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EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES
EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES

EXC ORIG BRITISH WW2 HOBNAIL AMMO BOOTS SZ 12 DATED 1942 JOHN WHITE W/ORIG LACES

$ 174.21

Availability: 100 in stock
  • Conflict: WW II (1939-45)
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
  • All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
  • Theme: Militaria
  • Condition: Excellent, lightly used condition. They have been polished, or have been worn smooth, on the forward part of the boot. This does not appear to have involved colored shoe polish, if they were polished it was with a type of clear wax, not black or brown polish. They are a bit stiff from age, but are not dried out. The laces are also a bit stiff, but still mostly flexible. The soles do not show much wear. There is some very light rust on the hobnails, which themselves show only minimal wear. The pebble grain finish on the inside of the boots and the lack of a toe cap makes these a bit unusual, but they are 100% original, 1942-dated British ammo or field boots with original laces and all hobnails present.
  • California Prop 65 Warning: Excellent, lightly used condition. They have been polished, or have been worn smooth, on the forward part of the boot. This does not appear to have involved colored shoe polish, if they were polished it was with a type of clear wax, not black or brown polish. They are a bit stiff from age, but are not dried out. The laces are also a bit stiff, but still mostly flexible. The soles do not show much wear. There is some very light rust on the hobnails, which themselves show only minimal wear. The pebble grain finish on the inside of the boots and the lack of a toe cap makes these a bit unusual, but they are 100% original, 1942-dated British ammo or field boots with original laces and all hobnails present.
  • Original/Reproduction: Original
  • Modified Item: No
  • Region of Origin: Great Britain

    Description

    This is a pair of original British Army WWII hobnail ankle or "ammo boots," dated 1942, with original rawhide laces. The boots are a men's size 12 and were made by the John White Company. *************** The boots are made of roughout and pebble-grain leather, with leather soles and stacked leather heels. The pebble grain finish is on the inside, the roughout leather is on the outside. They have steel hobnails on the soles and heels. Eyelets for laces are brass. The soles were nailed and stitched, the heels have a series of flat-headed nails around their perimeter. The soles of the shoes are stamped "12" for a British size 12 (equivalent to about a US size 12 or 12 1/2).  There is a small X stamped into the leather sole, right where the sole meets the heel. The upper outside top of each shoe is stamped with the British War Department broad arrow proof mark, this is "WD 99," with the arrow between the W and the D. Each boot has its original rawhide lace. The inside of each shoe has leather insoles, stamped into these is "JOHN WHITE 1942." This is the mark for the John White Shoe company of Northamptonshire. The company website includes this brief history:
    John White had already spent 23 years in the shoe industry when, aged 35, he made the first pair of John White Shoes.
    1919 was a difficult time for Northamptonshire’s shoemakers. The boot and shoe industry had been operating at full capacity to meet demand for the war, and as a result the wholesalers who worked between manufacturers and retailers now had thousands of pairs they couldn’t sell.
    Despite this, John swiftly obtained repeat orders due to the superior workmanship and quality of the boots and shoes that left his workshop. His grasp of costings also meant he was more profitable than any of his competitors.
    By 1920 he was employing four people and that year moved into his first factory, a building recently abandoned by a failed manufacturer from the town. The next year John took on a larger factory, again from a failed competitor, and was now employing 125 men and producing 6,000 pairs per week.
    ...
    A local councillor said years later that there were only two really good times for the Rushden boot industry: the First World War and the Second.
    John White’s Lime Street factory had been finished only a few years before the outbreak of hostilities with Nazi Germany, and was swiftly pressed into supporting the war effort. By 1941 John White had nine factories, with a staff of 2,000 who produced three million pairs a year. In total one ninth of all footwear supplied to British Forces came from John White; some eight million pairs in all.
    The variety of boots produced by John White for the war effort was almost unheard of. Alongside the British Army ankle boot were knee boots for drivers, jungle boots, flying boots for the RAF and canvas boots for the Royal Navy. John White also supplied allied forces, including the Soviet Union and Greeks.
    ******* The boots are in excellent, lightly used condition. They have been polished, or have been worn smooth, on the forward part of the boot. This does not appear to have involved colored shoe polish, if they were polished it was with a type of clear wax, not black or brown polish. They are a bit stiff from age, but are not dried out. The laces are also a bit stiff, but still mostly flexible. The soles do not show much wear. There is some very light rust on the hobnails, which themselves show only minimal wear. The pebble grain finish on the inside of the boots and the lack of a toe cap makes these a bit unusual, but they are 100% original, 1942-dated British ammo or field boots with original laces and all hobnails present. ************* Soles of the boots measure about 12 3/4 inches from end to end. They are 4 1/2 inches wide at the widest point. Please note,
    I don't guarantee these for fit, they cannot be returned for size issues, and I would not recommend wearing them, they are nearly 80 years old.  ****************** I can ship worldwide. Free shipping to a US address. Overseas buyers pay exact shipping costs only.