|
|
ABDUL |
Turk/s. |
ACK EMMA |
Morning. AM (ante meridian), before noon.
|
ACK-ACK |
Anti-aircraft (AA) fire. From the military
phonetic alphabet in use at the time (A = ack)
|
ADVENTURER, AN |
a member of the 1st Division |
ALF A MO |
One moment, please |
ALLEYMAN |
German soldier. From French Allemande.
|
ANZAC BUTTON, AN |
a nail used instead of a button to hold up
one's trousers. |
ANZAC SOUP |
a shell hole containing water and a corpse.
|
ANZAC STEW |
any improvised meal the troops managed to
prepare from their monotonous rations.
|
ANZAC WAFER, AN |
a hard biscuit |
ARCHIE |
Anti-aircraft fire or artillery piece
|
ARSAPEEK |
upside down Comparable to 'arse over head'.
|
AUSSIE, (AN) or an Australia |
A sufficiently severe injury to be shipped
back to Australia. |
AXLE GREASE |
butter |
BAGS OF |
a lot, a great number, a great amount
|
BANGER, A |
a sausage |
BANJO |
Spade, entrenching tool; from the shape.
|
BASE RAT |
A soldier perpetually at the base, therefore
maintaining comfort and safety. Also known as
a base wallah. |
BATTLE BOWLER |
Steel helmet, first introduced to British
troops in February 1916. Named after the
civilian hat. Term used mainly by officers.
|
BEFORE YOUR NUMBER WAS DRY |
Expression used by more experienced soldiers
to rookies as a form of put-down: "I was
killing Germans before your number was dry" -
i.e. before the ink on the junior soldier's
enlistment papers was dry. Alternative useage:
Before you was breeched, before you nipped,
and I was cutting barbed wire while you was
cutting your milk teeth. |
BELGIAN RATTLESNAKE |
The Lewis gun, a .303" caliber light machine
gun. |
BELLY ACHE, A |
a serious, often mortal wound |
BILLJIM |
Any Australian. A composite word formed from
two popular Australian forenames of the time.
|
BINT |
A young woman. From Arabic bint, daughter.
|
BIRDIE |
General Birdwood a 'decent enough bloke'
|
BLANCO |
Block used to whiten full-dress webbing. Khaki
blanco was used on service equipment.
|
BLIGHTY |
England. From Hindustani Bilayati, foreign
land. |
BLIGHTY ONE or a Blighty |
A wound serious enough to require the
recipient to be sent to England. |
BLIMP |
RAF slang for the small, white, dirigible
airships used chiefly for submarine
reconnaissance over the English Channel.
|
BLIND PIG |
Mortar bomb. |
BLUE CROSS |
German respiratory irritant gases. From the
marking painted on the delivery shell casing.
|
BOCHE |
German, from French tete de boche, obstinate
person. |
BODY-SNATCHER, A |
Graves Registration officer |
BOMBER |
One trained in the use of hand grenades; known
as grenadier early in the war. The Grenadier
Guards, however, protested to the War Office
about the use of the term grenadier, claiming
that the title was exclusively theirs. In May
1916 it was officially announced that it was
His Majesty's 'express wish' that the
description 'bomber' should be substituted for
that of grenadier. |
BON |
Good, fine When off duty, men would often be
found having a 'bon time' at the local
estaminet. The opposite was non bon.
|
BONZER |
very, very good , expressing a superlative
quality of something. |
BOY WITH HIS
BOOTS OFF |
a high velocity shell that arrives before its
approach through the air is heard; |
BRASS HAT |
High-ranking staff officer. From the gold
decoration on the peaked cap. |
BRASS |
nickname for higher officers from insignia on
cap and uniform |
BREEZE-UP |
Variation of Wind-Up |
BRITISH WARM |
An overcoat, knee-length and close fitting at
the waist, worn by mounted troops and
officers. |
BUCKSHEE |
Free, spare From Arabic/Hindustani baksheesh
gratuity. |
BULL RING |
British army training establishment such as
those base camps at Rouen, Harfleur, Havre and
Etaples. Men were posted here from the front
line for refresher training, and to "inculcate
the offensive spirit". The Bull Ring at
Etaples was infamous for its severe
discipline. |
BULLY |
Tinned beef, |
BULLY BEEF |
Tinned corned beef. The principal protein
ration of the British (Australian) army.
