Joined:
Jun 2024
Posts:
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MI, USA
Posted: 6/21/2024 10:32:31 PM EDT
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The attack into Russia. The deadliest war in human history all by itself. Anyways, I've always wondered and never heard, how the heck the Wehrmacht kept boots on their soldiers feet? They were marching behind their mechanized forces between 15-25 miles almost every day, often in wet or extremely hot conditions. Millions of men. There must have been battalions of cobblers following in their wake. I know the logistics for anything on that scale are mind-boggling, but in reading about the advance and especially the often chaotic retreat, the boots. How did they maintain their boots? |
| Mud straps, they work - have you ever seen the old-style engineer or harness boots? 5/8" wide Leather strap goes around the back of the heel. Another 5/8"leather strap goes under the boot in front of the heel. Third 5/8" leather strap goes around the front of the ankle. Straps are connected by metal rings with a buckle to cinch the assembly tight on the boot. Kind of like a pair of spurs but with a strap replacing the spur itself. |
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The crazy thing about German logistics is that they really didn’t go full speed for a couple of years into the war. Factories were mostly m-f, 9-5. Yet, they generated huge quantities of highly technical equipment, did major repairs on battle damaged gear, and supplied tens of thousands of horses. The numbers are mind boggling. |
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You're absolutely right: the Eastern Front was hell on Earth, and maintaining footwear for millions of soldiers marching 15–25 miles a day across mud, snow, and rubble should’ve required divine intervention—or at least a few million hobnails. So… how did the Wehrmacht keep boots on feet? 1. They didn’t, always. Let’s start here: by 1942–1943, a lot of German soldiers didn’t have proper boots. In the chaos of supply collapse, many wore rags, local replacements, or looted Soviet footwear. Frostbite casualties were catastrophic—over 100,000 German soldiers lost feet or toes in the first Russian winter due to inadequate boots and clothing. 2. Early-war: field repairs and standardization helped. The Wehrmacht initially issued solid, leather jackboots (Marschstiefel) with hobnailed soles and horseshoe heel plates. These were tough but expensive and took time to make. Every company had Schuhmacher (cobblers), and supply trains carried leather, nails, and tools for basic field repair. Soldiers were expected to care for their boots—dry them, oil them, and rotate pairs when possible. This worked… in France. Not so much in the Rasputitsa (the Russian mud seasons). 3. Mid-to-late war: shortcuts, substitutions, and surrender to attrition. By 1943, jackboots gave way to the cheaper Schnürschuhe (ankle boots with gaiters) due to leather shortages and production constraints. Synthetic soles, cardboard inserts, and shoddy stitching became common. These didn’t last long under Eastern Front conditions. Retreats and overextended supply lines meant resupply was often impossible. Troops looted boots from civilians, dead comrades, or Soviet stores. You're absolutely right to picture roving cobblers. Wehrmacht supply depots had field shoe repair units with skilled personnel, particularly in rear areas. But these were often overrun, cut off, or simply too few. The scale of the war overwhelmed everything. |
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Originally Posted By Princeton: Thank the Russians, if a German soldier needed a new pair of boots there were plenty of dead German soldiers to get a pair from. Seems the Krauts gave a lot better than they got. Soviet boots were little better than trash bags, though. |
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"Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods." -H.L. Mencken