Are you talking about puttees?

IIRC, puttees worn by the Army in WWII were "the real thing" , by which I mean a long strip of cloth wrapped up the leg, and not the modern-day version, which looks more a hiking gaitor. Also, IIRC, my father told me that US soldiers (at least, in the ETO) were no longer wearing puttees in battle by D-Day, roughly speaking.