Old School Bullshine Boots!

These are my boots, there are many like them!

Ask a civilian what they think of most when you mention the British Army and they will most likely say something about the grand tradition and history, but ask an ex-squaddy about the British Army and they will say 'BULLSHINE'!

Well, maybe not these days, but certainly the British Army of the 20th century - my father's and older brother's days - but even I as a lowly cadet in the 1970s knew that while the French may have marched on their stomachs (to paraphrase Napoleon) the British marched on boots! Lovely shiny boots!

Bullshine is British military slang for an unnecessary regimental routine.

Now, many will think that those days have long gone and today's high-tech army has better things to do than worry about polishing their footwear all day long (and thank the lord that canvas webbing is no longer a thing and the word 'blanco' is a complete mystery to today's soldier). BUT I came across a couple of very interesting videos on YouTube recently that not only reminded me about the way things were but informed me that for some military types things are still very much done the old way!

The first intriguing video is a bit of a history lesson about the classic British Army boot and how good it actually was. Strange then that many 'old sweats' have very different and not so complimentary memories about the old army boots...

Next up, and this is the one that surprised me, is a fascinating tutorial made by a contemporary traditional cobbler about repairing a pair of army 'parade boots' for use by current RAF and army cadets! Quite why modern military personnel are still using what appear to be such archaic pieces of military wear is a bit beyond me, but you have to admire the craftmanship that goes into maintaining these brutes!

And finally, what discussion about army boots would be complete without a video tutorial on the 'proper' way to shine up those lumps of leather? Now here's where it's a case of being more of an art than a science as I have never hear of two squaddies that can agree on the 'best' way to get that perfect mirror shine! But for what it's worth, this is the technique I used as a cadet...