Black Hand Gang (40 page)

Flammenwerfer:
German liquid fire thrower.

Fritz:
Slang term for a German.

Funk:
State of nerves or depression, more harshly a slang word for cowardice.

Hard Tack:
British Army Biscuit ration, infamously inedible.

Hate, the:
Usually a regular bombardment by the enemy made at dawn or dusk to forestall any attacks; the Morning Hate and the Evening Hate.

Hitchy Coo:
Itchiness caused by lice infestation and their bites.

Hom Forty:
French railway freight wagons used to transport troops at excruciatingly slow speed, so-called after the signage on the side;
Hommes 40, Chevaux 8.

Iddy Umpty:
slang for Morse Code and, by extension, the Signallers who used it.

Jack Johnsons:
Shell burst of a 5.9 or bigger, know for its plume of black smoke and nicknamed after famed black boxer, Jack Johnson.

Jildi:
From the Hindi - get a move on, quick, hurry.

Kite Balloon:
An observation balloon, carrying a basket for an observer but attached to the ground by a winch.

Landship:
a tank.

Lewis Machine gun:
air cooled, using a circular magazine cartridge holding 48 rounds each. Lighter and more portable than the Vickers.

Linseed Lancer:
Slang for a stretcher bearer of the
RAMC.

Maconachie:
Brand of tinned vegetable stew. Made a change from endless Bully Beef, though not by much.

Mills Bomb:
Pineapple-shaped British hand grenade, armed by pulling a pin and releasing the trigger lever.

Minnie Crater:
Crater formed from the explosion of a Minniwerfer shell.

Minniewerfer:
German trench mortar shell.

MO:
Medical Officer.

Napoo:
All gone, finished, nothing left. Mangled by the British from the French phrase; 'il n'y en a plus' - there is no more.

NCO:
Non Commissioned Officer; Sergeant Majors, Sergeants or Corporals.

No Man's Land:
Area of land between the two opposing Front Lines.

OP:
Observation Post.

QM:
Quartermaster.

Parados:
Raised defensive wall of earth or sandbags along the rear of the trench to help disperse explosions behind the line.

Parapet:
Raised defence of earth or sandbags at the front of a trench to provide cover for those on the
firestep
.

PH Helmet:
Phenate-Hexamine Helmet. Early type of full- gas mask. Not so much a helmet as a flannel hood soaked in neutralising chemicals, and a mouth tube and distinctive red rubber valve for exhalation.

Pip Emma:
From the Signalese phonetic alphabet; PM, after noon, evening.

Platoon:
A quarter of an infantry company, commanded by a Subaltern. Consisting of 48 men divided into four sections.

Plum & Apple:
Much derided flavour of jam because of the cheap and plentiful ingredients used by jam manufacturers on government contract.

Plum Pudding:
Nickname for a type of British trench mortar round.

Poilus:
Nickname for a French soldier, like the English Tommy. From the French poilu meaning 'hairy', as French soldiers were often unshaven, unlike the British Tommy who was required to shave every day.

Pozzy:
Slang for jam.

Puttee:
Khaki cloth band wound around the calf from the knee to the ankle.

RAMC:
Royal Army Medical Corp, often summoned with the well worn yell, "stretcher bearer!" Uncharitably also said to stand for Rob All My Comrades.

Reading Your Shirt:
The act of Chatting.

Red Tabs:
Slang for Staff Officers, after the red tabs worn on the collars of their tunics.

Revetment:
Any material used to strengthen a trench wall against collapse; wooden planking, brushwood wattling, corrugated iron, etc.

RFC:
Royal Flying Corps of the British Army.

Sally Port:
Small, hidden passage out under the parapet of a fire trench used for sorties into No Man's Land.

Section:
A quarter of a platoon
,
usually consisting of 12 men under the charge of an NCO.

Subaltern:
Or Sub; a commissioned officer under the rank of captain; first or second lieutenant.

Traverse:
Thick sandbag partition built in trenches to prevent enfilading enemy fire and to limit the effect of any explosions. In fire trenches they were used to create fire bays. Also; purposely-built changes in angle of direction in any trench to achieve the same effect.

SAA
: Small Arms Ammunition; rifle and revolver ammunition.

Sans German:
Village of Saint Germaine, five miles from Harcourt Wood, behind the British lines.

Signalese:
A phonetic alphabet.

SMLE:
Short Magazine Lee Enfield. Standard issue British rifle with a 10 round magazine.

Sponson:
The side-mounted gun turret of a tank, taken from the naval term. The Mark I 'male' tank had no central-mounted roof turret, like later tanks, but two side mounted sponsons, one on either side. Each sponson was armed with a six pounder gun and a Hotchkiss machine gun.

Stand To:
Stand to Arms. Highest state of alert when all men should be ready for immediate action, weapons at the ready. Occurred regularly in the trenches at dawn and dusk to repel any attempted attacks. See also
Hate, the.

Toffee Apple:
nickname for a type of British trench mortar bomb.

VAD:
Voluntary Aid Detachment, women volunteers providing auxiliary nursing assistance to the Red Cross and registered nurses.

Very Light:
A white or coloured flare fired from a Very Pistol. Used for signalling or illumination at night.

Vickers Machine gun:
Water-cooled, belt-fed, machine gun. Heavy and bulky, but more accurate than the Lewis.

Whizz-Bang:
A German 77mm high velocity shell.

Woolly Bear:
A German shrapnel air burst shell, that left a distinctive cloud in the air.

Also from Abaddon Books:-

Empire of Salt
by Weston Ochse

The Olivers have a chance to make a new home by the Salton Sea. Looking forward to Californian fun, sun and adventure they are unprepared for the ecological devastation they find. The sea is rotting, the town of Bombay Beach is dying and the citizens are like bait, waiting to be plucked from their homes by what comes from the sea. For just off the coast something lies in wait, a government secret gone wrong, a deadly experiment that has created a breed of zombie like no other.

Beware the coming of the green, the townsfolk say. Beware the coming of the night!