Unkown WW1 British Leather Strap

[garys39]

Shown below is a leather strap, one of several I acquired from a garage clearance last summer, I have been unable to identify it or work out what it was used for. The longest part measures 200mm, it is maker stamped Butler Bros 1916 Walsall and unit stamped 213.RE.NO.24., I have many with different regiment markings, the earliest date is 1909 and the latest 1918.
30x of them have regiment/service number details stamped on them, for example:-
E Lcs R Eng 202, 8th N & D, L Y O, 4/2 HFCRE, 4 LNL 29, INF B7, 01 5AN 5 over 20, 7 Li, ERLCS 0B26, 4 BR 5, 6 DVN 7, 3 COY LEEDS, 2 RF 9 ORU, SHY A4, OC5 36 RFA, LY 06, LS 0 17, 02 5MAN20, NHY OS 5, DW 2 620 ASC 212, 5KR Ll 5, 6DW 3, SHY C, 5 SSR 2, 6 DVN 6, LYSO, 2 WTS 5, 7 W YORKS R 07, 5 LAN,
there are also some with 2x C, but one is back to front and they are touching, over numbers ?
I have wondered whether the 3x straps would have fanned out possibly.
So does anyone have any ideas ?
Happy New Year
Regards Gary

[Stevenow]

Well Butler Brothers were a saddlery making firm, so chances are that these straps might have been part of a horse's tack, they look as if they might have been used to attach something to something else, such as a pack or a saddlebag or some piece of equipment to a saddle for example, with a facility of being quick attach and quick release.

Of course saddlery firms might also have been engaged in making leather webbing equipment, a lot of which was made and used in lieu of canvas webbing, but the only item of webbing equipment that it looks even approximately similar to is a water bottle holder.

Whatever they were, whether or not they were or were not horse related, one of these two sites should probably be able to give you the answer.

Walsall Leather Museum Leather Museum

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