What WWII Soldiers Carried in Their Pockets
World War II was one of history’s largest conflicts, spanning continents and engulfing nations from 1939 to 1945. In total, 127.2 million personnel were mobilized for war on all sides, with 70 million of those people fighting in the armed forces of the Allied or Axis nations.
These numbers give us an idea of the vast scale of the war, but they don’t tell us anything about the soldiers themselves. If we zoom in to ground level and look at the daily lives of these individuals, we get a far more intimate picture of the war and those who fought it. Here, we move in even closer, to examine what the average enlisted U.S. soldier carried in the pockets of their service uniform.
Some of these items were practical necessities, while others were highly personal. Whether they were reminders of home or just small comforts amid the chaos, these objects reveal much about the daily lives of World War II soldiers and the human experience of war.
Photos of Home
Few pocket items held more emotional significance than photographs from home. These were often small, wallet-sized photos of spouses, significant others, children, or parents. The photos would be tucked into a pocket and carried into the field, providing crucial psychological support during the most difficult moments of the war. Having such a personal item helped a soldier to maintain their sense of individuality in the otherwise homogenizing environment of military life, in which group identification was strongly promoted. Remembering home by looking at a photo was also a reminder of what a soldier was fighting for.
One other fascinating way that soldiers carried their photos was underneath a clear plexiglass strip they attached to the grips of their pistols — a form of weapon customization known as a sweetheart grip.
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Cigarettes and Matches
Cigarettes were an integral part of World War II, with possibly up to 75% of soldiers taking up the habit. Tobacco was a military staple, and American soldiers received cigarettes in their rations — typically a mini-pack of either three or four Old Golds, Chesterfields, Lucky Strikes, or Camels, along with a fold of waterproof paper matches. Soldiers were encouraged to smoke to relieve boredom and raise morale — and for a moment of respite before or during the chaos of battle. Cigarettes were also used as a form of currency — so much so that even nonsmokers carried some smokes.
The popularity of smoking also meant that many soldiers carried matches or lighters in their pockets. Zippo lighters, in particular, became a near-essential tool for many fighting men and women during the war.
Local Money and Special Military Currency
Soldiers used various goods as trade items during World War II, including cigarettes, chocolate, and alcohol. But their pockets might also have contained actual currency. Troops overseas were normally paid in native, local currencies, because the foreign nations in which they were stationed didn’t want an influx of dollars disrupting their local economies.
Apart from local currencies, there were two types of paper currency produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing specifically for use by U.S. and Allied forces overseas. Special Currency was produced for use in U.S. areas under threat of invasion or in enemy-held areas about to be invaded by Allied forces. Then there was Allied Military Currency (AMC), created to supplement existing local currencies abroad and printed in their respective monetary units — for example, francs for France and marks for Germany.
Reading Material
Reading was a good way to alleviate boredom during long stretches of downtime, while also offering a much-needed form of escapism. Bulky books, however, weren’t practical for carrying around during a war. Publishers decided to help the war effort by printing miniature paperback books that were small enough to easily fit in a soldier’s pocket. The books — more than 122 million of them — were printed on delicate paper and would last about six readings before falling to pieces. They included an array of literature, from Dickens and Shakespeare to mysteries and Westerns.
Another common type of reading material was the pocket guide, issued to soldiers before they went abroad to an unfamiliar country. These guides explained the customs, geography, language, and cultural quirks of each country, helping soldiers to navigate foreign surroundings without upsetting the locals.
Handkerchiefs
The humble handkerchief was standard issue for soldiers in World War II. A handkerchief was easy to carry in a pocket and could serve numerous practical purposes, including for personal hygiene, as an emergency bandage, as a sweatband, as a dust mask, for signaling, for straining debris from drinking water, and for wrapping up food.
Handkerchiefs also played a more secretive role, sometimes serving as clandestine maps — known as “escape and evasion maps” — which were printed onto both sides of cloth handkerchiefs to be used by Allied troops in case of capture behind enemy lines.
Some soldiers also carried embroidered handkerchiefs in their pockets, made of durable cotton or nylon that wouldn’t fade or disintegrate like paper. These keepsake handkerchiefs were embroidered with all kinds of messages and pictures, and were kept as reminders of family, souvenirs, or gifts for sweethearts once the soldier made it home.
Religious Items and Lucky Charms
Before deploying to fight in World War II, U.S. soldiers of the Christian faith were issued a pocket-sized volume of the New Testament and Book of Psalms. Jewish service members, meanwhile, were given an abridged National Jewish Welfare Board pocket-sized prayer book to take with them. Some soldiers purchased steel-covered New Testaments before going off to fight — designed to be carried in the pocket over one’s heart as both spiritual and physical protection. Rosaries were another common religious item found in the pockets of Catholic soldiers. Many other soldiers, whether religious or not, carried lucky charms, which could have been anything from a rabbit’s foot to a lucky coin or bullet.
Small Notebooks and Pencils
Communication and record-keeping were crucial in the field. Officers typically carried a notebook and pencil to record orders, map coordinates, mission objectives, and other tactical observations. Some regular infantry troops also carried a notebook and pencil (which was more reliable than an ink pen) for writing letters home, sketching, or making a record of their experiences.
Diary writing, however, posed a potential security risk, as sensitive information could fall into enemy hands. American combat personnel were officially forbidden from keeping diaries in World War II, but that didn’t necessarily stop them from doing so. And that’s a good thing for military historians and anyone trying to understand what life was like for these soldiers, as pocket diaries offer some of the most intimate and immediate portrayals of life for a soldier during the war.
