The uniforms and helmets of the Latin American conflicts

A third conflict, the Peruvian-Ecuadorian War, or War of ’41, was fought during World War II. Still, because neither the Allies nor the Axis supported either country, it remained unrelated to the larger war. It was, however, a moment of redemption for Peru, and one that is still celebrated today.

Outside of the nations that fought in these three wars, each was is largely overshadowed by the rise of the Third Reich in Europe, Japan’s increased aggression in Asia, Italy’s conquest of Ethiopia, and the Spanish Civil War to come. Yet, these conflicts were portents of the future wars in Latin America and beyond.

The Chaco War has been described as Latin America’s first “modern” conflict, as it drew on lessons from the First World War while repeating many of its greatest mistakes. The three-year-long war saw the use of motor vehicles, tanks, aircraft, and a variety of small arms, including light machine guns and even some submachine guns. It was noted for trench warfare, where neither side seemed to gain much of an advantage.

Authors Ed Strosser and Michael Prince describe it quite bluntly in their book Stupid Wars: A Citizen’s Guide to Botched Putsches, Failed Coups, Inane Invasions & Ridiculous Revolutions (Harper Perennial, 2008). They wrote that both Bolivia and Paraguay were nations that had lost wars, and what neither nation understood at the time is that “beating another loser won’t put them in the winners’ bracket; it’ll just elevate them in the losers’ bracket.”

Both nations had already ceded significant territory in 19th-century wars, leaving each poor and landlocked, so they went to war over the Gran Chaco, an area of approximately 250,000 square miles. In the end, Paraguay won, gaining three-quarters of the oil-rich territory.

It didn’t make Paraguay much of a winner, however. At best it was the better loser.

Both nations paid a high price. As many as 50,000 Paraguayans were killed, or 3 percent of its population; with Bolivia seeing upwards of 80,000 killed or roughly 2 percent of its population. To this day, the Chaco War remains the bloodiest conflict fought in North or South America in the 20th century.

As both nations were heavily influenced by German military styles and used similar cuts, designs, materials, and even German-style rank insignia, the uniforms were remarkably similar between the two forces. The Paraguayans wore an olive-green, or “verde olivo,” uniform, whereas the Bolivian Army primarily wore khaki. At a reasonable distance, the soldiers could be easily mistaken for one another, but that was a problem that only grew worse.

Due to the brutal heat and dense brush in the Chaco region, regulation uniforms quickly wore out or were discarded. Poor supply lines made it difficult to equip troops with new uniforms. As each side deployed more troops, many arrived in just shirts and trousers.

As both sides dressed so much alike, telling friend from foe in close combat was a major problem throughout the war. Equipment was lost to attrition and could not be easily replaced. Surviving uniforms and field gear from the conflict are considered extremely rare.

The Bolivians had a slight advantage in that their troops were supplied with large quantities of boots and field equipment, receiving support from European and the U.S. markets to equip their larger, better-funded forces. Bolivia also benefited from its lucrative mining wealth to support its war effort, but the harsh terrain of the Gran Chaco quickly destroyed the leather equipment.

The Paraguayans started the war with almost no standing army, forcing them to shop the bargain arms bazaars of Europe frantically. Its supply lines were so stretched that many soldiers were forced to go barefoot, and others wore simple sandals or relied on captured caches of boots and equipment to supply their own troops. The ragtag army soon earned the nickname “pata pelada”, or the unshod.

Because Argentina tacitly supported Paraguay’s claims to the Chaco region, as it aligned with Argentina’s hopes of importing petroleum from the area, Buenos Aires supplied Paraguay with clandestine military aid, secret financial loans, and strategic backing during the Chaco War.

Despite being a “modern” war, it appears that neither side adopted modern combat helmets in large numbers; instead, both the Bolivian and Paraguayan forces largely wore visor caps, bush hats, and similar headgear. About the only distinction between the two sides may have been a simple cockade.

There were exceptions, of course.

The Bolivian Regimiento Avaroa 1 de Caballeria and the Regimiento Colorados 1 de Infanteria of the Presidential Guard had adopted Imperial German cuirassier uniforms, complete with metal helmets. Those helmets proved to be as ill-suited to the trench warfare in the harsh, semi-arid lowland of the Gran Chaco region as they were two decades earlier on the Western Front. The helmets were largely relegated to the parade ground.

A small number of surplus German steel helmets from the First World War may have been acquired by Bolivian forces, but the emphasis is on “small number,” as the photographic evidence doesn’t show that the stahlhelms were worn on the front lines.

