US Army Men's Boots


Boots, Service, Combat, Composition sole
(Double Buckle Boots)
Specifications BQD 110 & 114
Stock No. 72-B-2740-10 to 2747-62

Slideshow

Left: Boots, Field, M-1943, 10-inch as they appeared when tested in the US and North Africa in early 1943. Center: Boots, Service, Combat, Composition Sole as they appeared when standardized on 19 November 1943. Right: Pfc. Paul Gable models the newly adopted Combat Service Boot on 4 January 1944 in Washington, D.C.
 

Quick Reference Guide For Composition Sole Combat Service Boots
Spec. No. BQD 110 & 114

Description & Use Important Dates Procuring Stations
& Contract Dates 		Common Manufacturers
Description:

A 10-inch-tall boot composed of a 6-inch-tall, blucher shoe with a 5-inch, two-buckle cuff stitched to the top. The uppers are constructed with flesh-side-out leather and the cuffs use grain-side-out leather. The shoe is unlined, and the cuff lined with canvas. The boot uses a composition sole consisting of a synthetic rubber outsole, leather midsole, and leather insole. The heel is also made of synthetic rubber. The soles are attached together and to the uppers using a Goodyear welt and reinforcing nails.

Use:

This boot was intended for overseas use by combat troops and was worn by both enlisted men & officers with various types of field uniforms in temperate weather conditions. Since shoe & boot shortages prevailed during the war, occasionally the double buckle boot was worn with winter & summer service uniforms.
  • June 1943 - Specification BQD 110.
  • 16 November 1943 - Standardized by the Quartermaster Corps Technical Committee.
  • 25 January 1944 - The first mass procurement of combat boots announced by the Boston QM Depot stating that orders had been placed for 1,525,000 pairs of boots with 25 different manufacturers. These contracts were dated 17 January 1944.
  • March 1944 - Specification BQD 114.
  • 1 June 1944 - Combat boots appear in the Table of Equipment No. 21 for the first time.
  • 6 October 1947 - Specification QMC 9-107.
  • June 1950 - The Army announces that remaining stocks of double buckle boots will be given an exterior coating of brown plastic. This brings the boots into conformity with the new Russet Combat Boot and improves its ability to repel water.
  • 28 September 1950 - Specification MIL-B-2480.
  • WW2 era:
    Boston Quartermaster Depot, 855 Commonweath Ave., Boston, MA. (As of July 1943 Station No. 19-074).
    Contracts issued from approximately 30 September 1943 to 11 September 1946.
  • Beginning in 1947:
    Quartermaster Purchasing Office New York, 111 East 16th Street, New York, NY. (Station No. 30-280).
    Contracts issued in June 1947.
  • International Shoe Co. (Numerous manufacturing plants across the eastern half of the US).
  • Brown Shoe Co., Moberly, MO.
  • George E. Keith Co., Middleboro, MA.
  • Endicott Johnson Corp., Endicott, NY.
  • J F McElwain Co., Manchester, NH.
  • A S Kreider Shoe Mfg. Co., Elizabethtown, PA.
  • Craddock Terry Shoe Corp., Lynchburg, VA.
  • M A Packard Co., Brockton, MA.
  • Weyenberg Shoe Co., Beaver Dam, WI & Milwaukee, WI.
Distinctive Features
 Fabrics & Fasteners Labeling Types & Variants
All boots:
  • Flesh-out exterior.
  • 10-inch height.
  • Cuff with two buckle fasteners.
BQD 110:
  • Rivets used to secure the quarters to the vamp.
  • Reinforcing nails absent from the ball of the foot.

