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Post by hvd5677 on Jun 8, 2015 9:47:52 GMT -5
Something that has struck me in looking at photos from the FIW are several examples of soldiers (not just officers) using walking sticks/hiking staffs in the field. Having fallen on my butt numerous times backpacking on slippery surfaces it makes sense to me, although I can imagine that you might want to have both hands free in certain situations. I just dont recall seeing similar photos from other wars. Maybe they exist, but it isnt something I have paid attention to before.
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Post by Kenneth on Jun 8, 2015 13:04:16 GMT -5
Fancy carved (home-made) walking sticks were in vogue in the German army in WWII, especially on the Eastern Front. I've even seen one. But otherwise, any stick would do as an aid to walking. On the other hand, in some armies a cane used to be sort of a mark of an officer, not that you'd necessarily want to be marked as an officer. I have seen photos of a few British officers equipped with a cromach, a sort of shepherd's crook but not really as an aid to walking. Anyway, walking sticks seem to be indispensable to some, a hindrance to others.
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Post by hvd5677 on Jun 8, 2015 13:54:32 GMT -5
Fancy carved (home-made) walking sticks were in vogue in the German army in WWII, especially on the Eastern Front. I've even seen one. But otherwise, any stick would do as an aid to walking. On the other hand, in some armies a cane used to be sort of a mark of an officer, not that you'd necessarily want to be marked as an officer. I have seen photos of a few British officers equipped with a cromach, a sort of shepherd's crook but not really as an aid to walking. Anyway, walking sticks seem to be indispensable to some, a hindrance to others. Thanks. This makes sense. In the photos Ive seen, they look like field improvised as opposed fancy carved for the most part. |
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Post by lew on Jun 8, 2015 18:37:25 GMT -5
Most officers at the rank of major and above went hands-free in the field to make it facilitate working with maps and radios. A commander shouldn't be shooting anyway, instead, directing their subordinates to bring their firepower to bear. Bigeard didn't even carry a sidearm. There's a picture in Guyader's Foreign Legion 1946-1956 book, I believe, that shows soldiers of 2e BEP moving stretcher-bound casualties over a rough jungle track. Those not holding stretchers carry sticks appropriated from the surrounding forest. I don't think there was a French-issued swagger stick, but most general officers had one. Probably privately purchased.
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Post by Kenneth on Jun 9, 2015 9:20:57 GMT -5
Swagger sticks were never issued, although they were essential accessories for the up-to-the-minute foot soldier, even for other ranks in some armies. But it's a style that didn't cross the water. Although I have seen photos of American officers carrying a swagger stick, I never saw one in person. They come across as an affectation for an American. In any case, they were purely a garrison or barracks item, not for the field. It gave you something to do with your hands so you weren't tempted to put them in your pockets. In fact, you really weren't allowed to put anything in your pockets. You should hear what my son had to say about the uniforms when he was in the army.
Another item that seemed to be mostly confined to the US Army were those bib-type scarves that used to be considered essential, at least when I was in the 1960s. You could wear one in a camouflage pattern or in the branch color. The camouflage pattern was unique. Sometimes a patch would be worn in the center which spoiled the effect to me.
I never saw anyone using a cane or walking stick when I was in the army but I served only in mechanized units. No one walked. Ever.
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Post by lew on Jun 14, 2015 8:26:21 GMT -5
Yep, swagger sticks were definitely a Commonwealth item.
I've seen those bibs before. I think it was a carryover that underwent significant mutation from the cavalry scarves and handkerchiefs of the Indian War period. Regardless, they were atrocious. Garrison mentality is a dangerous thing.
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Post by Kenneth on Jun 14, 2015 15:57:42 GMT -5
I never thought they were so atrocious. It was cold nine months out of the year where I was stationed and they were comfortable.
Regarding the walking sticks again, I was leafing through my small collection of Militaria magazine and noticed several photos in which individuals were using walking sticks. They were mostly using them because they were actually walking and under difficult circumstances mostly. They were German troops in Normandy, Yugoslavia and in the Caucasus Mountains, where they were presumably fighting Caucasians. Also the French in Indo-China. They were mostly all crossing river or wading through deep mud except in Normandy where they were just walking. British and German officers carried walking sticks in WWI partly for probing in the mud but probably more as a accessory, a carry-over from civilian life. Some American officers probably picked up the habit they way they copied other things but evidently the fashion did not persist even as long as the Sam Browne belt.
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