German WWII Army Marksmanship Lanyard-This lanyard is the 2nd pattern type and is a grade 1 which is telling me that this soldier was a newer shooter. The braid is silver metallic mesh and remains very clean. There is a shield with an army eagle with crossed swords. This is excellent and shows only the slightest wear. The green felt backing behind the shield is fully intact. The white backing on the braid is also excellent. Each end has a loop for attaching to the buttons on the uniform. This is a classic lanyard, that would be hard to upgrade.
History: The lanyards were issued in twelve ascending grades with grade one being the lowest and grade twelve the highest. The grades were originally differentiated by a silver colored shield with a Wehrmacht eagle for grades one through four with an additional acorn device for each successive grade, a silver colored shield with a Wehrmacht eagle, crossed swords and an oak-leaf wreath for grades five through eight with an additional acorn device for each successive grade and a gilt colored shield with a Wehrmacht eagle, crossed swords and a oak-leaf wreath for grades nine through twelve with an additional acorn device for each successive grade. On January 9TH 1939 the first pattern lanyard shields for grades one through four were replaced with the silver-colored shield with a Wehrmacht eagle, crossed swords and an oak-leaf wreath that was slightly smaller than the first pattern shields for grades five through eight. The lanyards were awarded to qualifying EM/NCO’s and were accompanied with an award certificate. The lanyards were worn suspended from under the right shoulder strap and attached to the second top front closure button of most uniforms.