WWII German low boots (Schnurschuhe ) photos.

[POA1944]

Does anyone have photos of German troops wearing Schnurschuhe/Gamaschen in 1941-1942? I have read that is the earliest years they were seen being wore but I can't find any pics.So if you have any photos of them before worn in that time period I would appreciate if you could post some pics for me.

Thanks!

[21PzSoldat]

I have a book on Barbarossa which, as I recall, has some photos of Germans in Schnurschuhe. I will look tonight and post something tomorrow if I find it. It seems not to have been a "common" thing to see in 1941 (as you've been able to tell from examining photos). A bit more common in 1942. Of course, I am assuming your interest is in photos of troops in the field -- because the Schnurschuhe were worn for "fatigue" purposes well before 1941/42.

Bis bald, Kamerad!

[21PzSoldat]

Herr Kessler,

I found some pictures in Michael Olive and Robert Edwards, "Operation Barbarossa 1941" (soft cover, Stackpole Books 2012). I don't have the time to scan and post the pics, so I will describe them (with page number, so you can grab a copy and look them up):

Page 9: Rear-echelon Luftwaffe personnel examining captured Soviet weapons. One man in Schnurschuhe with socks bloused over trousers.

Page 15: A marching squad of (apparently) Pionere with mine-detection gear. Of the seven men with feet visible, three have trouser cuffs unbloused and two of these three are clearly wearing laced shoes (third one is indeterminable).

Page 30: Not a Schnurschuhe photo per se, but shows a company cobbler, repairing several pairs of Marschstiefel. The question occurs: what are the owners wearing on duty whilst their Marschstiefel are being repaired?

Page 40: Apparantly a group from an M.G. unit (several MG34s, but only eight men visible), during a rest. One man laying down is wearing Schnurschuhe, with trouser cuffs unbloused.

Page 63: Winter pic of infantry marching in Schutzenreihe through Soviet village. One man clearly has trouser cuffs down near his ankles. Could be he is wearing Schnurschuhe...or maybe he's sloppy and doesn't tuck trousers into his Stiefel. (Others in his squad appear to have cuffs tucked into their Stiefel, so I lean toward a Schnurschuhe interpretation here.)

Page 92: Three enlisted members of a headquarters unit have their feet visible and one is very clearly wearing Schnurschuhe. A second one, lying on the fender of a HQ bus, may also be wearing Schnurschuhe.

Page 98: Enlisted man standing on a wrecked T-34, wearing WHITE Drillichjacke and darker trousers, with trouser cuffs around the ankles. Schnurschuhe? Probably.

Page 130: Two pics of 10.5 cm leFH 16 (horse-drawn variety) crew in action. One crewman definitely in Schnurschuhe. But he is also wearing some sort of "gaiter"...but I thought Gamaschen appeared in mid-war, with Keilhosen. An Unteroffizier in an M36 tunic, two crewman in pre-41 white shirts and another in green '41 knit shirt definitely make these pics look "right" for 1941, however.

So that's just a few samples, from only one book. The Marschstiefel is much, much more prevalent in these Barbarossa campain pics. But the Schnurschuhe are not completely absent. Some of the indicated wearing of Schnurschuhe may be a matter of soldier preferrence (assumes his superiors would allow such personalization). But in other cases, as hinted by unit cobbler pic (and several others I've seen just like it), when the Marschstiefel are in for repair, the man simply needs something else to cover his feet, and that something would most obviously be the lowly Schnurschuhe.

Hope this helped!

[POA1944]

Herr Kessler,

I found some pictures in Michael Olive and Robert Edwards, "Operation Barbarossa 1941" (soft cover, Stackpole Books 2012). I don't have the time to scan and post the pics, so I will describe them (with page number, so you can grab a copy and look them up):

Page 9: Rear-echelon Luftwaffe personnel examining captured Soviet weapons. One man in Schnurschuhe with socks bloused over trousers.

Page 15: A marching squad of (apparently) Pionere with mine-detection gear. Of the seven men with feet visible, three have trouser cuffs unbloused and two of these three are clearly wearing laced shoes (third one is indeterminable).

Page 30: Not a Schnurschuhe photo per se, but shows a company cobbler, repairing several pairs of Marschstiefel. The question occurs: what are the owners wearing on duty whilst their Marschstiefel are being repaired?

Page 40: Apparantly a group from an M.G. unit (several MG34s, but only eight men visible), during a rest. One man laying down is wearing Schnurschuhe, with trouser cuffs unbloused.

Page 63: Winter pic of infantry marching in Schutzenreihe through Soviet village. One man clearly has trouser cuffs down near his ankles. Could be he is wearing Schnurschuhe...or maybe he's sloppy and doesn't tuck trousers into his Stiefel. (Others in his squad appear to have cuffs tucked into their Stiefel, so I lean toward a Schnurschuhe interpretation here.)

Page 92: Three enlisted members of a headquarters unit have their feet visible and one is very clearly wearing Schnurschuhe. A second one, lying on the fender of a HQ bus, may also be wearing Schnurschuhe.

Page 98: Enlisted man standing on a wrecked T-34, wearing WHITE Drillichjacke and darker trousers, with trouser cuffs around the ankles. Schnurschuhe? Probably.

Page 130: Two pics of 10.5 cm leFH 16 (horse-drawn variety) crew in action. One crewman definitely in Schnurschuhe. But he is also wearing some sort of "gaiter"...but I thought Gamaschen appeared in mid-war, with Keilhosen. An Unteroffizier in an M36 tunic, two crewman in pre-41 white shirts and another in green '41 knit shirt definitely make these pics look "right" for 1941, however.

So that's just a few samples, from only one book. The Marschstiefel is much, much more prevalent in these Barbarossa campain pics. But the Schnurschuhe are not completely absent. Some of the indicated wearing of Schnurschuhe may be a matter of soldier preferrence (assumes his superiors would allow such personalization). But in other cases, as hinted by unit cobbler pic (and several others I've seen just like it), when the Marschstiefel are in for repair, the man simply needs something else to cover his feet, and that something would most obviously be the lowly Schnurschuhe.

Hope this helped!

Thanks for the information! I really appreciate it!..But no worries on the pics if you can't scan them.I was just looking for photos for future reference to have saved on my computer.