In addition to simple caps, there is ample evidence that both sides soon adopted sun helmets. The Bolivian examples appear to be French or British in origin, whereas the Paraguayan troops wore sun helmets supplied by Argentina.

Ninety years after the war was fought, it remains unclear why it even occurred. The region hardly seems to be worth fighting for, but that was a common theme in Latin America. The two sides eventually agreed to a border that gave Paraguay the bulk of the Chaco region, with Bolivia getting a section that included a port on the Paraguay River providing access to the Atlantic.

As Strosser and Prince explained, “It was a deal both sides could have worked out years before the war.”

As a final footnote, in the 21st century, the two nations enjoy strong, cooperative relations, focused on regional integration and mutual economic growth.

The Leticia War (1932-1935)

The same year that two nations in Latin America went to war over an empty desert, two other nations went to war over a remote stretch of empty jungle. As with the Chaco War, it shouldn’t have happened. 

A long-standing border dispute seemed to have been settled in March 1922, when the government of Peru agreed to transfer 2,250 square miles of territory on the Amazon to Colombia. The region, known as the “Leticia Trapezium,” included a small section on the northern bank of the river.

However, the treaty was unpopular with nationalist Peruvians, and it took years to ratify. Even then, resentment simmered for years, until the summer of 1932, when armed conflict broke out.

In some ways, the Leticia War was a proxy conflict, as the two countries had received support from differing European powers. Unlike in the Chaco War, where the two sides were at times impossible to tell apart, there were clear distinctions between the Peruvian and Colombian forces, largely due to the European military training missions each nation had adopted.

The Colombian uniforms were modeled after the German military, influenced by German and later Chilean training missions (with the Chileans already described as the Prussians of the Andes). Colombian soldiers frequently wore high-collared tunics and historically adopted pickelhaubes on the parade ground, again following the Chilean lead.

In the field, the Colombian Army wore a mix of visor caps, field caps, and even some privately purchased European sun helmets, including some from the British. 

The war was also unique in that the Colombian forces wore a lightweight, locally made German Model 1916 steel helmet. As advanced helmet collector Mark Dillenbeck explained on his “Steel Helmets of the World Wars” website, the nomenclature is unclear. Although Dillenbeck chose to describe the helmet as a “Colombian M16 Clone,” other sources have referred to it as a “Colombian M18” or other names.

“The Colombian M16s are lightweight and would offer scant ballistic protection. The original configuration for these helmets is with a Czech-style liner that is very similar to that found on the Czechoslovakian vz30. Four rivets secure the liner to the shell while two domed rivets secure the chinstrap attachment hardware. The padding on the interior of the liner is red felt, much like that found on French Model 1915s. The corrugated spacers are also like those found on French helmets of the First World War, but are larger,” wrote Dillenbeck.

Although unsuited to the conflict, the helmet gave the Colombian troops the look of a modern, early-20th century fighting force.

The Peruvian military was also very modern for the era, but it was heavily influenced by French military traditions, as Peru had contracted French missions since the late 19th century. Perhaps to set it apart from its regional rivals, which largely featured a Germanic influence, Peru’s combat uniforms followed a more traditional French style and often included distinct field and fatigue caps.

Yet, because the conflict was fought in the dense, remote Amazon Rainforest, both militaries suffered from severe logistical and supply shortages. Frontline soldiers on both sides often wore incomplete, improvised uniforms or civilian clothing and occasionally lacked proper boots, especially as campaigns dragged on in harsh tropical conditions.

The Peruvian military reportedly imported a small number of European combat helmets. Still, due to the jungle environment of the Putumayo River basin, the Peruvians opted for lightweight, cloth-covered sun helmets. These included imported sun helmets from France, as well as domestically produced sun helmets modeled after the French Model 1931 pattern. Other troops wore bush or campaign-style hats, as well as visor and peak caps. Headgear appeared to be one area where there wasn’t much uniformity within the Peruvian military.

The war lasted just under nine months, ending in a Colombian victory, but, territorially, it was “Status quo ante bellum.” Nothing was gained by either side, even as lives were lost.

Also known as the War of ’41 or the Zarumilla War, this brief conflict lasted just under four weeks. It was the culmination of a 111-year-long border dispute between Peru and Ecuador over the territory along the Zarumilla River.

Robert L. Scheina wrote in his book Latin America’s War: The Age of the Professional Soldier, 1900-2001 (Potomac Books, 2003), “No Latin American border dispute is more complex and no two disputants further apart in their interpretation of the historical events than Peru and Ecuador.”

