Thin Barracks Shoes and Great Hobnailed Hulks Part II

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 158: The final model of Trench Shoe that was designed by the QTMC was being worn when the Armistice was signed. Therefore it was nicknamed the “Victory Shoe”.

[world war I nerd]

“Victory Shoe”

In service from August 1918 until 1919

Specification No’s 1351& 1352

Official Name: Metallic Fastened Field Shoe

1918 Field Shoe, Specification No. 1351

Adopted on August 19, 1918

Until recently, the only information that I could locate on the Victory Shoe was this very short and not so descriptive description found in America’s Munitions:

 

The culmination of the shoe development was the model known as the Victory Shoe. This model corrected certain defects in the Pershing Shoe. The Pershing Shoe was prone to rip along the back stays, and the upper did not fit snugly. In the Victory Shoe the entire back of the upper was one piece.

 

America’s Munitions 1917 – 1918, Benedict Crowell, 1919, page 473

Recently however, a number of unusually constructed hobnailed field shoes that sort of fit the above description have been posted on militaria websites and here on the forum. This combined with some new information, in the form of an old magazine article, a complete list of WWI shoe specification numbers along with the dates they were adopted, actual QTMC specifications for a handful of WWI and post war field shoes, as well as a photograph of a “relic” American made field shoe that was neither a Trench nor a Pershing Shoe that was recently found on a battlefield in France convinced me that the Victory Shoe was in fact manufactured, and that it was issued, and that it was worn by American Doughboys during the War to End All Wars.

 

Photo No. 159: This enlarged scan of a second generation photocopy of two official QTMC photographs that were printed some ninety-four years ago depict the side and bottom of the Specification No. 1324 Field Shoe … which must be the Victory Field Shoe. Note the round shaped counter pocket, the half sole or “outside tap” as it was called, and the late war star head hobnails.

[world war I nerd]

To correct the lingering deficiencies of the Pershing Shoe, the QTMC devised what turned out to be the final hobnailed field shoe of the war. This shoe was essentially a second pattern 1918 Metallic Fastened Field Shoe, which was the Pershing Shoe’s official name. Nicknamed the “Victory Shoe”, Specification No. 1351 was adopted on August 19, 1918. This particular shoe was described as follows in the same military journal in which the previous illustrations appeared. It was published shortly after the end of WW I:

 

August 19, 1918, two new specifications were issued, 1351 and 1352. The former was similar to the 1324 in most respects, with the exception that instead of three soles it had two soles and an outside tap or half sole.

 

The Army Shoe Then and Now, Captain Charles Keene, QTMC, The Quartermaster Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, July-August, 1921, page 79

The Specification No. 1324 field shoe, which was the Victory Shoe’s predecessor, and the last specification of the Pershing Field Shoe, was also described in the above mentioned periodical:

 

Specification 1324 was a metallic-fastened shoe similar to Specification 1309, except that the upper was cut from bark-tanned bends. Owing to the limited supply of this type of leather and the great length of time required for its tannage, the specification was amended to permit the use of chrome vegetable re-tan leather at the option of the contractor.

 

The Army Shoe Then and Now, Captain Charles Keene, QTMC, The Quartermaster Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, July-August, 1921, page 7, 8

Based on both of these excerpts, it’s probably safe to say that the Victory Shoe was an amalgamation of three different field shoe specifications – 1309, 1324 and 1351.

 

Photo No. 160: Side by side comparison of the Specification No. 1309 Pershing Field Shoe (left) with what I believe is a Victory Shoe that was produced after the World War had ended, whose sole was modified* (right). Note that the entire back of the upper is comprised of one piece as stated in America’s Munitions. Also, the shoe features a double leather sole with an “outside tap” as mentioned in The Army Shoe Then and Now. This shoe however, lacks only the hobnails. This indicates that the shoe was probably manufactured after the war, because with the signing of the Armistice the War Department’s need for a heavy trench shoe ended. Thus, manufacture was suspended as soon as possible. In a number of cases the Government issued supplemental agreements with shoe manufacturing firms in which the shoes that comprised the incomplete portion of the wartime contract were modified to make them more suitable for peacetime garrison duty. This was accomplished by eliminating the middle sole, steel toe plate, and the hobnails.

