Watching something on auntie last few days about the accession of the current Queen and I noticed some footage of Guards in Greatcoats and Bearskins escorting the gun carriage quick marching (I expect it was moving the coffin from Sandringham) and the escort werent swinging their arms shoulder high!
Now when I was enduring (enjoying) IJLB in 1981 (Sprog) the woodentop drill pigs had us swing shoulder high. When did this fashion start and thank feck the light div didnt do that stuff?

It was explained at Di's funeral that the pace is quicktime-ish for those beside the gun carriage but arms aren't swung. Can't remember the pace.

Sounds like you were fcuked about at Shorncliffe (spelling and correct location?) for no good reason by someone who didn't know what they were talking about. Who'd have thought it.

Definetly footage on the BBC of a quick march with arms swung not much above waist belt high! As for Shornecliffe the woodentop drill pigs were fat cunts and I'm sure it was an all arms thing but it must have come into the army after 1952!

Blue/grey greatcoats make it nigh on impossible to swing arms shoulder high.
Then again, in my time as a woddentop I don't ever remember swinging arms as high as I did in training.

I think the shoulder high fad came in after WW2. The Drill Manual of 1952 showed Guardsmen demonstrating the movement with arms shoulder high.
Looking at pre WW2 film clips of military parades arms appear to have been swung waistbelt high - which looks, IMHO, much smarter.

Originally Posted by ugly

Definetly footage on the BBC of a quick march with arms swung not much above waist belt high!

What's more, they bent at the elbow. They looked more like they were strolling than marching with lots of looking about all over the place. If you look at the route-liners they too seemed quite relaxed, looking about and even talking while at the present!

Originally Posted by ugly

As for Shornecliffe the woodentop drill pigs were fat cunts and I'm sure it was an all arms thing but it must have come into the army after 1952!

At IJLB Oswestry, the only Guards permanent staff who fitted your description (in my time there) was the Provost Sgt. The Drill-wing staff were like racing snakes. RSM "Harry" Hooper wasn't exactly sylph like, though he certainly wasn't fat:

Waterloo Coy at Shornecliffe had two set5s of NCO's fat ones for drill and normal ones for field work, lets put that better, the fat ones were only seen on the square!