Did soldiers use ear protection?

I think supersonic small calibre rounds cause more damage to hearing than sub sonic field artillery. I found 120mm tank and 30mm Raden the most unpleasant on the ear. By contrast the last sound you could hear as a round left the L118 Light gun was a faint ringing from the barrel like a high pitched bell.

Long exposure to under insulated engine noise from, the APC engine may have been just as damaging.

 

If photographs are anything to go by, then the most common ear protection for WWII artillerymen was the familiar Hand, Human, Mark I. Given how common deafness is among WWII gunners, that particular item of equipment was already obsolescent in 1939.

 

This is relevant to eventual hearing loss-
http://www.ww2f.com/topic/39543-loudest-artillery/?hl=%2Bloudest+%2Bartillery

 

The last few seconds of this video shows at least 2 soldiers using the index finger method of ear protection. The one pulling the lanyard clearly slept through the films on practicing safe gunnery:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coW3NVAq1yk