German Pistol Lanyard

[Khaki]

Can anyone supply a detailed photograph of a German pistol lanyard please.

thanks

khaki

[calibre792x57.y]

Can anyone supply a detailed photograph of a German pistol lanyard please.

thanks

khaki

Well, Khaki, no reply to date so I'll put in my two penny worth. I once had a lanyard said to have been for a P.08, it was black leather with a spring clip on the end, but I think this was probably police equipment. I've never seen such an item being worn in photos of either war, and indeed the design of the standard P.08 holster is not really adapted for such a thing as it clips on the bar at the back of the receiver, so you may be unlucky. - SW

[Khaki]

Well, Khaki, no reply to date so I'll put in my two penny worth. I once had a lanyard said to have been for a P.08, it was black leather with a spring clip on the end, but I think this was probably police equipment. I've never seen such an item being worn in photos of either war, and indeed the design of the standard P.08 holster is not really adapted for such a thing as it clips on the bar at the back of the receiver, so you may be unlucky. - SW

Hi Sommewalker,

Thanks for your reply, I should have been more specific with my question, what I hand in mind was the lanyard for the Reichs Revolver and for the Hebel flare pistol, both of which carried a lanyard ring and both of which saw significant Great War use. The Reichs Revolver I believe was frequently used by Artillery and of course the Hebel saw more general use.

I have seen some good photos of both being carried/worn but I have never seen a lanyard worn although they must have been manufactured. I recently saw an example on a "for sale site" described as a German WW1 lanyard, but I had nothing to compare it with, however I believe that what you owned was probably what I had in mind as your description matches the example for sale. Whether or not either example was WW1 and or later police use, I do not know, because the PO8 and holster, as you point out, was not designed for a lanyard.

.regards

khaki

[calibre792x57.y]

Hi Sommewalker,

Thanks for your reply, I should have been more specific with my question, what I hand in mind was the lanyard for the Reichs Revolver and for the Hebel flare pistol, both of which carried a lanyard ring and both of which saw significant Great War use. The Reichs Revolver I believe was frequently used by Artillery and of course the Hebel saw more general use.

I have seen some good photos of both being carried/worn but I have never seen a lanyard worn although they must have been manufactured. I recently saw an example on a "for sale site" described as a German WW1 lanyard, but I had nothing to compare it with, however I believe that what you owned was probably what I had in mind as your description matches the example for sale. Whether or not either example was WW1 and or later police use, I do not know, because the PO8 and holster, as you point out, was not designed for a lanyard.

.regards

khaki

I don't know if it helps but German Military Handguns, 1879 - 1918. by John Walter has a picture on P.17 of an Modell 1879 with its accessories' which include a lanyard. It is a flat leather strip with what seems to be an adjustable loop at one end and a sturdy spring clip at the other. You are probably already aware of this. SW

[auchonvillerssomme]

Not entirely relevent to your question but interesting post at the end of this.

http://www.lugerforum.com/FAQ.html

[Khaki]

Thanks Guys,

for the responses, I do not have the book German Military Handguns, I will try and find a copy. I found the Luger post very interesting

regards

khaki

[Tom W.]

Can anyone supply a detailed photograph of a German pistol lanyard please.

thanks

khaki

I searched "Luger lanyard" in Google Images and got dozens of clear, up-close photos.

[Khaki]

I searched "Luger lanyard" in Google Images and got dozens of clear, up-close photos.

I had a look at the images and yes they are very good in detail, the problem for me remains in the fact that I need to see it worn in WW1 german contemporary photographs to verify it's positive identification. I note that the images refer to Luger lanyard's which they may well be, but for what nation and for what period? I would have thought that whatever lanyard was worn on the earlier weapons may have been adapted or used on the luger. Sorry to keep expanding my thoughts, but I should have worded my first post better.

khaki

[tipperary]

Is the left hand seated chap wearing the lanyard you are looking for.john

[Khaki]

Thanks Munster,

To be honest, I can't tell, the reclining soldier on the left has a cross strap running from his left shoulder to his right hip, however I think I can see the flap of a holster on his left side.

His belt seems very narrow for an equipment belt? Very interesting photo regardless.

Thanks

khaki

[auchonvillerssomme]

That could just as well be a binocular case, I have a few pictures that demonstrate they weren't worn.

