German combat low boots with hobnails

[kevin710]

Hi Everyone
Please have a look on these boots,They are from Bulgaria,The seller said they are authentic German WWII combat low boots.But I don't know for what troop.There are markers WA1940 and some unclear numbers on the soles.

Should I clean them or just keep them as they stand? What conditioner should I use,thanks again.

Any suggestion & comment will be appreciated.

Kevin

[Rommel1942]

Personally, i would keep them the way they are. just to keep the authenticity of them and the originality

regards,
Rommel1942

[Adrian Stevenson]

I would not say these are actually German.

Cheers, Ade.

[kevin710]

I would not say these are actually German.

Cheers, Ade.

OH No, They are not German ones?! Are they for Axis soldiers?

[oradour]

kevin710, my first thought was'' Imperial German'', the cut is similiar, the lack of metal eylets on the lace holes are similiar....so i had a good rummage through my reference material, but alas, they are not Imperial, similiar, but not the same..... This is the thing with a lot of items being offered from Bulgaria, a huge amount of old/obsolete equipment seems to have been snapped up by local entrepreneurs (after the fall of communism) and they are now being sold as 'WW1/2 German' some are, most are not. A lot of Bulgaria's military equipment especially in WW1 was supplied/manufactured by Germany and Austro-Hungary, but to Bulgarian specification. Most of items now being sold need careful evaluation, as most are not cheap, quite on the contrary, bloody expensive !

[kevin710]

Hi oradour
Thanks a lot for your helpful information.I really appreciate it.

Hope there is someone knows what country dose these boots really made for!!

[Canuck63]

Hi Kevin,
these boots definitely aren't WW2 German,sorry to tell you!They more looks like the pre-1930 Czech low-boot,which didn't have metal grommets yet.The sizes of the Czech low boots did go from 38 to 48 and there were two width,A and B, B being the widest.
In my opinion they're Bulgarian,in fact the Bulgarian low boot was very similar to the Czech and Slovak low boots but had a loop on the rear part.If you lok closely to the date under the sole you'll notice two letters in Cyrillic...and Bulgarian language is written in the Cyrillic script!
My two cents
Manny
P.S.;please find attached a few pictures of a standard M37 German Army/WSS/LW low boot.

[kevin710]

Hi Manny
Thanks so much for your valuable & professional information. Your boots look so great!
Do you know how much do they worth? much less than German ones?!

[Canuck63]

Hi Kevin,
you're welcome matey ! Unfortunately your boots are worth much less than a German pair,but since they look period they could be used on a late-War mannequin...if they were good for the feet of a Bulgarian soldier then they'd have been good for a German soldier's too!
Cheers
Manny
P.S-: the two letters before the date aren't "WA"...they're "IA"...in Cyrillic

[JPhilip]

Hello Kevin,
IMO bulgarian ankle boots are surely worth some money for a bulgarian collector who can't find a pair in his own country as they might be quite rare. Of course, german ankle boots are worth more money, but that's just because they're german, bulgarian are rarer IMO...who's know how much a bulgarian collector could give you for this pair ?
I see that you're still very knowledgeable about ankle boots Manny.
thanks