second half of the 20th century. Did some soldiers really prefer footwraps?

 

[tyrodtom]

That looks like one very young Russian soldier in the first picture.

 

[Njaco]

fodder for the grist mill.

 

[ivanotter]

Luftwaffe and foot wrap? can't see it. Goering would never go for it.

Come to think of it. I think it was even in one of the episodes of "Amazing Race" a year back. when the team ended up in Russia. One of the tasks was to dress up in Russian uniform and do something. Foot wrap was a part of it. (I think).

Ivan

 

[mikewint]

When I first arrived in Vietnam we were issued leather boots. They were always wet, and rotted away in about a month or so. We wore one pair of socks, and kept at least one or two pair pair next to our skin to try to dry them. My feet looked like cottage cheese most of the time. we mixed up all kinds of stuff to try to keep the fungus infections down. One of my favorites was a mixture of a couple tubes of micolog, penicillin, and foot powder.
Never heard of "foot-wraps" except maybe when no boots were available

 

[ivanotter]

Mike, that sounds like a horrible potion.

Insofar as foot wraps seem to be superior in some ways, could it have been an option in Vietnam?

Ivan

 

[mikewint]

I think the folding would have been a serious problem, even the smallest wrinkle in your socks could trigger a blister. Any skin break was a serious problem in that environment

 

[Lighthunmust]

When I first arrived in Vietnam we were issued leather boots. They were always wet, and rotted away in about a month or so. We wore one pair of socks, and kept at least one or two pair pair next to our skin to try to dry them. My feet looked like cottage cheese most of the time. we mixed up all kinds of stuff to try to keep the fungus infections down. One of my favorites was a mixture of a couple tubes of micolog, penicillin, and foot powder.
Never heard of "foot-wraps" except maybe when no boots were available

I assume you are referring to an all leather boot and not the leather/nylon jungle boot. Were you still in country when the jungle boot was issued and was there a similar problem with its leather rotting? The only time I experienced a boots rotting was during jump school. I went through in August when many days were near or at Cat 5. The Black Hats had us literally rolling through a series of out door showers twice a day to prevent heat casualties. This combined with the mysterious formula the Boot Blacks were putting on our boots every night, resulted in two pairs of boots only a couple of months old being thrown away at the end of training. I am sure it was the Boot Black's goop that resulted in most of the damage.

I think the folding would have been a serious problem, even the smallest wrinkle in your socks could trigger a blister. Any skin break was a serious problem in that environment

I assume you were wearing the all wool padded sole issue socks. What was the enemy wearing in the same environment to cope with the problem of keeping feet fit for patroling? I suspect sandals were common among irregulars but what about NVA regulars? Did they use socks or footwraps? Since the variety of synthetic socks available today was not available, what about silk as way to reduce blisters?

Since I am not sure who is looking at this thread I am going to PM some members showing locations in eastern european countries to see if they have some answers about use of footwraps in their militaries.

 

[N4521U]

All I know is when I took my first hop in a Sykorski 34J at HS-2 training squadron in San Diego I was told that black funnel on the bulkhead was the "emergency com tube" to the pilot!!!!!!!

B@st@rd!

 

[RabidAlien]

Reading "Lafayette Escadrille" by Herbert Molloy Mason, Jr right now, about American volunteer pilots in the French Armed Forces during the beginning stages of WW1. Originally, most of them volunteered for the French Foreign Legion, to avoid nationality laws and stuff, or operated as ambulance drivers. When the idea of an all-American flying squadron was broached, a good portion of the prospective pilots (several of which had no prior flying experience, and just sorta bluffed their way in....and gave a good accounting of themselves, too! BTW, found out that the lion mascot, Whiskey, from "Flyboys" was actually true. Much of the rest of the movie was pure Bollockswood, but Whiskey actually existed. There was also, later on, a female lion purchased from the Paris zoo, inevitably named "Soda") were drawn from the Foreign Legion, since they sorta already had military training and combat experience. When they were first inducted into the Legion, though, there were no socks (whether from lack of supply, or they just didn't use em, I forget). The troops would either go without socks between foot and boot (guaranteed to cause blisters until feet became acclimated) or used the "Russian wraps", as they called them, which worked miraculously well if applied correctly (described as several square or rectangular cloths layered over the feet just so) or causing horrific blisters, lacerations, and sores if just the slightest bit off. Two future pilots had mishaps while on a march to the front, and fell out to the ditch to await an ambulance or supply cart to help carry them the rest of the way....a major or commander came along, asked what they were doing. They explained that their feet were so bad they couldn't stand, and were waiting for medics. The officer pulled out his revolver, pointed it at them, and declared them to be deserters or cowards and was about to shoot them. They got up quickly, and managed to hobble the rest of the way into town (two or three miles) with blood leaking out of their boots. Turned into excellent pilots not too long after that.

That was the first time I'd ever heard/read about Russian Wraps. What little I've read about the Eastern Front really didn't go into detail on skivvies.