 

Pershing Shoe photo courtesy of the Kration collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 161: These hobnailed field shoes, comprised of a Victory (foreground) and Trench shoe (background) were both unearthed from a battlefield in France, proving that the Victory Shoe was manufactured, issued and worn during the final months of the war.

 

Foreground photo courtesy of the Airborne53 collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 162: Comparison of the narrow heel counter/backstay that was used on all specifications of the Pershing Field Shoe, and the split backstay of another Pershing Shoe to the much wider counter pocket that was developed to ensure that the sewn backstay seam at the back of the Victory Shoe no longer ripped.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 163: Based on existing information, the primary characteristics of the Specification No. 1351 Victory Field Shoe are as follows:

• A double leather sole that was constructed from a 7-iron inner sole, a 8-iron top sole, and a 10-iron middle sole, followed by a 9-iron “outside tap” or half sole.
• The shoe incorporated a bottom filler comprised of ground cork and plastic.
• The outside tap was studded with the recently adopted “star head” or “corrugated” hobnails which were square in shape.
• The inner heel was reinforced with a 3/16^th by 3/8^th inch steel heel plate and by a row of star headed, hobnails placed inside the horseshoe shaped heel plate.
• The toe was reinforced by a stamped, casehardened steel toe plate.
• The shoe’s upper was constructed from flesh side out; vegetable tanned or chrome vegetable retanned natural colored cowhide or kip, heavily stuffed with pure greases. The thickness of the leather at the vamp was to be not less than 3 millimeters in thickness.
• The shoe appeared with and without rivets on the blucher ears
• All sizes of the shoe had seven rows of brass lacing eyelets.
• The shoe was unlined.
• Each shoe was stamped in indelible ink on the inside of the quarter with the contractor, date of contract, specification number, depot, and the shoe’s size and width.
• In addition, the size and width of each shoe was permanently die cut onto the inside of the quarter.
• Each shoe’s size and width was also stamped into the shank area of the outer sole between the heel and the tap.
• The weight of each shoe is unknown.
• Each shoe was approximately 7 inches high from the bottom of the heel.
• The shoe was manufactured in 21 lengths running from 5 to 15 by half sizes. There was no half size for size number 15. Each length was available in six commercial widths (A, B, C, D, E & EE), for a total of 126 available sizes.

Photo courtesy of Advance Guard Militaria.com

[world war I nerd]

Photo No.164: The shoes residing on the feet of the Doughboy wearing an overcoat appear to be Victory Shoes. Note the steel toe plate and the curved counter pocket. The 27^th Division soldier beside him looks to be wearing ordinary Trench Shoes with the straight heel counter.

 

Photos courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 165: Close up of the suspected Victory Shoe.

Photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

 

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 166: The bottom of the Victory Shoe showing the outside tap, steel toe and heel plates and the new style hobnails. According to the Army Shoe Then and Now:

 

Even the humble hob nail received its share of attention, for in Specification 1309 it had been changed from the oval-head type to the star-head or corrugated type.

 

The Army Shoe Then and Now, Captain Charles Keene, QTMC, The Quartermaster Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, July-August, 1921, page 79

On the right is a close up of the new star head hobnails and the obsolete oval head hobnails, both of which were 5/16^th of an inch from side to side. Despite the fact that star head hobnails were initially called for in the March 1918 dated specifications for the 1309 Pershing Field Shoe, evidence suggests that they were not used until the Victory Shoe went into production in August.

 

Upper and lower right hand photos courtesy of the Todd Rambow collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 167: This Victory Shoe sans hobnails and steel toe plate may have been fabricated after the war when many of the existing shoe contracts were modified by the War Department. Everything about this shoe is correct for a Victory Field Shoe except for the fact that it is missing hobnails.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 168: Details of the above Victory Field Shoe showing the back of the counter pocket, the outside tap, and the heel retaining its horseshoe shaped steel heel plate.

[world war I nerd]

1918 Field Shoe, Specification No. 1352

Adopted on August 19, 1918

On the same day that the Victory Field Shoe was adopted, a nearly identical shoe manufactured with a toe cap and without a steel heel plate or hobnails was also adopted to meet the needs of AEF troops who did not require a shoe, whose bottom was bristling with iron studs. As for the QTMC official title of this shoe, it was likely labeled as some form of “Unlined Marching Shoe”.

