TOPIC:

I came across this interesting snippet from the South Wales Daily News, dated 23rd February 1900, on page 5:

"TOMMY ATKINS' BOOTS.

A SCANDALOUS AFFAIR .

At a board of inquiry held at Portsmouth it was found that most of the regulation boots issued to the men were unfit to wear. Much indignation has been caused by this circumstance."

I suspect that the PBI (Poor Bloody Infantry) found this out for themselves when footslogging over the veldt!
Regarding the statement"unfit to wear," would this be referring to the conditions in South Africa, where the boots would be tested to extremes of temperature, weather and heavy marching? I have read accounts of boots falling apart on the march.
Would anyone on the forum know from where the boots were sourced and if there were any consequences for the manufacturer for supplying shoddy footwear, or indeed any other items of kit, to the War Department?

Moranthorse1
Julian Symons, writing in "Buller"s Campaign" tells us that the British Army's lack of preparation for deployment was highlighted by the Brackenbury Report of December 1899 - "All of the boots had to be changed because the thick clump soles of the boots that were used for home service separated in South African conditions, and the foreign service boots had to be hand sewn". And there were many other equipment shortages as well.
Despite having had quite some exposure to "Boots, AB, Black" in the 1960's, I had to look up the meaning of "Clump Soles"; defined as being soles fastened by nails and not sewn by hand.
Edward M. Spiers, writing in "The Late Victorian Army, 1868 - 1902" refers to an "outcry over the standard of British boots" in the Landsdowne Report of c.1899.
While many contractors made Boots AB, Pattern 1037 during the Boer War, clearly some makers were better than others - as I recall reading that those boots supplied to the CIV were highly regarded over those of the normal issue.
Regards
IL.

IL,
Many thanks for your reply.
I suspect that the manufacturing processes had much to do with what turned a profit for the Victorian businessman.
Steve

www.rushdenheritage.co.uk/Villages/Raunds/RaundsMarch1905.html

Not directly related but shows that there were multiple manufacturers/suppliers of Army boots during the Boer War and some of the work was done by home workers.

No surprise that so many of the manufacturers of Tommy's boots would have been operating in Northampton, long the centre of shoemaking in the UK.
I would imagine that handstitching them would be a very skilled job, whereas nailing the soles on probably less so, enabling homeworkers to be able to knock them out more cheaply. Perhaps this was common practice around 1899 to 1902?
I also wonder where the nails for the clump soles were produced. Perhaps from the old workshops at the backs of people's houses (Bromsgrove in Worcestershire was particularly renowned for it's nailmaking industry)? More homeworkers contributing to the war effort for a pittance?

I've picked up a couple of boot heel irons on battlefields - they look like miniature horseshoes - so I'd imagine their boots fell apart regularly.