Glossary of War Terms found in Dad's book or the podcast
Alah Coofik – Arab writing (?)
Bar din – in a short while
Bint – Prostitute
Blighty one - A wound serious enough to require the recipient to be sent home (to England)
Browned off – bored
Bully - Corned Beef - a staple of the British troops - see Wilf Shaw's podcast to appreciate the finer dietary niceties of bully!
Chagrin – annoyance.
Cushy one - A minor wound necessitating some time away from the front line. Arabic for soft.
Do a Duffy - make a cock-up!
Big licks - Catch question. Found a cherry tree and gave them the big licks - Found a cherry tree and ate the lot!
Fourpenny one – A punch
Geordies - Brits from the North East of England, more accurately Newcastle. Fondly known for their near Scottish guttural accent. ‘Why aye, man’ is the usual take off when imitating the accent, meaning ‘But of course my good Sir’!
Get cracking – Get lost, go away.
Jankers - breach of discipline - punishment often cook house duties such as peeling spuds!
Kip - Sleep, nap, 40 winks!
Laagered - To lay up for the night. Lay camp. Eg to laager in a field. Alternative modern definition, to get fully lagered, is to get drunk on lager beer!
Midden – dung or refuse heap
NAAFI - Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes is an organisation which runs recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces. In war torn France it probably just meant tuck shop! Dad often used to bemoan the lack of a ‘NAAFI’ during the war where you could get refreshments in a canteen/cafe.
Recce - Reconnoitre- spy ahead on patrol. Alternative slang word - Shufty. Or to take a shufty - look ahead. Shufty Kite …. Reconnaissance plane.
Shanks' ponies - Walking on foot!
Shufty Kite - reconnaissance plane
Sweat – soldier
Tannoy - Loudspeaker public address system. Sometimes referred to as The Iron Voice.
The Hards - In May 1942, Mountbatten ordered the construction of 11 purpose built areas of hard standing, 'hards', to serve landing craft and ships that would support his Commando operations on the European coast. They were all constructed in the Portsmouth area.
Tiffin - A light midday meal (luncheon) - Bill Cheall was hit by shell shrapnel whilst having tiffin - he got a Blighty one!
Warned – told to get ready for action