|
BUM BRUSHER, A |
The personal servant of an officer. A
'batman'. |
BUMF |
Toilet paper, or newspaper used for that
purpose. Later on came to mean any excessive
official documentation. From bum fodder, an
18th Century expression. |
BUZZ OFF |
to go or run away |
CAGE |
Prisoner of war camp. |
CAMOUFLAGED
AUSSIE |
An
Englishman serving with the AIF; |
CANTEEN MEDALS |
Beer or food stains on the breast of a tunic.
|
CHAR |
Tea. A nice cup of char. |
CHAT |
Louse. Possibly derived from chattel, personal
belonging. |
CHAT-BAGS |
(under-) clothing |
CHATTING |
De-lousing. |
CHATTY |
verminous |
CHIT |
Note or receipt. To be excused duties, a
soldier had to be in possession of a sick
chit. From Hindustani cittha, a note,
originally derived from Sanskrit citra,
marked. |
CHRONIC |
Very bad. The correct meaning of this word is
long lasting, although seldom used in this way
except perhaps by medical officers.
|
CIVVY |
Civilian. To be in civvies was to be dressed
in civilian clothing rather than uniform.
|
CLOBBER |
clothes |
CLOUT, A |
a wound or sometimes a hit |
COAL SCUTTLE |
German steel helmet, |
COAL-BOX |
Heavy German shell, usually a 5.9. From the
black smoke of the shell-burst. |
COBBER, A |
a mate, a friend |
COFFIN NAIL, A |
a cigarette. See also : 'camel dung'.
|
COLD FEET |
Cowardice. |
COLD MEAT TICKET |
Identity disc. Men were issued with metal
identity discs. These gave the name, number,
unit and religion of the holder. One disc
remained with the body (the cold meat) in the
event of death. |
COLD STORAGE, TO
GO INTO |
To
be killed during the 1916 winter in France; |
COOL, A |
someone reluctant to join the AIF, someone
still living in Australia. |
COOT |
Louse. Pre-war term, said to be derived from a
titled lady who had suffered this misfortune.
|
CORKSCREW |
Looped steel post, or picket, for staking
barbed wire. The corkscrew shape at the end
enabled the stake to be twisted quietly into
the ground by wiring parties. Previously, the
noise of hammering stakes in had attracted
enemy fire. |
CORP |
Corporal. Familiar term used by lower ranks.
|
COW, A |
an obnoxious person or thing |
CRICKET BALL |
British Number 15 hand grenade, a spherical
bomb. Used with good effect in the Gallipoli
campaign, this grenade went on to be
spectacularly unsuccessful at the battle of
Loos in September 1915, where wet conditions
rendered useless the external friction fuse
igniter. Superceded by the Mills bomb in late
1915. |
CRIMED. |
Indicated being charged (accused of a military
crime) |
CRUMBING UP |
De-lousing. See also chatting. |
CRUMMY |
To be itchy because of louse-bites.
|
CRUMP |
German 5.9 inch shell or the burst thereof.
The last crump referred to the end of the war.
|
CUBBY HOLE |
Small dug-out or shelter in the side wall of a
trench. A funk hole. Possibly derived from
cupboard. |
CUSHY |
(1) Easy, pleasant. (2) A minor wound
necessitating some time away from the front
line; perhaps a Blighty one. From Hindustani
khush, pleasant |
DAISIES |
Boots. From Cockney rhyming slang - daisy
roots. |
DAISY CUTTER |
Shell with an impact fuse (graze fuse)
designed to explode immediately on contact
with the ground. Used in the clearance of
barbed wire defenses. |
DEEP THINKERS |
men belonging to reinforcements in the last
stages of the campaign, often members of the
3rd Div. |
DEKKO |
Look, observe |
DEVIL DODGER |
Army chaplain. |
DICK SHOT OFF |
D.S.O. - the Distinguished Service Order, an
'officers only' award. Ordinary soldiers
substituted this phrase when these
post-nominal letters were used. |
DIGGER |
(1) Australian soldier (2) (Less commonly)
Friend, chum. |
DIGGER, A |
Anzac soldier |
DINGO |
Mad, insane or cowardly |
DINKUM |
Genuine, right Something proper was said to be
fair dinkum. Among the Australian troops,
those who had served at Gallipoli were known
as The Dinkums. |
DINKUM |
real, original, vintage |
DINKUM OIL |
Truth |
DIVVY, A |
a division |
DIXIE |
Large oval-shaped metal pot with lid and
carrying-handle for cooking. The lid was often
used for baking (e.g. bacon and biscuit
pudding) whilst the pot itself was employed to
brew tea, heat porridge, stew, rice etc. From
Hindustani degchi, small pot. |
DOCK |
Hospital. To be in dock was to be confined to
hospital due to wounds or sickness. From the
nautical expression for ship repairs.
