There is no certainty about this, but the change from the left shoulder to the right probably took place at the time of the Great War, when the bandolier was introduced, because it was worn over the left shoulder. I always thought that besides identification purposes, the end was to be attached to a whistle kept in the top pocket of a battledress tunic, presumably for officers and ncos only. One might even ask why other arms and corps wear lanyards - they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Lanyards were often of a regimental pattern, ensuring that the colouring remained continuous throughout the unit.

I still have the red lanyard with whistle attached, which I wore circa 1967/8 as a sgt in my old school C. Lanyards associated with dress came into use in the late 19th Century, when field guns such as the 12 and 15 pounders used ammunition which had fuses set with a fuse key. What I was trying to point out is that if some of your post is inaccurate, why should we consider the rest of your post is accurate. The generic officers' lanyard is identical to the one that is still used to secure one's pistol to one's body although I doubt we will see it in use with the new Glock 17. But there are some who insist that 1924 was the date of change, when the sloping of rifles over the left shoulder would soil the white lanyard.Pygmy' Smallman-Tew encouraged each man to plait himself a lanyard from the camouflaged rigging lines from the parachutes still scattered over the DZ. I have a piccie of one of my great-uncles who was in an Infantry Labour Coy then the Labour Corps wearing one and want to know why.

For those still plagued by jokers, the simplest answer to this kind of leg pulling is to invite the joker to present his evidence. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site, connect with other members through your own private inbox and will receive smaller adverts! Another story was that in the days of the old fashioned cannon it was used as a spare firing rope which was lit and then touched the powder.A. so that if some of the gun crew were killed any one could fire the gun by unravelling the landyard and attaching it to the breach mechanism, as it is quite long when undone.

There is no certainty about this, but the change from the left shoulder to the right probably took place at about the time of the Great War, when a bandolier was introduced, because it was worn over the left shoulder. Of course, most officers wore a lanyard attached to their pistol when wearing their equipment, but these were the only two examples of regimental patterns worn prior to the outbreak of the Great War. By downloading or embedding any image, you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. Post WW1 the lanyard was moved from the left to the right shoulder and became more or less a decorative item and later still, in various colours and combinations,used to indicate regiment, battalion, Brigade, Corps etc.In the war years that followed, the lanyard could be used as an emergency firing lanyard forthose guns which had a trigger mechanism, allowing the gunner to stand clear of the gun's recoil. I like to base my post concerning things like this on fact, is that a crime, no as i would like to give some sort of forethought before i post. There is a difference between lanyards used for ceremonial purposes and working, the lanyards I see in pictures of WW1 in the trenches are working lanyards and in many instances consist of nothing more than a length of string with the knife or whistle attached, they certainly aren't Regiment, Bn or Corps identifiers (with the exception of perhaps RA) .