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?