Wool Shirt

The Shirt, Flannel, OD, Coat Style was a fully opening shirt adopted in 1934, with seven buttons down the front and two large chest pockets closed by buttons. During World War II (adopted November 1941) this style was augmented with a convertible collar (i.e. could be buttoned up with a tie or could be worn open) and buttoned gas flaps in the cuffs and inside the front -- with these features the word Special is included in the nomenclature. The Special pattern also included buttons at the back of the collar to attach a gas hood.

Wool Pants

In 1938 wool trousers for enlisted personnel were standardized in olive drab, light shade based on a 1937 pattern. These had conventional side and hip pockets (2 each), a watch pocket, and a button fly. The nomenclature was "Trousers, Wool, Serge, OD, Light Shade". An 18 oz. wool was adopted as optimum for weight, warmth, and ease of production. In 1942 a gas flap was added behind the fly (the word Special is added to the nomenclature).

Olive drab wool field trousers developed in 1942-43 were similar in design to the wool serge trousers that had previously issued except for a higher rise and wider seat to address complaints from the field for more room and comfort, especially when worn over "long john" underwear. Adjustment tabs were provided at the waist and cuffs. Wool trousers were issued in 1944 in a darker shade of OD to match the Jacket, Field, Wool, OD (Ike Jacket).

HBT Jacket

The popular uniform jacket-shirt was made in several styles. The original 1941 pattern jacket (PQD 45) had a button front with lapels, two pleated breast pockets with angle-cut flaps, and adjustments by straps at the waist and buttons on the sleeves. Metal buttons with 13 stars and black paint were used, although plastic buttons for use in hot weather or inside armored vehicles were also issued. It can be identified by two closely spaced buttons at the sewn double hem.

In 1942 another pattern HBT jacket was introduced (PQD 45B), featuring square cut cargo pockets, side pleats, and a plain hem with only one button near the bottom. A further modififation was the Special version of the same jacket (PQD 45C) with the addition of a gas flap and buttons at the back of the collar to attach a gas hood. Finally, in 1943, another pattern (PQD 45D) was the same as PQD 45C but made in the darker shade of OD called OD #7, mostly issued in 1944 or later. The 1942 pattern and its later variations are the most common, having been used in Europe and the Pacific for all types of service.

The size of these jackets was much larger than the size tag that was sewn into the inside collar. They were meant to be worn over other layers of clothing -- for example, the wool shirt could be worn under the HBT jacket for extra warmth in cold weather. If you picked the jacket for your normal size, and wore it alone, you were swimming in it.

HBT Pants

For each of the HBT jackets there is a corresponding pattern of the "Trousers, Herringbone Twill". The first, in 1941 (PQD 42), matched the jacket in the style of pocket and metal buttons. The second (PQD 42A) had cargo pockets with square cut flaps, like the 45B jacket, and a gas flap. With the gas flap, Special was added to the nomenclature. Spec PQD 45C came in 1943 with the only change being the color, now the darker OD #7.

M1941 Jacket

The M-1941 Field jacket, also called Parson's jacket after its designer Major General J.K. Parsons, was not designated as "M-1941" at the time. The M-1943 model was the first to be named by its year of adoption and the model of 1941 was simply known as the "Jacket, Field, OD" or "the OD Field Jacket".

Its construction was khaki cotton/poplin with an olive flannel lining. The over all style was like a civilian windbreaker in the Army color. It had a Talon zipper, covered by a buttoned fly up the front. The collar and wrists had button tabs as did the waist. Two large vertical pleats behind the shoulders make it easy to fit. The "first pattern M41" had pocket buttons and lacked the pleats and shoulder epaulettes of the "second pattern M41" which was the standard production model.

The M-1941 was widely worn during World War II, even to the end when the M-1943 Field Jacket was the standard issue. It was found to be too light for severe cold conditions, too hot for summer, and did not have good cargo pockets, factors that eventually led to the M-1943 design.

M1943 Jacket

Although the M41 Parson's Jacket was widely used in World War II, it was not really a satisfactory solution for the soldier. The Field Jacket M-1943 was an integral part of a combat uniform being developed by the War Department based on the layering principle to give great flexibility for conditions encountered in the world-wide war. In March 1943 the OQMG recommended a uniform based on the layering principle, but no agreement was reached on the individual components of the uniform. Internal debate went on during 1943 with the ETO Command favoring a British style short wool jacket. Differences were finally reconciled in 1944 and large quantities of the M-1943 (also called the M-43) jacket began to appear in the ETO, after tests by the 3rd Division at Anzio. Paratroopers wore them for Market-Garden and they were widely available to Army units in the Fall of 1944, and thereafter.

