US made buttons for Soviet Uniforms

[Tal Inbar]

Hi

I saw this button - US made. Is the USA made uniforms for the Soviets during WW2?

[Doug]

Hi Tal,

I think a lot of them were made in the USA. I have one made by Scoville. I think there may be mention of them in the Webster book.

All the best,

Doug

[otlichnik]

Tal,

No Soviet uniforms were made in the USA. (There are rumours that some gymnastiroka were but I have seen no proof.)

However, during WWII many buttons were made in the USA as were boots and some belts.

I would love to find a list of the maufacturers.

If anyone else has any US-made Soviet uniform buttons could they post a picture or at least describe what is written on the reverse.

On the Webster book - be very careful using it as a reference. It has many errors - over three dozen at last count. Many are major errors of identification. Also at least two of the uniforms in there including the MSU Victory Parade uniform are fake.

Shawn

[Nota Bene]

Shawn,

I've also heard stories about officer's gymnastiorkas made in the US, but don't know if there is any truth for them. I have heard from many veterans that there were US made coveralls for tankers and Airforce technicians.

Alexei

[otlichnik]

Alexei,

I had forgot about the coverall stories but I have heard them too.

The question is what was actually made in the US - a gymnastiorka, just the cloth, or just the buttons. I can see how someone would think a gymnastirka with al US buttons was made in the US.

There is also the famous story about Stalin's request to Churchill for gold braid. I think it was actually shipped but the pogony were all manufactured in the USSR. If so how can one tell UK braid from USSR braid??

Shawn

[Nota Bene]

Shawn,

I have found many references to those uniforms on the Russian Internet, but nothing specific. Many veterans seem to remember those quality uniforms from the US and Canada. Apparently leather flight jackets were also supplied to the SU, as well as coveralls for Airforce and Armor personnel. One tanker remembers that his new US made tank had a complete set of coveralls inside. I am not going to repeat here his words about the tank :), but the coverall was good. I also found somewhere that the US had supplied to the Soviet Union 15 mil pairs of boots.

Alexei

[Makarovii]

I am not familiar with the button issue but have this info regarding uniforms from an email list:

Sent from USA as lend-lease; 102,673,000 yards of cotton cloth arrived in USSR, enough to manufacture 34,557,667 summer uniforms.

60,138,000 yards of woolen cloth arrived, enough to manufacture 20,012,667 winter uniforms.

14,572,000 pairs of "Army" boots arrived. $4,378,000 worth of "other types" of boots arrived, which included felt and rubber boots and shoes.


"Roads to Russia", R.H. Jones, University of Oklahoma Press, 1969, pp. 228 and Appendix A, Table V.

[Tal Inbar]

Speaking of buttons, I have a Soviet made button, which I found inside a T-55 tank, which was once Egiptian, and was captured by Israel.

As a tank commabder, I fired uppon this tank in a range, and after the excersize was over, I went to see my hits, and checked the tank from the inside too, were I found a Soviet uniform button.