|
DODGING THE COLUMN |
Shirking. The art of avoiding particularly
dangerous or unpleasant duties. The expression
originated in India and South Africa, a column
being a body of troops sent forward into
hostile territory. |
DOG AND MAGGOT |
Bread and cheese. |
DOGGO |
In hiding and keeping quiet. Probably from
dog. |
DONKEY WALLOPER |
British cavalryman, especially a member of the
Household Cavalry. The expression originated
amongst the regiments of British Foot Guards,
the longstanding rivals of the Household
Cavalry. |
DOUGHBOY |
U S soldier. Originally an American flour
dumpling. |
DRAW CRABS |
To attract enemy artillery fire. |
DUCKBOARD |
Ribbon to the British Military Medal, awarded
for bravery in the field. The striped design
of the ribbon resembled the wooden slats of
duckboards, used as walkways in the trenches
and across muddy ground. |
DUCKBOARD HARRIER |
Runner, messenger. From the term for a
cross-country runner, originally derived from
hare. |
DUD |
A shell that has failed to explode; anything
of dubious value (particularly a person,
especially an officer). |
DUG-OUT |
(1) An underground shelter. (2) An officer
who has been 'dug out' from retirement and
recalled to active duty, usually much to his
displeasure and the displeasure of those under
him. |
DUG-OUT DISEASE |
Facetious term for fear, which kept those thus
affected (and whose rank permitted a choice)
within the safety of their dug-outs.
|
DUGOUT KING |
An
officer who remains at the bottom of a dugout
or shelter while his men are exposed to
danger; |
DUM-DUM |
A split or soft-nosed rifle round (bullet).
The tip would open out on impact, causing
horrific wounds. From the arsenal at Dum-Dum,
a town near Calcutta. |
EGG |
Hand grenade. From the spherical shape.
|
EMMA-GEE |
Machine gun. From the phonetic alphabet of the
time for the letters MG. |
EN-ZEDDERS |
New Zealanders |
ERSATZ |
Substitute, artificial, substandard. From
German ersetzen, to substitute. |
ESTAMINET |
Building found in villages and minor towns for
the purpose of eating, drinking and general
entertainment of troops. A typical estaminet
would have a low roof, an open iron stove and
wooden benches and tables. The proprietress
would serve wine, cognac, thin beer, coffee,
soup, omelettes and the most popular of all
French dishes of the time - egg and chips.
|
FAG |
Cigarette |
FEED HAG |
A
kind of early issue gas mask; |
FINI KAPUT |
Gone, finished, napoo. From French finis and
German kaput (done for). |
FIVE-NINE |
German 5.9 inch artillery shell. |
FLAK |
Anti-aircraft fire. From German Flieger abwehr
kanone, aircraft defence gun. |
FLEABAG |
Sleeping bag. |
FLOATING KIDNEY |
A soldier unattached to any unit; |
FLYING PIG |
British 9.45" trench mortar bomb. |
FOOTBALL |
Trench mortar bomb. From the shape.
|
FOOT-SLOGGER |
British infantryman. Eighteenth century term
originally used by cavalrymen. |
FOUR-TWO |
German 4.2 inch artillery shell. |
FRITZ |
(1) German. From the diminutive of Friedrich.
(2) Potato chips. From the French, frites.
|
FUNK |
State of nervousness, fear or depression.
|
FUNK-HOLE |
Small dugout or shelter, just big enough to
accommodate one or two men, usually scraped
into the front wall of a trench. See
cubby-hole. |
FURPHY, A |
from Broadmeadows Camp (Melbourne) where the
name 'Furphy Shepparton' was found on carts
that visited the camp, and therefore brought
news from outside. Later the word was taken
along to Egypt. |
FURPHY, A (2) |
A rumour, false report or an absurd story
likely to be heard around the water cart or
spread by the cart drivers who were notorious
for leg-pulling. During WW1, the firm of J.