 

Photo No. 169: In these poor quality images borrowed from The Army Shoe Then and Now it is still possible to see the toe cap, the smooth leather sole, and a heel that is reinforced with nails instead of a steel heel plate.

[world war I nerd]

Construction-wise, the pattern of the “Victory Marching Shoe’s” upper appears to be identical to that of the Specification No. 1351 hobnailed Victory Field Shoe except for the fact that it incorporated a toe cap. However, material-wise, the cowhide used to construct the Victory Marching Shoe was entirely different. Specification No. 1352 called for the hobnail-less shoe to be made from boarded chrome-vegetable retanned chocolate cowhide with the smooth or “grain” side out. This was likely an attempt to make the shoe look more like a pre-war russet garrison shoe. Construction of the shoe’s sole was also identical except that it lacked the outside tap (half sole), hobnails, steel toe and heel plates.

 

Photo No. 170: This photo shows the difference between russet leather calf skin, rough side out cowhide, and smooth side out chocolate cowhide.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 171: I don’t know whether this is a pair of Victory Marching Shoes without a toe cap, or a pair of Victory Field Shoes without hobnails and a steel toe plate. The uppers however, do match those of both the specification 1351 and 1352 shoes. It also looks as if this pair of shoes was made from smooth side out chocolate cowhide. The 3^rd Division Doughboy at right is wearing a similar pair of shoes. If you look carefully you can see that his shoes do not have either a toe cap or a steel toe plate, but they do have a counter pocket.

 

Doughboy photo courtesy of the Charles G. Thomas Collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 172: Closer view of the 3^rd Division soldier’s foot encased in what could be either the Victory Marching Shoe or the Victory Field Shoe.

Photo courtesy of the Charles G. Thomas Collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 173: Another view of the chocolate colored Victory Shoes and its bottom. It’s entirely possible that these shoes were either of post-war manufacture or they were re-soled by the Salvage Service and never re-hobnailed. It regard to the leather shoe laces, it was not uncommon for refurbished Salvage Shoes to have leather or rawhide shoe laces as the Salvage Service used scrap leather to fabricate leather shoe laces.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 174: With a cease fire firmly in place, AEF organizations posted to the American 3^rd Army were ordered to undertake a forced march to the German border. While doing so just about every pair of shoes involved wore out. During the ensuing months the U.S. Army began to rethink what kind of a martial shoe would be best for its peacetime Army. As a result, the troops like these men who occupied Germany as part of the 3^rd Army and later, the American Forces in Germany (AFG) likely drew a mixture of both old and new pattern field shoes.

 

Photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

[world war I nerd]

“Occupation Shoes”

In service from May 1919 to ?

Specification No’s 412-2-1351, 412-2-9 & 412-2-10

Official Name: Metallic Fastened, Field Shoe,

 

Specification No. 412-2-1351, adopted on May 10, 1919

With the signing of the Armistice the need for a highly specialized field shoe, such as the Trench, Pershing and Victory Shoe ceased to exist. However, the unsettled conditions that arose when combat stopped brought with them the realization that American troops must be maintained in occupied Germany. It also came to light that the American occupying force in Germany would need a polished garrison shoe, and a well constructed field shoe that was not nearly as heavy as the Pershing Shoe. To this end, Specification No. 412-2-1351, the 1919 Metallic Fastened, Field Shoe was adopted on May 10, 1919.

 

Photo No. 175: A pair of Specification No 412-2-1351 “Occupation” Field Shoes.

 

Photo courtesy of the Todd Rambow collection

 

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 176: Side by side comparison of the Specification No. 1351 Victory Field Shoe (left) with the Specification No. 412-2-1351 Occupation Field Shoe (right). Similar in appearance, the external difference between the two field shoes are as follows:

• The back of the counter pocket/backstay on the 412-2 1351 shoe was made wider.
• The counter pocket/backstay on the 412-2-1351 shoe was reinforced with eight brass, split rivets, four on each side.