The Jacket, Field M-1943 (formal name) consisted of an olive drab cotton outer shell with layers added inside as more warmth was needed. There was a pile jacket liner for extremely cold areas, while the short wool jacket (the "Ike" jacket) was worn in milder temperatures. An olive drab cotton cap, also designated M-1943, was the head cover and was worn inside the helmet liner when the M-1 helmet system was used. A fur-edged hood was also added as an accessory.

Overcoat, Wool, Roll Collar

The "Overcoat, Wool, Roll Collar" was first issued in 1939 with brass buttons, similar to a design in use since 1927. It featured an olive drab, double breasted, wollen overcoat made with a convertible roll collar with notched lapels. This overcoat was issued to every soldier along with his service uniform to provide sufficient warmth for winter campaigns. The 1939 revisions included action pleats in the back, a more square look to the shoulders, and a straight front opening. Other features included a long bottom split up the back and two slash pockets. A 1942 modification introduced green plastic buttons to replace the brass, a metal in shortage. Labels in this overcoat will read "Overcoats, Wool, Roll Collar" or may say Wool Melton instead of just Wool. The Spec. is PQD No. 164 and will have a range of stock numbers for sizes similar to 55-Q-8910 or 55-Q-895). Although the overcoat had been an essential clothing item in past wars, and was expected to be the same in World War II, the development of more funtional clothing, especially the 1943 Field Jacket and other components of the winter combat uniform, made the overcoat obsolete. It was relatively heavy to carry in combat and was often discarded. Although soldiers were seen with the overcoat through the end of the war, it gradually became used for dress wear over the service uniform rather than field gear.

Leggings

At the beginning of World War II, the U.S. soldier wore a service shoe with canvas leggings. The leggings were difficult to put on and take off and did not provide much protection. The deficiencies in the shoe plus legging led to the development of the combat boot to solve the problems.

Shoes, Service, Composition Sole

The World War II combat boot design evolved from the service shoes used with leggings. The Model 1939 "Shoes, Service, Composition Sole" was an ankle high shoe/boot made of tanned leather in a dark red color, originally with leather soles, changed to rubber soles after 1940. The same shoe design was modified in early 1943 (called Type III) to reverse the leather (rough side out) and add reinforcing rivets. A simplified version of the Type III shoe was adopted later in 1943 as the "Shoes, Service, Reverse Upper", different from the earlier service shoes in that it was built a little lower with no toe cap and with nylon laces instead of cotton. The latter two types were the most common service shoes of the war.

In the field, all of the service shoes where worn with leggings that extended the shoe up the calf. The leggings had a strap that looped under the shoe in the space in front of the heel. The leggings were laced up with a series of hooks and grommets. At the start of WW II longer leggings were in use in khaki or light OD shades. By 1944 a shorter, dark OD #7 legging was issued. Most ground troops wore the service shoe-legging combination until late in the war. Service shoes continued in use for garrison wear even after tha war. [At left is a detail from a 1942 photo taken at Ft. Knox, KY.]

A World War II soldier received an initial issue of two pairs of shoes which could be resoled twice, then were replaced with a new or rebuilt pair. The replacement rate varied depending on conditions where the shoes were worn, ranging from a year in the US to only five months in the Southwest Pacific.

Boots (Paratrooper)

Army jump boot design started by combining features from existing use by others, including German parachutists, units who started earlier than the U.S. and had already participated in combat in Europe. The equipment and experience of U.S. Forest Service "smoke jumpers" were studied. The Marine Corps also had parachute units and experiments had shown the need for special footwear after broken bones were suffered. In October 1940 the first design was recommended by the Infantry Board and put into procurement after overcoming bureaucratic objections. The first design was like a shoe, with special braces, but was not a success, however, and a second shoe-based design also failed tests showing that many of the special features of braces and cushioning added little to the comfort and safety of the boot/shoe.

In August of 1942 the "Boots, Jumper, Parachute" was standardized, a tall laced boot with 11 to 13 pairs of lacing eyes depending on the foot size. It was a clean design that dropped straps and other reinforcements of earlier designs and had many points strengthened to take the punishing wear of jumping. The heel and sole were rubber with the heel leading edge slanted to avoid a snag point for lines

Garrison Cap (Wool)

Garrison Caps were produced in dark OD wool as well as in khaki to go with the khaki cotton summer uniform. There was also the "Cap, Garrison, Wool, Elastique, OD, Dark, Officers". Officers garrison caps were worn with officer's insignia pinned near the front on the left side (except until mid-1942, before which unit insignia could be worn). The piping on the Garrison Cap was referred to as the "hat cord" or "braid" which were either pure colors or a base color with a second color "piped" into the cord. According to FM 21-100 Soldier's Handbook, dated 11 December 1940, the hat cord colors for the arms and services were:

Service Branch Piping Color

M1937 Khaki Belt

The M1937 khaki web belt was used by Army enlisted men with all types of trousers. It had an open-face buckle of blackened metal, a tip of the same metal, was 1.25 in. wide, and lengths up to 60" can be cut to fit. The open face design was abandoned after WW II and the enlisted men used the same solid buckle as the officers after the mid-1950s.

