Entrenching Tools

regulation-issue military tools used in manual engineering work. Two general classes are distinguished: entrenching tools that are part of a soldier’s personal gear and those that are part of the standard equipment of a vehicle. The first class consists simply of a small shovel, although before the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45 it also included a small ax and a pick-mattock. The small shovel is included in the field equipment issued to sergeants and to enlisted men of lower rank and is used primarily for digging trenches. Entrenching tools of the second class, issued to motor pools and convoys, are part of the standard equipment of fighting and transport vehicles and comprise a long- handled shovel, a broadax, a pick-mattock, and a crosscut saw. They are used for such work as preparing field positions and billeting areas.