Boot problem
Boot problem
According to many war diaries, Finnish soldiers in the summer of 1944 had a lot of problems with their boots. Dozens of soldiers rubbed their feet, and as a result they were forced to walk barefoot. What is the reason for this phenomenon?
Re: Boot problem
Could you give examples (and links) of such war diaries?
Re: Boot problem
Finnish army used leather boots w/o laces and the boots were more or less "universal" i.e. rather loose. Foot wraps ("jalkarätti") were used instead of socks and required a certain degree of skill in wrapping if blisters were to be avoided. In the summer of 1944 troops walked tens of kilometers per day and foot problems were more or less unavoidable. I doubt whether any official war diaries would mention this. However, the problem is often mentioned in private war memoirs, my grandfathers´s included. Pictures of marching soldiers are plentiful at sa-kuva.fi and if you look closely at their boots the situation is easy to understand.
Re: Boot problem
example1 (time 2:50)
http://digi.narc.fi/digi/view.ka?kuid=3500035
example 2 (time 17:30)
http://digi.narc.fi/digi/view.ka?kuid=3247225
if you need, I can indicate another ones
Last edited by Swing on 04 Feb 2021, 08:07, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Boot problem
What about this picture from "Asepuku m/36"?veeteetee wrote: ↑03 Feb 2021, 23:54Finnish army used leather boots w/o laces and the boots were more or less "universal" i.e. rather loose. Foot wraps ("jalkarätti") were used instead of socks and required a certain degree of skill in wrapping if blisters were to be avoided. In the summer of 1944 troops walked tens of kilometers per day and foot problems were more or less unavoidable. I doubt whether any official war diaries would mention this. However, the problem is often mentioned in private war memoirs, my grandfathers´s included. Pictures of marching soldiers are plentiful at sa-kuva.fi and if you look closely at their boots the situation is easy to understand.
Re: Boot problem
Again, browse sa-kuva.fi for PERIOD photos.
Re: Boot problem
Those are short boots m/34. They were being manufactured and issued along more common leather jackboots.
Some info: http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/UNIFORMS4.htm#BOOTS
Also according pre-war test soldiers issued soldiers who had been issued short boots m/34 suffered less blisters in their feet than those issued with standard issue jackboots. Doing long foot marches day after day is very hard on feet - even with modern boots, which are much more comfortable than World War 2 era military boots.
In general there as quite a wide variety of boots issued by Finnish military during World War 2: http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/UNIFORMS5.htm#EXPERIENCES
Re: Boot problem
Thank you! You are the greatest!JTV wrote: ↑04 Feb 2021, 22:00Those are short boots m/34. They were being manufactured and issued along more common leather jackboots.
Some info: http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/UNIFORMS4.htm#BOOTS
Also according pre-war test soldiers issued soldiers who had been issued short boots m/34 suffered less blisters in their feet than those issued with standard issue jackboots. Doing long foot marches day after day is very hard on feet - even with modern boots, which are much more comfortable than World War 2 era military boots.
In general there as quite a wide variety of boots issued by Finnish military during World War 2: http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/UNIFORMS5.htm#EXPERIENCES
Re: Boot problem
I haven't encountered any specific Finnish studies of foot problems during the retreat phase of the summer of 1944. However, general assumptions can be made based on earlier pre-war and wartime studies (such as one made in 1942).
I would assume much of the Finnish troops had grew unaccustomed to physical training and marches during the trench warfare period in 1942-1944. Much of the marching during the retreat phase was done by forced foot march under stressful conditions. Soldiers did not care or had time to take care of their feet during few march breaks. Also, troops had to carry relatively much of their equipment on their backs instead of some of the equipment being transported by lorries or trains.
Re: Boot problem
Suurkiitos!