[tipperary]

Indeeed i searched through many pictures last night on that flickr set and only saw that one pic.It looks like they were as rare as the proverbial hens teeth.john

[Khaki]

I have to agree, I also spent time yesterday going through book after book, many showing very detailed photographs of pistols being worn. Not one photograph showed a lanyard, even though I could clearly see the lanyard ring. I have to conclude that if they were ever worn it must have been the exception rather than the rule, it does seem rather strange that the reichsrevolver and the hebel are frequently seen with the rings intact, if in fact the rings were redundant. Unless a researcher discovers a regulation to the contrary it seems to me to be that the lanyard did not constitute part of everyday field equipment

Thanks to all for the research.

regards

khaki

[auchonvillerssomme]

This is the closest I can find.

[Khaki]

This is the closest I can find.

Thanks for the photo, I can make out a cord leading into the butt end of the pistol grip, the soldier appears to be WW2?

khaki

[auchonvillerssomme]

He is definately WW1, picture taken in Delville Wood, 14/08/16.

[Tom W.]

I have to agree, I also spent time yesterday going through book after book, many showing very detailed photographs of pistols being worn. Not one photograph showed a lanyard, even though I could clearly see the lanyard ring. I have to conclude that if they were ever worn it must have been the exception rather than the rule[.]

From Charles Theune, Sturmtruppen und Flammenwerfer, p. 157:

2. Equipment for Forcible Operations and Reconnaissance.

In the case of small combat missions, patrols, and reconnaissance in force, in which surprise and mobility are necessary for success, the equipment is limited to the bare minimum of what is required. One must consider the personal preferences of the flamethrower pioneers when determining the patrol equipment.

A flamethrower patrol without back packs, belts, bayonets, and ammunition pouches, with only:

field caps,

gas masks (without metal containers) tucked into field jackets,

pistols (without holsters) attached to bread-bag straps and carried in jacket pockets,

daggers carried in jacket pockets,

and laced shoes and puttees

is more mobile and therefore more successful at surprise and catching the enemy unawares than a patrol in steel helmets and with full assault equipment.

[Grandpacarr]

On 30/12/2011 at 00:05, tipperary said:

Is the left hand seated chap wearing the lanyard you are looking for.john

I

 

 

 

I could be totally wrong but is the fellow standing centere wearing a Brittish Corporals Trench coat . Brilliant Photograph  by the way.

                                                                                        Regards  Andy.

[AOK4]

Feldartillerie-Regiment 80 (XV. Armeekorps) in probably Menen, Wervik or Geluwe (I have a card from the same studio written in Geluwe). You may notice the French or Belgian belt as well.

 

Jan

Edited 16 August , 2016 by AOK4

[Grandpacarr]

I had not noticed the French / Belgian belt. How common was it to wear allied equipment on a daily basis. I suppose if the German Soldier was to wear too much, there could be a danger of getting shot at by his own side.

[AOK4]

Ernst Jünger was shot by one of his own in 1918 because he wore a British greatcoat, so it could be dangerous in the frontline. Behind it in quiet sectors, it was probably safer. The Germans used a lot of captured equipment to make up for their own lack of certain things.

 

Jan

[Grandpacarr]

Yes I can imagine it would be very dangarous for a German soldier to be wearing items of French/British Uniform. Would the German Command IE Officers allow the wearing of    enemy uniform  on active service.

[bob lembke]

My father was a Pionier in the Garde=Reserve=Pionier=Regiment (Flammenwerfer) for 2 1/2 years. After the war he was in a Freikorps and then the Schwartze Reichswehr, and had a concealed weapons permit (I think I have it!), perhaps because the latter organization was close to the riot police. After the war he frequently carried a P08 in a shoulder holster on his right breast under a suit jacket, as I can see in photos. (He worked for a while as a driver and bodyguard for a friend, a wealthy young man.) About 1922 he was running dozens and dozens of P08s from Berlin to the Turks; he had served at Gallipoli and really liked the Turks. So he really knew the P08. In the Guards flamethrower unit almost all EM/OR carried a P08. (Incidentally, he only heard the term "Luger" after he came to the US in 1926.)

 

In combat, as a Flamm=Pionier, as described earlier in the thread, the men carried a P08 on a lanyard, and did not carry the clumsy leather holster. He said that he carried his in attacks inside his blouse, with a couple of buttons undone. (He fought in a Flammenwerfer crew.) Grenadiers, many in the unit, may have tucked their P08 into the modified sand sacks that they wore under their armpits to hold stick and egg grenades.

 

But I have no idea what the lanyard actually consisted of. Perhaps just a length of cord. I know he carried a length of cord that he at least one time used as a tourniquet on an officer of IR 155, whose life he saved. (His hand was blown off by a French 75 fragment, on Morte Homme at Verdun.)

 

 

Edited 25 August , 2016 by bob lembke
Added a few words.