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The Great War

The Tommy's Tongue

Return to Vocabulary Index

E - Edward

Eat Apples:
Etaples. See Eatapps.
Eatapps:
Etaples. French town between Calais and Boulogne, site of many base depots and hospitals, and, of course, the most notorious Bull Ring. Conditions within the town were said to be so repressive that, in 1917, a mutiny (provoked by Military Police) broke out amongst British troops stationed there.
Egg:
Hand grenade. From the spherical shape.
Elephant:
Small dug-out reinforced with semicircular sheets of corrugated iron.
Eliza:
Long-range shell.
Emma-Gee:
Machine gun. From the phonetic alphabet of the time for the letters MG.
Enfilade:
To fire down a trench or at a row of men lengthways, rather than crossways.
Enzedder:
New Zealander. From the initials 'NZ', often worn as a shoulder title.
Erfs:
Eggs. From French oeufs.
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.