As with other conflicts in South America, the origins could be traced to the colonial period, with the two sides disagreeing on how Spain had defined the borders. Moreover, as with the other conflicts, the territory in dispute was largely underpopulated. In this case, it consisted of a vast, largely undeveloped, and rugged stretch of the Amazon basin along the Cordillera del Cóndor mountain range, specifically the headwaters of the Cenepa and Santiago Rivers.

There were some smaller towns and indigenous communities, but the core issue was both sides’ desire to gain full control of the sovereign routes from the Andean highlands directly to the Amazon River. Intense nationalist sentiments regarding historical territorial claims dating back to the Spanish Empire were also a main driver, as was the belief that the Amazonian basin was rich in natural resources.

The fighting in July 1941 was just one of several conflicts over the region, with the First Peruvian-Ecuadorian War being fought from 1857 to 1860. That war ended with a Peruvian victory, but matters were far from settled, and even the brief 1941 conflict didn’t fully resolve the claims.

In fact, fighting broke out again in 1981 and in early 1995. It was in October 1998 that representatives of Peru and Ecuador signed a definitive peace agreement: the Brasilia Presidential Act. Whether that truly settles matters is something only time will tell.

As for the fighting in 1941, again, it took place during, but entirely apart from, the Second World War. However, in an attempt to gain favor with the United States, the Ecuadorian press made wild claims that there were 3,000 Japanese officers and soldiers serving in the Peruvian Army. There were also claims made that Tokyo was supplying arms to Peru, yet there is no historical evidence to support the allegations.

The Peruvian military had undergone reforms following its defeat at the hands of the Colombians and increased its military strength. When fighting broke out, Peru deployed about 9,000 troops and around 11 tanks to the region. Its forces had trained hard for the expected fight, and they also gained experience from European advisors.

By contrast, Ecuador was only able to deploy 5,300 of the approximately 17,300 troops in its standing army to the front. Its military was ill-equipped and had been primarily used to suppress internal unrest rather than to confront external threats.

The war ended with Peru’s capture of the Ecuadorian El Oro province.

Once again, the uniforms, gear, and equipment of both armies were strikingly similar in style and color. Both nations equipped their troops with traditional early-20th-century field uniforms, making it difficult to distinguish friend from foe during jungle fighting. The Peruvian and Ecuadorian forces were each primarily outfitted with olive drab, khaki, and grey-green wool or cotton summer tunics.

These uniform similarities caused significant confusion on the battlefield, leading to historical accounts of both sides modifying their appearances or avoiding certain camouflages in later skirmishes to prevent friendly fire incidents.

Although baggy cotton peaked caps and side caps were worn, the Peruvian-Ecuadorian War differed from the other Latin American wars of the era in that both sides used steel combat helmets. A small number of Ecuadorian units wore uniforms and even steel helmets supplied by Italy. In 1922, the same year that Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy, an Italian military mission arrived in Ecuador. The 1920s marked a period of transition away from the Germanic-style uniforms that had been dominant for decades, although the famed Pickelhaube was retained for ceremonial war. The Ecuadorian general staff also purchased surplus Italian First World War-era military helmets, along with the Model 1933 steel helmet. 

Both styles of helmets were painted dark green, with some featuring a national cockade in red, blue, and yellow painted on the side. Such helmets should be considered extremely rare.

After the fighting ended and the United States entered the Second World War in 1941, the U.S. began supplying a large number of surplus Model 1917-A1 “Kelly” helmets to Ecuador, which briefly became the Ecuadorian military’s official helmet. The U.S. M1 combat helmet later replaced the Kelly Helmet.

Throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s, the Peruvian military continued to wear French-made or French-style sun helmets, often fitted with a badge on the front. The headgear was well-suited to the jungle fighting of the July war. In addition, by the late 1930s, the Peruvian Army began to adopt the French Model 1926 helmet, locally designated the Model 1934. It was fitted with a locally made liner, but, famously, these helmets were outfitted with a circular front badge of the sun, which represented Inti, the Inca sun god. Versions of the M26 were painted in various shades and colors, with green standard for the Peruvian Army and blue for the Peruvian Air Force and Navy. 

The badges were either painted gold or green, with some sources suggesting that combat units were ordered to cover the gold badges during the war in 1941. Vast stocks of those helmets were sold as surplus in the United States in the 1980s, with collectors snatching them up. The Peruvian helmets have become harder to find in the decades since.

Captured Italian M33 helmets from Ecuador were also used, but how many remains unclear today. 

Following the war, Peru was also subsequently supplied the M-17A1 helmet from the United States and later the M1 steel helmet, but the M34 helmet remained in use until the 1950s, perhaps as a matter of pride for Peru. Modern versions of the M34 are still used today in a ceremonial role, a reminder of Peru’s victory in the 1941 war.  

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