Furphy & Sons Pty Ltd operated a foundry at
Shepparton. Victoria and, inter alia, produced
their version of a water cart. The
troops in the training camps would gather
around these carts for a drink and exchange
information. The stories or rumors that
circulated became known as Furphies.
|
GALLIPOLI GALLOP, THE |
diarrhea |
GAS BAG |
(1) The cloth bag in which the respirator was
carried. (2) An airship or barrage balloon.
|
GASPIRATOR |
British gas mask incorporating a filter. From
a combination of gas and respirator.
|
GAWK (ACT), A |
an exhausting 'stunt' (or small operation),
that accomplished nothing else, as far as the
troops could see |
GLASSHOUSE |
Prison or detention center. |
GLORY HOLE |
Dug-out. |
GOOD OIL; |
information news or a story good oil
authentic, the truth. |
GOLDIES |
Teeth. |
GO UP |
To go up the line, i.e. into the trenches.
|
GO WEST |
(1) To be killed, to die. The most popular
euphemism of this type. (2) To go astray or be
stolen. |
GOGGLE-EYED BUGGGER WITH THE TIT |
British gas helmet. The wearer had to breathe
in through the nose from inside the helmet and
breathe out through a valve held in the teeth. |
GRASS-CUTTERS |
Small anti-personnel bombs dropped from
aircraft on to camps and bivouacs behind the
lines. They were designed to burst on impact
and scatter shrapnel balls at low-level, with
the intention to kill rather than to destroy
material things. |
GREEN CROSS |
German phosgene gas, from the marking painted
on the delivery shell casing. |
GRUNGEY |
self-made dish consisting of bully beef +
biscuits + onion + water and salt, and then
heated. |
GUM BOOTS |
Rubber boots or waders sometimes worn in wet
trenches. |
GUNFIRE |
Strong tea, usually laced with rum.
|
GUTZER, A |
a piece of bad luck, a misfortune, a failure
as in "I really come a gutzer that time" (I
failed badly) |
HARD TACK |
British army biscuit ration (iron rations),
eaten cold, usually with bully beef. The
biscuits, if kept dry, also served as useful
firelighters. |
HARNESS |
Infantryman's equipment. This was of two basic
types: brown leather and khaki webbing.
Neither was particularly popular; although the
webbing did not cut into the shoulders as much
as the leather, it was considerably heavier
when soaked with rain. |
HOM FORTY |
French railway carriage used for troop
transportation, average speed one and a half
miles per hour. From the capacity stenciled on
the side of the carriage - Hommes 40, Chevaux
8 - the horses being an alternative not an
additional load! |
HUN |
German. Kaiser Wilhelm II urged his troops to
behave like the Huns of old in order to
instill fear into the enemy. The name was
further popularised when British soldiers
discovered that Germans wore belt buckles with
the words Gott Mit Uns (God is with us).
|
IGGRY |
Hurry up. From Arabic. One particular crossing
in Bullecourt was named Iggry Corner by the
Australians. |
JACKS |
Military Police. |
JAKES |
Latrines. Expression dating back to
Elizabethan times. |
JAM-TINS |
Originally, home-made or improvised bombs made
from jam-tins, mainly used before widespread
introduction of the Mills Bomb. Later on in
the war, however, jam was issued in cardboard
tubes. See Tickler's. The expression was also
used as a nickname for the No.8 and No.9
Double Cylinder grenades of late 1914 and
early 1915 due to their resemblance to jam
tins. |
JERRY |
German. Expression became popular later in the
war, eventually coming into it's own during
World War Two. |
JERRY UP! |
Warning exclamation that a German aeroplane
was overhead and may drop bombs. |
JILDI |
Quick, hurry up. From Hindustani. |
JOCK |
A Scottish soldier or a soldier in a Scottish
regiment. |
JOHNNY |
A Turk. From Johnny Turk. |
JUMP OFF |
To begin an attack. The jumping off point was
the start line of the attack in the front line
trench. |
JUMPING THE BAGS |
Going over the top. Attacking over the
sandbags of the trench parapet. |
K OR K OF K |
Kitchener or Kitchener of Khartoum. Field
Marshal Lord Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st
Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, who was appointed
Minister for War at the outbreak of
hostilities. He was greatly successful in
recruiting volunteers for the New Armies, his
finger-pointing picture on thousands of
recruiting posters being one of the most
famous images of the 20th century. He drowned,
along with 642 other souls, when the cruiser
Hampshire struck a mine off the Orkneys on 5th
June 1916. |
KAMERAD |
Friend, comrade. From German. Often used
facetiously by British soldiers amongst
themselves as a term of surrender, perhaps
when a story showed no signs of ending.
