Boot tightener?

[Guardian 5]

Fellow Collectors,

As you well know, there is no bit of kit too obscure for us to obsess over.

Your attention is directed to the boot of the greni on the far left of this picture. Is that a boot tightener he is wearing? I thought it might have been a mountain trooper's gator but it doesn't look right. Did the Bundeswehr wear boot tighteners like the Kaiserheer?

As you ponder this mystery, make sure you take in the details of early BW infantry kit. God how I love those G3s with wooden stocks!

All the best,
TJ

[Guardian 5]

Gents,

This soldier of the Great War is wearing boot tighteners. They apparently made the boots easier to march in over long distances.

May all the soldiers of the Great War rest in peace.

All the best,
TJ

[Gordon Craig]

TJ,

You are probably correct. In the Wehrmacht they had boot tighteners that came separately from the boot. They fit under the boot at the instep and went around the back of the heel and had a strap over the front of the boot as is illustrated in your photos. Don't have a picture handy to show and I am in a hotel in Toronto that does not have the worlds fastest internet service(!) so I won't try and search for a picture until I get home in two weeks.

Regards,

Gordon

[Asbjoern]

Great picture of the "Marschriemen" (Marching strap) in wear! Not a regular thing to see on pictures...

Jens

[Marc Sherriff]

Ah, a spur strap without the spur!

Marc