M 1944 Low Shoe Unveiled

[alexandre]

Hello Teka ,


Concerning the boots I showed just before , these are not normal Italian shoes !!.

-German size marking 26 8 date 45 and Rbnr !
-German nails and "U" heel ( I don' know the word in english) marked 19-R (recht) and 19 -L (links )
- Sole made like any german shoes .

[derspiess63]

Hi Manu,

can you tell me again the difference between a pair of german m.44 and a pair of stink normale italian boots???

Thanks

Teka

Hi teka,
before calling them"stink" please remember that more than sixty years ago there was a touching,moving gang of hungry,thirsty, skinny,ill,badly armed and even worse equipped"ragamuffins"wearing "Scarponcini da montagna" of which the Supreme Soviet Command(no less!) said in one of its communiques, after that they managed and struggle their way back to western Europe against overwelming Russian Forces;"The Italian Expeditionary Corps is the only Armed Corps that can consider itself undefeated on the Soviet soil!". I KNOW WELL THAT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO SAY ANYTHING WRONG,Teka, but I know what they've been thru during that big Mussolini's mistake that is remember as"Campagna di Russia" and I just wanted to personally pay them a small tribute!
On to our "Stinky normal scarponcini"now....the differences are many,but I cannot understand whether you're talking about the Regio Esercito-issue ones or the ones made in Italy for the Germans!In the latter case they're nearly identical to the M44 Schnurschuhe(see DJPOOLE's and AXEL's ones posted here) except for the exposed,reinforced toecap which is a carryover from the Italian regulation shoes,ordinary and mountain alike!When I first started my thread on the German shoes I indicated my email address....I could email you some photos if I only had your address,since I'm not allowed to post my own ones yet and I can only write!
Whatever...if you have any other questions which you think I could humbly give an answer to please feel free to ask and I'll be more than happy to help!

Manuel

[derspiess63]

Excerpt Relatng To The Shoes From The Report.

Hi Jim,
I've taken a close look at the pictures taken from the U.S. Intel. report(which thing I must admit I haven't done in the first place,taking for granted that the drawings depicted the shoes in the photos...stupid thing of me!!!!)and I must tell you that the ones shown there are 234% Regio Esercito's"SCARPONCINI DA MONTAGNA"!!!!If you look carefully you'll see that they differ a lot from the ones in the photos,starting from the rear/side piece,the sole,the heel,the nails,the height and the two rivets which are not a feature present in any WW2 German shoe seen and owned to date...yes,plenty of photos of German soldiers and officers wearing shoes with those rivets,but in fact they're French,Italian,Czech,Slovack,Roumanian,Hungarian and Belgian lowboots,all of them featuring this detail and widely used by the Germans!I'll send you a photo of an Italian lowboot for infantry(identical except for the heel nails) within a few hours from now and you'll see by yourself!Those boots were most likely found in a German warehouse and therefore mistaken for what they're supposed to be in the report but the truth is far from being that one!The report remains a remarkable item and your friend's lowboots a gorgous pair of Italian made M44 but the two shouldn't be compared!
I thought you'd appreciated to know that!
Hope to hear and to post photos soon!!
Manuel

[djpool]

Hi Jim,
I've taken a close look at the pictures taken from the U.S. Intel. report(which thing I must admit I haven't done in the first place,taking for granted that the drawings depicted the shoes in the photos...stupid thing of me!!!!)and I must tell you that the ones shown there are 234% Regio Esercito's"SCARPONCINI DA MONTAGNA"!!!!If you look carefully you'll see that they differ a lot from the ones in the photos,starting from the rear/side piece,the sole,the heel,the nails,the height and the two rivets which are not a feature present in any WW2 German shoe seen and owned to date...yes,plenty of photos of German soldiers and officers wearing shoes with those rivets,but in fact they're French,Italian,Czech,Slovack,Roumanian,Hungarian and Belgian lowboots,all of them featuring this detail and widely used by the Germans!I'll send you a photo of an Italian lowboot for infantry(identical except for the heel nails) within a few hours from now and you'll see by yourself!Those boots were most likely found in a German warehouse and therefore mistaken for what they're supposed to be in the report but the truth is far from being that one!The report remains a remarkable item and your friend's lowboots a gorgous pair of Italian made M44 but the two shouldn't be compared!
I thought you'd appreciated to know that!
Hope to hear and to post photos soon!!
Manuel