|
KITCH |
British soldier. Australian and New Zealand
slang, from Kitchener. |
KIWI |
(1) A New Zealand soldier also anything New
Zealand as in Kiwi artillery |
KNIFE-REST |
Portable barbed wire entanglement, stretched
on an X-shaped frame and used for stopping
gaps in no-man's land. |
KNOCKED (OUT) |
killed or wounded |
LANCE CORPORAL BACON |
very fat bacon, with only one streak of lean
running through it |
LANCE-JACK |
Lance-corporal, a junior NCO having one
chevron. This was an appointment and not a
rank. |
LAND CREEPER |
Tank. |
LAND SHIP |
Tank. |
LANDOWNER |
Dead. To become a landowner was to be dead and
buried. |
LAZY LIZ, A |
a big shell fired by the battleship Queen
Elisabeth and passing overhead with 'a lazy
drone'. |
LID |
Steel helmet. |
LINSEED LANCERS |
The Army Medical Corps. |
LIZ, LIZZIE |
the battleship Queen Elisabeth |
LOOPHOLE |
Gap in the parapet of a fire trench enabling
shooting to take place whilst providing head
cover. May be constructed from sandbags, steel
plates or other materials. |
LUCIFER |
a match (specifically to light a cigarette) |
MACONACHIE |
Tinned vegetable stew ration, named after the
manufacturer. preferred to bully beef because
of variety. |
MACONACHIE MEDAL |
Military Medal (MM). The inscription on the
back of the MM says for bravery in the field,
and some soldiers maintained that the
Maconachie ration (see above) was so terrible
that only a brave man would eat it and thus be
awarded a medal for doing so. |
MAD MINUTE |
Firing off fifteen (or more) rounds of rapid
fire aimed shots from a bolt action .303 Lee
Enfield rifle in one minute. Many regular
soldiers of the BEF were expert shots due to
the incentive of extra pay for marksmen.
|
MATE, A |
Aussies did not have friends, they had 'mates'
|
MICK |
A soldier in an Irish regiment. Specifically,
The Micks is the nickname of the Irish Guards.
|
MICKEY |
Louse. Origin of the phrase taking the mickey,
to tease. |
MILLS BOMB |
British No. 5 grenade. Invented by William
Mills (1856-1932) of Birmingham in 1915, it
remained in service in a modified form with
the British army until the 1960s. |
MINNIE-WERFER |
German trench mortar. A variety of calibers
were employed. From German Minenwerfer, mine
thrower. |
MOANING MINNIE |
Shells fired from a German Minenwerfer. From
the noise of flight and the name given by the
British to the weapon (see above).
|
MOB |
Battalion or other unit. |
MUFTI |
Civilian clothes. From Arabic mufti, free.
|
NAPOO |
Gone, finished. From French i'l n'y en a plus,
there is no more. British troops in Russia or
who had returned from German prisoner of war
camps often used 'nichevo', a Russian word
with the same meaning. |
NON-STOP |
Enemy shell that has passed well overhead.
|
O.C. DONKS |
quartermaster responsible for battalion. mules
|
OIL; |
information news or a story good oil
authentic, the truth. |
OLD CONTEMPTIBLE |
Member of the 1914 British Expeditionary Force
(BEF) who took part in the retreat from Mons
and other early battles of the war. From
Kaiser Wilhelm's comment that his forces in
Belgium were being held up by 'Sir John
French's contemptible little army'.
|
OLD SWEAT |
An experienced soldier. |
ON THE MAT |
To be called before the Commanding Officer
(CO) to answer a minor charge. |
OUTED |
killed, taken care of |
OVER THE TOP |
Make an attack, to go over the top of the
trench parapet, or over the bags (sandbags).