BQD 114:
  • Bar tack instead of rivets where the quarters meet the vamp.
  • Continuous line of reinforcing nails along the outside edge of the outsole.
Material:
Uppers:
  • Flesh-out Army Retan. Uppers were chromium-sulfate tanned and then vegetable retanned.
Outsole & heel:
  • Synthetic rubber.
Fasteners:
Quarters:
  • 7 pairs of eyelets fastened with 40-inch cotton or nylon laces.
Cuffs:
  • 2 buckle and strap fasteners with 7 adjustment eyelets.
Size Label: Punched into the insole and into the inside of the cuff. Also included in the contractor's label.

Contractor Label: Ink stamped or punched onto the inside of the cuff.

Inspector Label: Ink stamped on the back of the tongue.

Factory Code: A one or two letter code was punched into the inside of the cuff near the size tariff and was used to indicate the facility where the boots were manufactured.
  • Boots, Service, Combat, Hob-riveted (Stock No. 72-B-2755-10 to 2762-62).
  • Boots, Service, Combat, Rubber Cleated Soles.
  • Type II and Type III service shoe conversions - In order to make up for shortages of combat boots, during WW2 and the Korean War, Type II and Type III service shoes were converted into combat boots by adding the cuffs from salvaged boots. During the Korean War, service shoe conversions were done in Japan.
  • Legging top laced leather boot conversion - This was a 17-inch tall, three-buckle, legging top, cavalry boot that was sometimes cut down to 10 inches. This practice resulted in a shorter 2-buckle boot that can sometimes be mistaken for the combat service boot.
Integral Garments
& Equipment 		Insignia Lineage Inter-Service Use
& Equivalents
Garments:

  • Overshoes, Arctic, M-1945
    (Specification BQD 267, Stock No. 72-O-625 to 635).
Equipment:

  • Dubbin 1½ Ounce Can
    (Stock No. 14-D-303).
Not Applicable. Preceded By:
The following legging and shoe combination:
  • Leggings, Canvas, M-1938, Dismounted, Olive-drab (Specification QMC 6-288, dated 8 August 1940, Stock No. 72-L-61883 to 61903).
  • Shoes, Service, Reversed Upper, Composition Sole (Specification BQD 110, Stock No. 72-S-2350 to 2357-62).
Superseded By:
Boot, Service, Combat, Russet (Specification USA MIL-B-11077 dated 12 April 1951). Adopted 13 December 1948, but not put into mass production until 1950. 		Women's Army Corps:

  • Equivalent: Boots, Service, Combat, Women's (Specification BQD 266, Stock No. 72-B-2766-16 to 2772-26).
US Navy & Marine Corps:

The Army routinely provided shoes and boots to Navy and Marine Corps ground troops in the Pacific Theater of Operations when shortages occurred. Marines were sometimes issued double buckle combat boots during the final battles of the Pacific.
Allowances & Purchases Theaters & Campaigns Comments References
& Further Reading
Enlisted Men (Mandatory Allowance):

Initially, boots were restricted to overseas use only and were issued in theater. Men attached to combat forces received 1 pair of combat boots and 1 pair of service shoes and leggings. In the ETO this policy remained in effect throughout the war because of boot shortages.

Beginning in November 1944, men leaving the US for overseas deployment were to be issued 1 pair of combat boots and 1 pair of service shoes and leggings at the port of embarkation.

  • Table of Equipment No. 21 dated 16 October 1944:
    • Theater of Operations - 2 pairs of combat boots, when available and only after worn out shoes and leggings are turned in.
  • Table of Equipment No. 21 dated 1 January 1945:
    • Theater of Operations - 2 pairs of boots.
    • Zone of Interior - 2 pairs of boots to men assigned to Engineer Special Brigades, Special Shop Battalions, Parachute, Airborne, and Glider units.
  • Table of Equipment No. 21 dated 1 September 1945:
    • Theater of Operations - 2 pairs of boots, Army Air Force Personnel - 1 pair of boots.
    • Zone of Interior - 2 pairs of boots to men assigned to Engineer Special Brigades, Special Shop Battalions, Parachute, Airborne, and Glider units.
    • Army of Occupation, Europe - 1 pair of boots.
Officers & Warrant Officers (Mandatory Purchase):

  • Table of Equipment No. 21 dated 1 January 1945:
    • Theater of Operations - 2 Pairs of boots.
  • Table of Equipment No. 21 dated 1 September 1945:
    • Theater of Operations - 2 Pairs of boots.
    • Army of Occupation, Europe - 2 pairs of boots.
Double buckle boots were used in all theaters of operation during WW2.