 

Left hand photo courtesy of the Airborne53 collection

Right hand photo courtesy of the Todd Rambow collection

[world war I nerd]

The primary characteristics of the first pattern 1919 Field Shoe, Specification are as follows:

• A double leather sole that was constructed from a 7-iron inner sole, a 7-iron top sole, and an 8-iron middle sole, followed by a 9-iron outside “tap” or half sole.
• The top sole and middle sole were both machine sewed. The sewn top sole and middle sole were then “metallic fastened” or attached to the inner sole and the outside tap with standard brass screw wires, and by No. 10 brass nails that were clinched onto the top of the inner sole. The outside tap was further secured with two rows of brass, No. 10 nails at the breast that were also clinched onto the inner sole, and by the seven 5/8 of an inch long driving screws that passed through the toe plate, tap, and middle sole, before ending midway through the top sole. Also a ½ inch driving screw was placed at each corner of the tap’s breast.
• The shoe incorporated a bottom filler comprised of ground cork and plastic.
• The outside tap was studded with “star head” or “corrugated” hobnails which were square in shape.
• The inner heel was reinforced with a 3/16^th by 3/8^th inch steel heel plate and by a row of star headed, square hobnails placed inside the horseshoe shaped heel plate.
• The toe was reinforced by a stamped, casehardened steel toe plate.
• The shoe’s upper was constructed from flesh side out; chrome-vegetable retanned cowhide or kip, heavily stuffed with pure greases. The thickness of the leather at the vamp was to be not less than 2.5 millimeters and not greater than 3 millimeters in thickness.
• Riveted blucher ears.
• The counter pocket/backstay was riveted at eight points, four on each side with 7/32 of an inch diameter brass, split rivets.
• Sizes number 5 through 12 had seven rows of brass lacing eyelets. Sizes number 12 ½ through 15 had eight rows of brass lacing eyelets.
• The shoe was unlined.
• Each shoe was stamped in indelible ink on the inside of the quarter with the contractor, date of contract, specification number, depot, and the shoe’s size and width.
• In addition, the size and width of the shoe was permanently die cut into the inside of the quarter.
• Each shoe’s size and width was also stamped into the shank area of the outer sole between the heel and the tap.
• The weight of each shoe is unknown.
• Each shoe was approximately 7 inches high from the bottom of the heel.
• The shoe was manufactured in 21 lengths running from 5 to 15 by half sizes. There was no half size for size number 15. Each length was available in six commercial widths (A, B, C, D, E & EE), for a total of 126 available sizes.

Photo No. 177: The basic external traits that identify a first pattern 1919 Occupation Field Shoe are pointed out in this photo.

 

Photo courtesy of the Todd Rambow collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 178: At top “8 C”, the shoe’s size and width was die cut into the inside of the quarter. Below are the inspector’s acceptance stamp and the shoe’s size and width, as stamped onto the shank of the outer sole. The top of the shoe, at left, shows the head of one of the counter pocket’s brass rivets. The musician on the left is wearing 1917 pattern Trench Shoes.

 

Doughboy photo courtesy of the John Adam-Graf collection

Shoe photos courtesy of the Todd Rambow collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 179: Left, close ups of the steel heel and toe plates, and the star head hobnails that replaced the smooth, round, oval head hobnails sometime around August of 1918. Note the seven screw heads in between the stamped studs on the bottom of the toe plate. The right hand photos consist of the back of the Occupation Field Shoe, and a detail depicting the two rows of No. 10 nails and screws that secured the breast of the outside tap to the shoe’s soles.

 

Photos courtesy of the Todd Rambow collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 180: Full length view of the sole and tap, as well as a close up of the inspector’s acceptance stamps on the outside tap, on the shank of the outer sole, and on the heel.

Photos courtesy of the Todd Rambow collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 181: The specification 1351 sewn counter pocket (left) is compared to the widened and rivet reinforced specification 412-2-1351 counter pocket. The inset in the upper left corner depicts an enlargement of both the outside and the inside of the brass split rivet which reinforced the upper counter pocket of the first pattern Occupation Field Shoe.

 

Inset and right hand photos courtesy of the Todd Rambow collection

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 182: Another pair of Specification No. 412-2-1351 Field Shoes manufactured by Rice & Hutchinsing. These shoes appear to be identical to the above shoes. Their lack of hobnails can be attributed to the post-war modified shoe contracts which eliminated that feature.