They used old style wool blankets anyway, but some units continued to use them in the front line even when sleeping bags became available. But Kirk is right, it wasn’t the sleeping bags, it was that that they were either complacent or too exhausted, and in that particular incident, hadn’t even put out sentries, believing themselves in a “safe area far enough behind the lines”.

THAT was the bigger lesson. Yes, it is easier to roll out of blankets (or in a modern context, a poncho and liner), than a sleeping bag in an emergency, but most important, never relax your security discipline.

I’ve heard that story, and I’m not at all sure that it’s true. One, freezing zippers weren’t the reason those flaps were on there–It was because of the cold that the zipper would let in. As well, you were supposed to use the snaps on the outer flap if there was a chance you’d need to get out of the bag quickly.

The more likely explanation is that the guys who were killed in their sleeping bags were too exhausted and tired to react in a timely manner, and if they survived the experience, wanted to blame it on something other than their own failures.

I don’t think that “old soldier’s story” actually passes the “makes sense” test.