"To Blanco or Not to Blanco...That is the Question".
The question has been posed to me as a British Reenactor, "Do we Blanco our gear or not?" This is an extremely difficult question to ask. Well, the first questions one must ask are when was Blanco first used and what exactly is it. Blanco was used before World War I by the British Army. Descriptions of the "spit and polish" are a long tradition with His Majesty’s Army. A veteran commented about status of the upper echelon of the British Army just before the hostilities started as, "old men who still dreamed of the trench warfare of 1914, the parade grounds, the polished boots, and the blanco." The original color was white; hence the sometime nickname "Blanco" for one with a surname of White. Some sources describe the compound as a "webbing renovator" issued in a round cake. It was mixed with water to create a paste and applied to the Pattern 37 equipment with a brush or sponge. During World War II, the Pattern 37 equipment was issued in a khaki or tan shade. Now there is some debate as to whether the Blanco Compound was applied as a matter of habit, instilled during training, or was it essential for camouflaging the khaki equipment for fighting in Northwest Europe.
The first time a recruit would have encountered Blanco was during basic training. This was part of the triad of mundane routines that officers used to break civilians into military life. As well as putting Blanco on their equipment, the men would Brasso the brass tips of the gear, and Bully their boots. Brasso and Bully are subjects of future discussions. Regarding Blanco’s role in training one British recruit commented, "What happened next gave me an idea of what to expect in my next 6 weeks of training. I was shown how to put the Blanco on my kit by some lads who had already done 2 weeks training. This procedure involved wetting the block of Blanco until it became a paste on top, then with a brush or sponge, to cover the kit with it then wait for it to dry." Another soldier described this routine, "bullshit, blacking, and blanco did not require any thought."
The color pattern applied during World War II:
Blanco was issued initially in a tin. As it was used up, soldiers would buy another cake wrapped in paper and refill the original tin.
The other side of the argument was that Blanco was applied as a necessity to cover the bright khaki color of the Pattern 37 equipment for fighting in Northwest Europe. Hundreds of pictures were scrutinized. The problem one encounters is that, in black and white pictures, it is hard to distinguish if troops had blancoed gear. The reference books are as equally confusing, rarely displaying darkened equipment.
In the field, it was sometimes commander’s discretion as one soldier described an officer and the way he compared to other officers, "Yet another was big on discipline, so it was blanco and more blanco." One source sited that Blanco was "to provide a comsistant colour to equipment worn by soldiers in the same unit, and as a method of cleaning the gear."
The espirit de corps sometimes compelled units to go even further with blanco, "Blancoed gear could take on subtly different colours, most often a light pea-green. In addition, some Rifle units are said to have used webbing dyed black, and military police webbing was often white in colour." This black coloring scheme could apply to the Royal Ulster Rifles as they were a Rifle Regiment.
In short, this article does not really answer this complicated question of using Blanco or not. World War II soldiers would have been programmed to use Blanco. Basic training would have ingrained the process of "renovating" the web gear. However, once in the field soldiers looked at this process with more of an aversion. In some cases, Blanco did provide a common bond in units. It also darkened the khaki Pattern 37 equipment to a more expectable camouflage suitable for the Normandy Campaign.
In reenacting, it is the opinion of the author that it may have been more common to see troops with blancoed equipment, and one would be compelled to say that it is certainly a personal preference. It also may be left to the unit’s discretion. No conclusive evidence was found, as with many historical issues with the British Army during World War II.