Belts made during World War II are ink stamped with markings, "U.S.", then "JQMD 1943" in smaller letters.

Wool Shirt

The Shirt, Flannel, OD, Coat Style was a fully opening shirt adopted in 1934, with seven buttons down the front and two large chest pockets closed by buttons. During World War II (adopted November 1941) this style was augmented with a convertible collar (i.e. could be buttoned up with a tie or could be worn open) and buttoned gas flaps in the cuffs and inside the front -- with these features the word Special is included in the nomenclature. The Special pattern also included buttons at the back of the collar to attach a gas hood.

Wool Pants

In 1938 wool trousers for enlisted personnel were standardized in olive drab, light shade based on a 1937 pattern. These had conventional side and hip pockets (2 each), a watch pocket, and a button fly. The nomenclature was "Trousers, Wool, Serge, OD, Light Shade". An 18 oz. wool was adopted as optimum for weight, warmth, and ease of production. In 1942 a gas flap was added behind the fly (the word Special is added to the nomenclature).

Olive drab wool field trousers developed in 1942-43 were similar in design to the wool serge trousers that had previously issued except for a higher rise and wider seat to address complaints from the field for more room and comfort, especially when worn over "long john" underwear. Adjustment tabs were provided at the waist and cuffs. Wool trousers were issued in 1944 in a darker shade of OD to match the Jacket, Field, Wool, OD (Ike Jacket).

Service Coat, 4 pocket

By the beginning of 1941 the Jacket, Field OD (M41 or Parson's Jacket) was in quantity production and being issued to troops. That jacket marked a change in thinking so that functional clothing was to be used in the field, separate from barraks, garrison, or dress uniforms. As a result the Coat, Wool Serge, OD or Service Coat was no longer seen as a field coat -- in effect becoming a dress coat -- and the necessity for the pleated back came into question. It was suggested early in 1941 at the Office of the Quartermaster General (OQMG) that the "bi-swing back" could be eliminated to improve the appearance of the garment and to decrease its cost of manufacture and use of scarce wool cloth material. In June 1942 the "Revised Service Coat" was ready for issue without the side pleats in back and with simplified lower, inside pockets that were flat instead of bellows style (since this was no longer a field jacket). The revised design had no belt.

Service Coat, Eisenhower (Ike Jacket)

Development of a short, wool field jacket began early in 1943, when in February the Air Transport Command (ATC) requested the Quartermaster Corps to make a study of functional requirements for clothing for both flying and non-flying personnel of the ATC. In the course of that study it became apparent that both officer's and enlisted men's Service Coats were worthless garments for combat. They could be used at a desk or on parade but could not be used for operational duties. This conclusion was amply supported by war experience in North Africa and Italy. In the QMC repor to ATC on 15 May 1943 a short wool jacket was reccommended. This jacket was adopted in the fall of 1943 and manufacture was planned for use by the Air Corps. At the same time, possible use by other forces was being considered.

A sample of the Air Corps jacket was sent to the Chief Quartermaster of the European Theatre of Operations who had requested a garment similar to the English battle dress. Some such jackets were manufactured in England under the direction of the ETO Commanding General (Gen. Eisenhower), named the "Jacket, Field, Lined" or "ETO Jacket". They were a very practical design and included details like concealed buttons (no snagging) and lots of room at the shoulders (flexible, maneuverable). In the fall of 1943, Gen. Eisenhower wrote to Gen. Marshall suggesting that a wool jacket along the lines of the British battle jacket but with a distinctive style should be considered.

It took another year to iron out all the design compromises. Although it was announced in May of 1944 that a new wool field jacket would be issued to soldiers in the ETO, it was not until 2 November 1944 that the wool field jacket was classified as the standard of issue and the wool serge Service Coat reclassified as limited standard.

Khaki Wool Tie

Standard Army Issue Khaki Wool Tie.

M1937 Khaki Belt

The M1937 khaki web belt was used by Army enlisted men with all types of trousers. It had an open-face buckle of blackened metal, a tip of the same metal, was 1.25 in. wide, and lengths up to 60" can be cut to fit. The open face design was abandoned after WW II and the enlisted men used the same solid buckle as the officers after the mid-1950s.

Belts made during World War II are ink stamped with markings, "U.S.", then "JQMD 1943" in smaller letters.