It Was So Cold at the Battle of the Bulge, GIs Dried Their Socks Inside Their Shirts

In the winter of the Battle of the Bulge, more than 46,000 American soldiers in Europe were hospitalized for cold injuries — mostly trench foot. This is the story of two men from Company B, 424th Infantry, 106th Infantry Division: Pfc. Edward "Dutch" Prewett, who was handed size 7 overshoes, and 1st Sgt. Roger Rutland, who took over a battalion at Coulee — told in their own words. What trench foot does to a foot, why the Army's winter boots arrived too late, and why the Army's own doctors concluded that most of it could have been prevented — by something as simple as a dry pair of socks. Chapters 0:00 Size Seven 2:29 The Quiet Front 3:56 What Water Does to a Foot 6:36 The Boot Problem 9:56 Back to the Line 11:58 His Own Feet 13:45 What the Winter Left 15:53 Next: Attu Season 1 — The Cold Part 1: It Was So Cold at Chosin, Medics Kept Morphine in Their Mouths →    • It Was So Cold at Chosin, Medics Kept Morp...   Part 2: The Marines at Chosin Couldn't Believe What Came Crawling Across the Frozen Reservoir →    • The Marines at Chosin Couldn't Believe Wha...   Part 4 (next): Attu, 1943 Sources Edward A. Prewett, letter to his parents, 26 May 1945 (published in The CUB, 106th Infantry Division Association) Edward A. Prewett, letter of December 2001; Roger M. Rutland, "How I Remember the Battle at Coulee" (The CUB, 1988) Roger Rutland interview, American Experience: "The Battle of the Bulge" (PBS) transcript Ralph E. Logan, oral history interview (Rutgers Oral History Archives) Company D, 331st Medical Battalion, 106th Infantry Division, Unit History, January 1945 (AMEDD Center of History & Heritage) Tom F. Whayne & Michael E. DeBakey, Cold Injury, Ground Type (Office of the Surgeon General, 1958) Graham A. Cosmas & Albert E. Cowdrey, Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations (CMH, 1992) Roland G. Ruppenthal, Logistical Support of the Armies, Vol. II (CMH) Hugh M. Cole, The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge (CMH) U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, "Cold Injuries" Photographs: U.S. National Archives (Signal Corps), U.S. Army Center of Military History and Army Medical Department publications (public domain). Some clinical photographs were taken in Italy and are shown as examples of the same injury. Scenes no camera recorded are AI illustrations shown in black and white; the thumbnail is an AI illustration. #battleofthebulge #trenchfoot #ww2history #106thinfantrydivision #militaryhistory