general

[rubberguts]

 Some will remember the era of Blancoed webbing, Polished Brass  and bulled boots.
 Bulled Boots? Now what bright spark first dreamed up that chore I wonder? Probably some poor bugger on a Saturday afternoon, sat on the edge of his pit,looking dejectedly at the pair of crinkled dull black leather objects in front of him, idly puffing away on a roly and filling the air with a pungent odour akin to horse Sh*t rolled up in old tram tickets. He probably dozed off and the fag dropped into the opened tin of Kiwi boot polish setting it alight, jerking awake to witness the scene, he quickly poured the liquid over the boots toecaps. Pure conjecture? certainly but I suspect bulled boots came about by accident rather than as a result of scientific research. However it arrived, the Army had a long standing romance with 'The bulled boot.'
Talking to some young British regos over here on exercise in the early eighties, I noticed they were wearing rubber soled boots minus toecaps on their "Plates of meat' What's more, to add insult to injury, the boots were dulled down. Quite practical really.
 Midsummer in the Canal Zone, 1.30 pm. Pay parade and we were stood to attention and at ease intermittently, the sun's heat burning our feet through the leather. We watched with dismay as the shine melted off our boots. A sad fact of being in a hot climate and an extra cost to us in Kiwi boot polish and elbow grease.
Ever wonder how much Kiwi boot polish the Army used?   

[chris1957au]

I guess quite a bit Rubberguts, I can remember mixing it with the yellow floor polish to get a better shine on the black tiled floors for room inspections  in the Apprentice collage in the  early to mid 70s at St Omer.

I do believe some time later they stopped trying to get such a high polish after the CO slip on his arse! during an inspection, shame I missed that one lol.

Chris

[rubberguts]

Ha, Ha. Served him right. That bullSh*t measure hadn't been invented when I was in Ramillies, however I was familiar with the beeswax and paraffin polish used on the floors.
 I was required to polish the Officers Mess snooker room daily with a hand floor buffer which was a heavy lump of iron on the end of a broomstick. the polish made it stick to the floorboards until it got spread out. I could hardly move the bloody thing. It was little more than a form of back breaking torture.
The St, Omer wooden spider dorms had other pitfalls. A favourite on room inspection was for some smart arsed "Second Lieuee" to arrive wearing a pair of white gloves, wiping them along the tops of doors and surfaces seeking dust. It stood to reason there would always be a continual fresh light coating (Dust Happens) having accomplished his task, he would thrust his hand under some poor bastard's nose who had to stand there and take a right bollocking from the bloody twit feigning utter disgust. He probably went back to the company office and gloated.