  • Mediterranean Theater of Operations:

    In the spring of 1943, experimental double buckle boots were first issued to troops in the North African campaign, which were taken by these troop to Sicily and eventually to Italy. In December 1943, a more refined version of the double buckle boot was issued to the 34th Division in Italy. By spring and summer of 1944, combat boots were being issued in greater numbers both in Italy and the ETO.
  • European Theater of Operations:

    In July 1944, the first large shipment of 1.275 million double buckle boots began to arrive in the ETO.
  • Pacfic Theater of Operations:

    Double buckle boots were used in the later campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations mainly by Army and Marine forces. The boots can be seen in use in the Battle of Okinawa and the liberation of the Philippines.
Influence:

  • In the 1950s and 60s France issued a boot similar in outward appearance to the US double buckle boot of WW2. These boots are often mistakenly offered for sale as WW2 US boots. However, the French boots can easily be recognized by fact that the quarters extend all the way to the top of the boot and the cuff portion is a small flap attached at the front, whereas US boots consist of a separate cuff and shoe joined together. Additionally, the French boots have prominent lug soles and heels.
Care:

  • At this stage, original double buckle boots should not be worn. This is due to the tendency of the synthetic rubber outsoles to split across the ball of the foot. Most of these soles are hard and brittle now even though they may visibly look OK. Some examples show bowing of the sole due to rubber shrinkage over time and definitely should not be worn. Most boots had zinc coated steel reinforcing nails applied to the soles, which will quite often show extensive corrosion. Additionally, some general care should be exercised when handling original WW2 double buckle boots. Though a pair of boots may exhibit healthy, flexible leather overall, the thinner strips of leather used for the buckle straps tend to become brittle over time. Caution should be used when fastening buckles in order to avoid breaking adjustment straps and the tabs holding the buckles to the boot.
  • War Department. Technical Manual TM 10-228. Fitting of Shoes and Socks. 15 February 1946. With changes No. 1 dated 19 May 1952. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1946.
  • Lemons, Charles. Uniforms of the US Army Ground Forces (Volume 6, Footwear). ISBN 978-1-329-21789-8. Charles R. Lemons, 2015.
  • Risch, Erna. The Quartermaster Corps: Organization, Supply, Services, Volume I. Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1995.
  • Richardson, Eudora Ramsay; Allan, Sherman. Quartermaster Supply in the European Theater of Operations In World War II (Volume III, Outfitting The Soldier). The Quartermaster School, Camp Lee, Virgina, 1948.
  • Ross, William F. & Romanus, Charles F. United States Army in World War II - The Technical Services - The Quartermaster Corps: Operations In The War Against Germany. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1991.
  • Risch, Erna. Historical Section Office of The Quartermaster General. A Wardrobe for the Women of the Army. Q.M.C. Historical Studies No. 12, October, 1945. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1945.
  • Civilian Production Administration, Industrial Statistics Division, Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, (Culmulative June 1940 Through September 1945), 1946.
  • Stanton, Shelby. U.S. Army Uniforms of World War II. Mechanicsburg, Pa: Stackpole Books, 1991
  • Stanton, Shelby. U.S. Army Uniforms of the Korean War. Mechanicsburg, Pa: Stackpole Books, 1992.
  • Pitkin, Thomas M. Historical Section General Administrative Services Division Office of The Quartermaster General. Quartermaster Equipment for Special Forces. Q.M.C. Historical Studies No. 5, February, 1944. Washington, D.C., 1944.