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Post by connie on Oct 24, 2009 12:18:52 GMT -5
In talk of war, socks and overshoes are not the first pieces of equipment anyone considers. But the notes on trench foot indicate the importance of this simple gear. Trench foot could take a soldier out of action as effectively as a bullet. 106thdivision.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=health&action=display&thread=191I don't know anything about GI socks. I am assuming that the army was savvy enough to issue wool socks (which hold warmth even when wet) but I don't know this for certain. Can anyone verify that wool socks were what was worn by the 106th that winter of 44-45? Another issue was keeping a spare pair of socks warm and dry and changing them out. Notes on tricks for keeping spare socks ready would be interesting. Also there is the question of overshoes. I have heard some note that they got theirs in England and others note that theirs came late (after France?) or that they didn't get them. I'm wondering who in general got what when. (And who found themselves left out because the right size wasn't available by the time they picked up their overshoes.) I do remember reading somewhere of someone who hesitated and then threw the overshoes he was carrying at an approaching German soldier when cornered. (So I guess they were weapons, too!) Anyway, if anyone is ready to talk about overshoes and socks, I'm game to listen! |
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Post by floydragsdale on Oct 27, 2009 20:18:05 GMT -5
Hello Connie:
Did we have extra socks? No! We (at least some of us) wore the same clothes 24/7 for over a month. I was hospitalized for a few days; yet the same clothes were handed to me, to wear, when I was discharged by the medics. The Germans had disrupted supply lines that bad. Even our rations were scarce some days. More than once, we were without food for several days at a time.
Overshoes? That was a standing joke with us! Rear echelon people had overshoes from the beginning, however, our outfit got them in March 1945. They were delivered to us in a truck, then dumped on the ground. "Help your self" was the word. I got two for the same foot. For the entire winter of 44/45 and Spring, some of us did without overshoes.
My combat boots, by the end of the, War were a sad looking sight. Imagine being in mud, snow, freezing rain and water 24/7 for weeks on end.
Attempts to get boots at the Company level were fruitless. It was May, or June, when I hitch-hiked a ride (about 60 miles) to Regimental Headquarters Supply Depot to get another pair of boots.
The boots were issued to me; however that expedition, innocently exposed a black market operation that some key people were involved in.
I never knew and don't want to know how the rest of that part of the story ended.
As for myself, It was similar to working for a large corporation; maybe a person cannot be fired, yet he or she can be moved elsewhere; far away and out of sight.
The "A" bombing of two Japanese Cities saved some of us, by one or two days, from being on board ship headed for the Pacific Theater of War.
My stay in Europe was extended for another eight months. Wow! did I ever get to see a great deal of France, Germany and Switzerland.
Floyd
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Post by connie on Oct 30, 2009 17:07:25 GMT -5
So much for military supply plans. If supply priorities were correct, you would think that the infantry should have been the first to receive their overshoes. I wonder if your experience was true for all in the 424th Infantry Regiment... and if this experience was mirrored in the division's other two Infantry Regiments...
(On an off-subject note, I am wondering how about your length of stay in the ETO. I'm not certain what date you were looking at when you started adding the additional months. When did you personally return to the states?)
Connie
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Post by floydragsdale on Oct 30, 2009 20:58:00 GMT -5
Hello Connie:
I never saw a G.I. in the 424th Regiment (up front) with overshoes on his feet. One night during the B.O.B. (after a long all day hike) a foot inspection was ordered & we had to remove our shoes and socks for the medics. When the inspection was over, we lost about (no less) 50% of the men in our company because of frozen feet and trench foot. We never saw any of those men again. Half the fighting strength of our outfit was lost right there, not to mention the ones we had already lost in action before that. I will never forget that day and all the men we lost that night!
I arrived back in the States the first half of April, 1946. There are three gold bars(hash marks on the right sleeve) on my Ike Jacket that represent 18 months of overseas duty.
Floyd
P.S. How's the new grandchild doing?
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Post by connie on Oct 31, 2009 10:45:34 GMT -5
Boy, somewhere along the line there was a monumental screw up. Overshoes for those in the infantry should have been as high a priority as weapons. Some time ago I read about the policies of the German (I think; it could have been Russian, but I think it was German) army regarding trench foot prevention. It was taken seriously. People were paired and responsible for the state of their partner's feet. Socks were to be replaced and feet inspected regularly.
PS. That was a long stint in the ETO. What were your responsibilities in 46?
Oh, the grand baby is wonderful, of course!! He turned 5 weeks yesterday! I head home in another week. They grow and change so much at this time. It will be tough not being close. But the wonders of modern technology will help!
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Post by floydragsdale on Oct 31, 2009 22:21:32 GMT -5
Hello Connie:
My "lengthy" stay in the ETO is another story.
During the War, hundreds of American families were living in Europe. Men of draft age stayed put; as long as they remained outside the continential limits of the USA, Draft Boards could not lay a hand on them. When the War ended, Uncle Sam said to them "Serve your time in the US Armed Forces, or lose your citizenship."
Rather than send them back to the States, they were given basic training over there. They were from every country in Europe, including Russia; some of them could barely speak english.
I was a member of the Cadre who trained them. Although I was a mere Corporal, Sgt. Stripes were on my sleeve; from a Buck Sgt. clear up to a 1st Sgt. before going back to the States in April 46. Yet, all the pay I ever received was that of a Corporal.
One place where we gave them "basic traiing" was Fountainbleau (sp), France about 35 miles from Paris. Usually many cadre personell would be off duty by 4:00 P.M. and a few of us would take a commuter train to Paris three or four a times week. Although I had little money to spend there, it was worth the trip to walk the streets and see the sights. The train fare to Paris was zero for American Soldiers at that time. Sometime in the late fall of 1945 we moved to Marburg, (on the Lahn River) Germany where we continued giving basic training to these recruits. Believe me, I saw a great deal of France and Germany (up and down the Rhine River during my extended stay in Europe.
There's much more to the story, however that's a condensed version of it.
P.S.: To this day, I believe that "giving close order drill" to recruits would be easier than counting to ten.
Floyd
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Post by floydragsdale on Nov 3, 2009 13:02:36 GMT -5
Connie:
Here's one incident about the "overshoes story." One night, during rhe B.O.B. I stood in a foxhle that had ice-water (anke deep) i n it.
There were two choices to deal with it. 1, Get out of the hole and get shot at, or 2, stay put and be safer. I opted for choice #2. It wasn't easy, yet I managed to stay in the hole.
Overshoes would have worth their weight in gold in a situation like that.
I have not cared for snow and cold weather since the winter of 44/45.
Floyd
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