|
PANZER |
German tank. From German Sturmpanzerkampfwagen,
originally from the Old French panciere, a
coat of mail. |
PERISHER |
Trench periscope. |
PICKET |
(1) Metal post used for staking out barbed
wire. (2) Sentry-party or patrol (picquet)
|
PILL BOX |
Reinforced concrete gun emplacement, usually
German and armed with machine guns. So called
because of the cylindrical shape. |
PILL, A |
a bullet |
PIP EMMA |
Afternoon. PM (post meridian). From the
phonetic alphabet. |
PIPPED |
To be hit by a bullet also to be just beaten,
as in "pipped at the post" |
PLONK |
Wine. From French "Vin blanc", white wine,
although the expression may also be derived
from the firm of Plonques, importers of a
particularly reprehensible brand of Algerian
red wine. |
PLUG |
To shoot, to plug with lead. |
PLUGSTREET |
Ploegsteert, Belgian village north of
Armentières. |
PORK AND BEANS |
Portuguese. From the observation that British
army ration pork and beans contained very
little, if any, pork, and therefore alluding
to the fact that the Portuguese had very few
troops on the Western Front. |
PORK AND CHEESE |
Portuguese |
POSH |
Smart. From obsolete English posh, a dandy,
but often said to be an acronym of 'Port Out,
Starboard Home, the optimum (i.e. shaded)
position of a cabin in British ships sailing
to and from the East. |
POSSIE |
A
position of advantage in a trench, later to
mean a job; |
POTATO MASHER |
German stick grenade. From the shape - the
handle enabled the grenade to be thrown
further. |
POZZIE |
Position, dug out, good spot |
PULL-THROUGH |
A tall, thin person. From pull-through, the
device used to clean inside the barrel of a
rifle. |
PUMP SHIP |
Urinate. From the naval expression.
|
PUSHING UP DAISIES |
Dead and buried. |
QUARTER BLOKE |
Quartermaster. Officer usually commissioned
from the ranks and responsible for the supply
of accommodation, food, clothing and other
equipment to the unit, via the Company
Quartermaster Sergeants. When an issue of new
kit was requested, the Quarterbloke's stock
answer would usually be: "Stores is for
storing things; if they was for issuing things
then they would be called issues."
|
QUICK FIRER |
Field Service Post Card (Army Form A2042). The
card consisted of a number of pre-printed
sentences which could be deleted as
appropriate. Nothing, except the address of
the recipient, was to be written on the post
card in order to alleviate the problems of
censorship. |
RATS AFTER MOLDY CHEESE |
RAMC. Correctly, Royal Army Medical Corps.
|
RED LAMP |
Brothel. Sometimes licensed and under police
surveillance. From the red light outside, the
recognized symbol. |
RED TAB |
Staff officer. From the red gorget patches on
the collar. |
REDCAP |
Military policeman, said to be the most
despised men on the Western Front. From the
red covering to their field service caps.
|
RED-CAPS, THE |
British military police |
REST CAMP |
A cemetery. |
ROB ALL MY COMRADES |
RAMC. Correctly, Royal Army Medical Corps.
From the belief that medical personnel went
through the pockets of casualties.
|
ROOKIE |
A recruit or newcomer. From the corruption of
recruit (and not the bird), although,
interestingly, infantry recruits in the modern
British army are known as the crow.
|
ROUGH HOUSE |
A fight or disturbance. So-called from the
type of public house where this type of
behavior could arise after drinking.
|
RUM JAR |
Mortar bomb, from the shape. The rum ration
was issued to the troops in earthenware jars,
stamped with the initials S.R.D. (Supply
Reserve Depot - not Service Rum Diluted as
frequently stated), although soldiers argued
that this actually stood for Seldom Reaches
Destination or Soon Runs Dry. |
RUSSIAN SAP |
Sap trench dug below ground so that the
surface earth was not disturbed. |
S.R.D. |
Rum, seldom reaches destination from Supply
Reserve Depot, the inscription found on
rum-jars |
SAP |
A listening post in no man's land, connected
at ninety degrees to the fire trench by a
narrow communication trench. During an
advance, saps were often joined together to
make the new front line trench. |
SAPPER |
Equivalent to a private soldier in the Royal
Engineers. Originally, a digger of saps.
|
SARNT |
Sergeant. Seen as a smarter and more soldierly
form of address. However, sarge was never
permitted: "There are only two bloody types of
sarges in this mob - passarges and sausarges -
now move yerself!" |
SAUSAGE |
(1) Barrage balloon. (2) German mortar bomb.
"...we pick out at once the faint plop! of the
mortar that sends off a sausage, or the
muffled noise when a grenade is fired" - Lt
Robert Graves, Royal Welch Fusiliers.
|
SHORT ARM INSPECTION |
medical inspection of the OR's private parts
to look for cases of VD |
SHRAPNEL |
(1) Shell for anti-personnel use designed to
burst in the air and eject a number of small
projectiles. (2) Metal balls (usually lead)
contained therein. (3) Any metal splinter from
a shell. From General H Shrapnel (1761-1842),
the English army officer who invented it
during the Peninsular War. |
SIGNALESE |
The phonetic alphabet. |
SILENT DEATH |
The practice of waiting quietly at night in no
man's land for the advent of a German patrol.
