To prevent sore feet cleanliness and strict attention to the fitting of boots and socks are necessary. Before marching the feet should be washed with soap and water and carefully dried. The inside of the socks should be well rubbed with soft or yellow soap. After the march the feet must be again washed and clean dry socks put on. Soaking the feet in salt or alum and water hardens the skin. The nails should be cut straight across and not too close. A blister will probably be occasioned by an unevenness or hole in the sock, or an unevenness in the lining of the boot; the cause therefore should be ascertained and removed. The edge of a blister should be pricked with a needle and the fluid drained away by gently pressing the blister; a small pad of cotton wool or soft rag should then be applied and kept in place by a mall piece of sticking plaster. Men are cautioned against getting boots too small for them. --From the Soldier's Small Book of Pvt. William Loughlin; West Riding Regiment; British Army. Printed for H. M. Stationery Office by Gail & Polden, Ltd. London, 1901. (Thanks to Mike Flynn for providing a copy of this intriguing document — DWT) Back to Cry Havoc #21 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com