Hi Manuel,

You are very observant. I've seen mistakes in other US intell reports as well but at least the text refers to the M44 shoe. Since the German design is similar to the Italian it probably wasn't an issue to the intell folks. They weren't collectors ha,ha. Also an interesting observation on the rivets.I've seen numerous pics of German soldiers wearing low shoes with rivets.I always assumed they were German issue. Regards Jim

[derspiess63]

Hi Manuel,

You are very observant. I've seen mistakes in other US intell reports as well but at least the text refers to the M44 shoe. Since the German design is similar to the Italian it probably wasn't an issue to the intell folks. They weren't collectors ha,ha. Also an interesting observation on the rivets.I've seen numerous pics of German soldiers wearing low shoes with rivets.I always assumed they were German issue. Regards Jim

Hi Jim,
there's something else concerning that report that I reckon it's worth of note;a few years ago was discovered in an Italian depot a huge number of Italian Regio Esercito low shoes which were brought there after having been recovered from the wreckage of a German train that had been strafed by American Jabos!!!It could only be speculation but I wouldn't be surprised if the shoes the report focuses on would have been found in a German depot after having been seized in Italy!
Imo you've given the correct answer to this little puzzle;it wasn't an issue to the Intell folks...those shoes were found in a German depot,were very similar to German ones and since two and two is four.....to their eyes THEY WERE GERMAN...end of story!
Problem is....Teka has told me that Italian shoes are sold in Germany as "Rare Waffen SS combat lowboots"
Best
Manuel

[djpool]

Hi Manuel,


To tell the truth I'm sure even the German supply folks didn't really differentiate between the Italian and German versions since they were so similar in appearance and construction. I know the German soldier could have cared less as long as they kept his feet dry. Jim

[derspiess63]

Hi Manuel,


To tell the truth I'm sure even the German supply folks didn't really differentiate between the Italian and German versions since they were so similar in appearance and construction. I know the German soldier could have cared less as long as they kept his feet dry. Jim

Amen !We debate on these shoes and if a German vet could read what we're writing now while his main concern then was to keep his feet dry and his noggin away from flying beans he would surely laugh himself silly !
Manuel

[Johannes Schoen]

Hello Manuel,

I am thinking of purchasing this boot. Are this the Italien ones You described? They have Italian maker. How much should they cost?

thanks
Johannes

[Johannes Schoen]

back

[derspiess63]

These boots are WW2 Regio Esercito lowboots.....beautiful and genuine......sent you a PM!

Manu

[Jgeary]

The level of expertise on this site never ceases to AMAZE me!!!

I never really thought about footwear from WW2 and now I will be on the lookout for a pair of those...

25 dollars a year is a drop in the bucket for the level of expertise that you see in these forums and also the wealth of information that you can find on practically everything releated to WW2 items/artifacts. I LOVE this place and thanks to everyone for sharing there knowledge!!

Regards

James

[derspiess63]

Two weeks ago I've found in Milan this pair of WW2 Italy's Regio Esercito-issue low boots,which incidentally are the very same boots that our friend Johannes Schoen posted a few months ago and which had been offered on eBay as "Italian boots used by German Elite Troops"to boost their value ....as I usually say referring to the collecting world;"what goes round comes around"!As it can be clearly seen they're the very same ones as depicted in theUS Intell Report's photos,even if the latter feature a somewhat different nail pattern,being Regio Esercito-issue mountain boots.
It's worth noting that these lowboots have been stuffed with a German newspaper dated July 13th 1943,and one of the photos shows the title of an article written by a WSS Kriegsberichter which could be literally translated into "Meeting in the mud"!
I love to think that these boots were "liberated"immediately after the 1943 September 8th Armistice between Italy and Allied Nations and that they had been stuffed with the first newspaper that could be found around...dates are very close and,as I'm sure you all know, there weren't many newspaper and magazine coming from Germany at that time, and soldiers had to make do with the ones reaching them with the Feldpost,often reading them several times or passing them over to anyone until the next issue, more often that not largerly out-dated, reached the place were they were stationed!
Another interesting piece of history......too bad I cannot "empty"them to read what's written iside(the boots),but, after all, since they've remained like this for 61 years nearly to the dfay, I see no reason to "disturb their sleep"!
Manny

[derspiess63]

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