A Yankee in the Trenches Part 18

On your own - At liberty. Your time is your own.

Out or over there - Somewhere in France.

Parados - The back wall of a trench.

Parapet - The front wall of a trench.

Patrol - One or more men who go out in front and prowl in the dark, seeking information of the enemy.

Periscope - A boxlike arrangement with two mirrors for looking over the top without exposing the napper.

Persuader - A short club with a nail-studded head.

Pip squeak - A German sh.e.l.l which makes that kind of noise when it comes over.

Push up the daisies - To be killed and buried.

Ration party - A party of men which goes to the rear and brings up rations for the front line.

Rest - Relief from trench service. Mostly one works constantly when "resting."

Ruddy - Same as b.l.o.o.d.y, but not quite so bad.

Sandbag - A bag which is filled with mud and used for building the parapet.

Sentry go - Time on guard in the front trench, or at rest at headquarters.

Sh.e.l.l hole - A pit made by the explosion of a sh.e.l.l.

Souvenir - Any kind of junk picked up for keepsakes. Also used as a begging word by the French children.

Stand to - Order for all men to stand ready in the trench in event of a surprise attack, usually at sundown and sunrise.

Stand down - Countermanding "stand to."

Stokes - A bomb weighing about eleven pounds usually thrown from a mortar, but sometimes used by hand.

Strafing - One of the few words Tommy has borrowed from Fritz.

To punish.

Suicide club - The battalion bombers.

Tin hat - Steel helmet.

Wave - A line of men going over the top.

Whacked - Exhausted. Played out.

Whiz-bang - A German sh.e.l.l that makes that sort of noise.

Wind up or windy - Nervous. Jumpy. Temporary involuntary fear.

Wooden cross - The small wooden cross placed over a soldier's grave.