The patrol was then dispatched hand-to-hand as
quickly and silently as possible by the use of
trench knives. Much favored by the Colonials.
|
SILENT PERCY |
Artillery piece firing at such long range that
it could not be heard. |
SILENT SUSAN |
High-velocity artillery shell. |
SIX BOB A DAY TOURISTS |
nickname for members of the 1st Division.
|
SKIPPER Officer's informal expression for a
Captain commanding a company. |
|
SMOKO |
a break for a cigarette |
SMUDGED |
Smudged:killed by being blown to pieces by a
shell; |
SNIPE, TO |
to shoot at the enemy from a hidden position.
|
SOUP TICKET |
Medal citation. A small card presented to
soldiers recommended for a gallantry
decoration, usually a DCM or MM, giving some
details of the act. |
SOUVENIR |
To steal. From French souvenir, to remember.
|
SOUVENIR, TO |
to try and find battlefield trophies after an
engagement- to try and steal something useful,
for instance from an army dump. |
SOUVY, A |
a battlefield trophy or souvenir, usually
taken from a dead enemy. |
SPOTTED DOG |
Currant pudding. |
SPOUT |
Rifle breech. Soldiers often loaded the .303
Lee Enfield rifle with ten rounds in the
magazine and one up the spout. |
SPUD |
(1) Potato. (2) Nickname given to a person
with the surname Murphy. (3) Metal shoe
affixed to a tank's tracks to provide better
grip in muddy conditions. From spudde, a 15th
century word for digging tool. |
SPUDHOLE |
The guard room. |
SQUADDIE |
Soldier. From squad, but also said to be a
corruption of swaddy, an 18th century word for
bumpkin. |
SQUARE HEAD |
German. From the shape of the M.1916 German
steel helmet. |
STAR |
Badge of rank, or pip, worn by British
officers on the sleeves or epaulettes of the
tunic. |
STAR SHELL |
Artillery projectile consisting of a magnesium
flare and a parachute, intended to illuminate
the battlefield during night operations.
Coloured star shells, not always incorporating
the parachute, were used for signaling
purposes. |
STAY AT HOME, |
A someone reluctant to enlist. |
STICK BOMB |
German grenade, a potato masher. |
STIFF, A |
a corpse, a dead soldier |
STIFFS' PADDOCK, A |
a graveyard |
STOP ONE |
To be hit by a bullet, shell fragment, etc.
|
STOUCH, TO |
to fight, hit, kill or use violence in
general. |
STRAFE |
(1) To machine gun, especially from the air.
(2) General bombardment. From German Strafen,
to punish. Gott Strafe England (God punish
England) was a popular song and greeting in
Germany during the war years. |
STUNT |
A job, a raid, an attack or a small advance
|
STUNT, A |
originally a small-scale operation, involving
a relatively small body of men, but later also
used for bigger enterprises |
SUICIDE CLUB |
Bombing or raiding party. (Also the Machine
Gun Corps) |
SUMP HOLE |
Small holes dug at intervals in the base of a
trench for collecting water. Sump holes made
the baling out of flooded trenches somewhat
easier. |
SWEET FANNY ADAMS, S.F.A. |
Nothing at all. Originally nineteenth century
naval slang for tinned cooked meat, from the
notorious murder and dismemberment of a girl
so named. The initials S.F.A. were, by the
time of the Great War, also allocated to the
expression Sweet Fuck-All, and Sweet Fanny
Adams was a bowdlerized version of this
phrase. |
TAPE |
(1) Chevron or stripe worn on the uniform
sleeves by non-commissioned officers. (2) Line
of tape used to indicate the starting line of
an attack or the direction it should take.
|
TAUBE |
German aircraft. Although a Taube was a
specific make, British troops referred to all
German aircraft as 'Taubes', or, more
correctly, 'Tauben', during the early part of
the war. From German for 'dove', so named due
to the swept back wing tips. |
TAUBE, A |
German airplane, used for reconnaissance over
the lines, but also capable of dropping
explosive 'eggs' |
THIRD MAN |
To go too far. The most popular superstition
on the Western Front was that the third man to
light his cigarette from the same match would
inevitably be killed soon after. This was
derived from the story that enemy snipers
would, at night, use the flame of the match to
find a target - the first light alerted the
sniper, the second allowed him to aim, and the
third time he fired. |
TICKET |
Official discharge from the army, especially
for medical reasons before the full period of
service with the Colours had been completed.
