C & Co high Anklets 1944

[Dabi26]

Royal Navy Anklets

Lately I bought similar high Anklets / gaiters from 1942. I thought that they are little known Anklets for Motorcycle Dispatch Rider (I prepare now a display of motorcyclist for War relics forum). Thanks to your posts I know now, that this is a pattern for Royal Navy.









In the Polish magazine „Gazety Wojenne” („War Newspapers”) nr 36 I found equipment of british soldier / sailor from 1942, and there are also shown these high Anklets.



Regards, Dabi
_________________________________________________

D.&T. BIENEK COLLECTION
1st Polish Armoured Division - THE BLACK DEVILS MARCH
RED ARMY - medical instructor

[ILH]

Just a little more info:
High gaiters with 2 buckles(+laces) or 4 buckles(no laces) are Naval 1919pattern,
high gaiters with 1 buckle and laces are Air Ministry 1925Pattern,
low gaiters are 1937pattern (all services, but mainly army in ww2)
If any gaiters have leather tabs they are ww2.

[Roger M]

Thanks for the Info guys !
I also have a suspicion (unfounded ?) that they may have been unofficially worn in the jungle ahead of the introduction of the 44 pattern long Gaiters .

I have since found another unused pair for my ever growing collection!

[Warspite]

Just a little more info:
High gaiters with 2 buckles(+laces) or 4 buckles(no laces) are Naval 1919pattern,
high gaiters with 1 buckle and laces are Air Ministry 1925Pattern,
low gaiters are 1937pattern (all services, but mainly army in ww2)
If any gaiters have leather tabs they are ww2.

This is a thorny subject and no one has been able to positively identify this pattern of gaiter yet. My understanding is as follows:

Royal Navy- Originally used high gaiters that had buckles at top and bottom and lacing in between. These were replaced by gaiters with four laces and a buckle at the top. The example below is mine and is definately naval as its marked with a stamp from HMS Vernon:



RAF- Used a more shaped high blue grey gaiter, with four loops and a buckle at the top.

South Africa- Used a high gaiter with three leather buckles

All these would be replaced by the standard short gaiters at various points during and after the second world war. The high gaiters with four leather straps remain a mystery. They were clearly used and are wartime dated, but I have yet to see any photographic evidence as to by whom and when. This debate has raged on the WWII reenacting forum and on one of the facebook collectors sites with no definative answer as of yet I'm afraid.

[karkee]

Field Guide to Webbing Tall Gaiters

As Warspite points out, tall gaiters are a rather tricky subject that has been a recurrent cause of confusion among collectors. Here is a brief summary of the different styles...

As always, much of this material comes from the excellent Karkee Web reference site...

Karkee Web

RAF

Air Ministry Gaiters, blue-grey - Introduced in 1936, this style is often associated with blue-grey Pattern 1925 webbing and was closed via four Dutch laced loops secured by a webbing strap.



ROYAL NAVY

Early Royal Navy canvas gaiters were reinforced with leather and were secured with three Dutch laced leather loops as well as two leather securing straps (at the top and bottom).



In the 1920's, Mills Webbing Company, Limited designed an all-webbing version.



In the 1930's, a new style appeared that featured four Dutch laced loops and only one webbing securing strap at the top.



SOUTH AFRICA

The South African Defence Force appears to have employed tall webbing gaiters secured by four webbing straps in the 1930's, which are very similar in appearance to the mystery gaiters in question. It is unlikely that these gaiters were used by the South Africans though, since they appear to date later.











In addition to four-strap gaiters, the South Africans used three-strap gaiters during the East & North African Campaigns.





SOUTHERN RHODESIA

Rhodesian Forces also used tall gaiters in the Interwar years that were as tall as the South African four-strap gaiters, but with only three securing straps.





MYSTERY GAITERS

These gaiters remain a mystery since no photographic evidence has clearly shown them in use. They were used, however, as evidenced by the abundance of heavily-worn examples. They seem to have been made during the war given the dates of manufacture (1940-1945) and were made by British firms (SOCo, O&Co, W&AJT, NLCo, C&Co, etc.). Even more interesting is that they were subject to the same modifications which governed standard anklets, web (i.e. the addition of leather crescents and closure straps in 1942). When evidence does surface regarding whether these were made for dispatch riders, officers, sailors, use with shorts, jungle warfare, etc., I'll be excited to finally know the answer to this mystery!