Canadian Officers’ Training Corps The Canadian Officers’ Training Corps (COTC) was, from 1912 to 1968. Canada’s university officer training program was fashioned after the University Officers’ Training Corps (UOTC) in the United Kingdom. In World War Two the Canadian Army was able to produce quality officers because of the high standards of the COTC. Canadian Postal …
Tag archives: Second World War
Combat Service Support in Battle WWII
Pictures top left – right, top -bottom
British volunteer strips (chevrons)
These are WW 2 British volunteer stripes worn on the sleeve. Each red chevron denoted 12 months’ service in the Civil Defence Services after hostilities began on 3 September 1939. Introduced in February 1944, war service chevrons, which were identical to those awarded to army personnel, were worn on the lower right sleeve of the …
Bibles
Military Bibles: There were over 40 million Bibles, Testaments and prayer books distributed by the British and Foreign Bible Society in the First World War. Most military Bibles and Testaments are small – the smaller the better, with many printed-on India paper to keep them lightweight and suitable for carrying in pockets and knapsacks. Canadian …
Booklet, “Shoot to Kill”
The top photo is a Second World War Army military pamphlet/booklet known as “PART X BASIC & BATTLE PHYSICAL TRAINING “. ‘Shoot to Kill’ had long been a British Army slogan, appearing in numerous training films and pamphlets. In the late 70s and early 80s a new introductory pamphlet on marksmanship– ‘Shoot to Live’–replaced the …
Boots, RCASC
The boots shown (two styles) in the photo are pairs of (First World War / Second World War) brown leather ankle boots worn by officers. Officers wore brown boots or shoes, either privately purchased, or more commonly, obtained from military stores. Brown ankle boots were worn with service dress or battledress. Heavier boots with buckles, sometimes double …
Brass Button Stick
Although ‘stay bright’ (anodized) buttons were introduced to the Canadian Army in the mid-1950s, many units continued to use traditional brass buttons. Button sticks were used to clean them without getting polish on uniforms. The sticks were also useful for cleaning brass hat badges and other polished metal surfaces on kit. Button stick: A strip …
Brush, Clothes
The absence of any residual shoe polish (boot polish) or other leather type dressing suggests this brush may have been used for lint and dust removal from uniforms. This brush type was likely used by an officer or aide to a Commissioned Officer to maintain the appearance of tunics, trousers etc. History: Clothes brushes were …
Razor, Rolls
The product was a sophisticated safety-razor which promoted the slogan “The razor that is stropped and honed in its case.” Case: The case is a rigid, rectangular frame enclosed by two detachable lids; one lid carried a stone and the other a leather. The lids could not be interchanged. With a lid removed, a handle …
Clicker
The device, about the size of a person’s thumb, made a metallic clicking sound, and was an essential bit of kit for those landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944, under the cover of darkness. Hollywood actor, John Wayne, helped the clicker become widely known from his dialogue in the 1962 film The Longest Day. …