To work one's ticket was to scheme to get out
of the army. |
TIC-TACK |
Signaler. |
TIN HAT |
Steel helmet. |
TIN OPENER |
A bayonet. |
TOASTING FORK |
A bayonet, often used for this purpose.
|
TOC EMMA |
Trench mortar (TM). From the phonetic
alphabet. |
TOFFEE APPLE |
Mortar bomb with attached shaft. (2 inch
medium Trench Mortar) |
TOMMY |
British army soldier. From Tommy Atkins, a
name sometimes used on specimen forms to
represent a typical British army private
soldier. Said to be derived from a British
soldier who distinguished himself at the
battle of Waterloo. |
TOMMY BAR |
Spanner or wrench for unscrewing the base of
Mills bombs (to adjust the timing fuse).
|
TOMMY COOKER |
Small, portable oil-fuelled stove.
|
TOOT SWEET |
Quick. From French toute de suite |
TOOTH PICK |
A bayonet. |
TOWN MAJOR |
Staff officer (not necessarily a major)
responsible for billeting arrangements in a
town or village behind the lines. |
TRACER |
Rifle or machine gun round which can be
observed in flight by the (usually) red
phosphorescent trail it leaves in it's wake.
Used chiefly at the time by airmen. The rounds
are identifiable by the red painted tip, and
some soldiers and gunners loaded a tracer as
the penultimate round in their magazine or
ammunition belt, in order to indicate that a
reload would then be necessary. |
TYPEWRITER, A |
a machine-gun |
VAMOOSE |
To go quickly. From Spanish vamos, let us go.
|
VELVET |
Good To be on velvet was to be in
exceptionally fortunate and comfortable
circumstances. |
VERY |
A flare or coloured light fired from a Very
pistol for signaling at night. |
WAD |
Sandwich. |
WALLAH |
Chap. Person in charge of a particular object,
duty or task. Used in conjunction with
appropriate word. For example, the soldier
unfortunate enough to be on latrine duty was
invariably known as the shit-wallah.
|
WALLAH, A |
a man, a person. See also 'a base wallah'
|
WANGLE, TO |
to acquire through some sort of trick or
clever scheme. |
WHIPPET |
Specifically, the medium mark A British tank
first seen in 1917, but later applied
generally to any type of light tank, including
the French Renault. |
WHITE STAR |
A German mixture of chlorine and phosgene gas.
From the identification marking painted on the
delivery shell casing. |
WHITESHEET |
Wytschaete, Belgian village on the ridge just
north of Messines. |
WHIZZ-BANG |
High-velocity shell. From the noise of the
rapid flight and the explosion. Usually
applied to the German 77mm |
WHIZZ-BANG, A |
German 77 mm shell |
WIBBLE-WOBBLE |
Tank. |
WILLIE |
Tank. From the prototype British tank, Little
Willie. |
WIND UP, TO HAVE THE - |
to be scared |
WIND-UP TUNIC |
British officer's tunic with the stars worn on
the shoulders instead of the sleeves, a
standing order in some regiments even during
the early stages of the war. The practice of
wearing the badges of rank on the epaulettes
was favored by many officers as it made them
less conspicuous to the enemy, and after the
war the wearing of rank badges on the sleeves
was discontinued. The same officers often
carried the .303 Lee Enfield rifle into battle
in preference to the issue service revolver
for the same reason. However, some senior
officers disapproved of this practice, viewing
it as a case of an officer with the wind-up
(see windy). |
WINDY |
Afraid, nervous. Such a person was said to
have the wind-up. From the production of
intestinal wind or gas due to nerves.
|
WIPERS |
Ypres (Flemish Ieper), Belgian town in West
Flanders. |
WONKY |
Defective. |
WOODBINE |
A cheap and particularly offensive but popular
cigarette. |
WOOLLY BEAR |
German shrapnel shell, bursting with a
cloud-like explosion. |
WRITE-OFF |
a casualty, a corpse, a ruined military
vehicle |
YANK |
American soldier. From Yankee. |
YELLOW CROSS |
German gas. From the identification marking
painted on the delivery shell casing.
|
YPERITE |
French name for mustard gas. |
Z |
Z-hour; zero hour The time that an attack was
to commence. |