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F - Freddie

Fag:

Cigarette. From an old English verb meaning to droop (from the corner of the mouth?)

Fanti:

Mad, insane. From Hindustani.

Fashy:

Angry. From French fâché.

Faughs, The:

The Royal Irish Fusiliers. The name is derived from their use of the war cry faugh a ballagh (clear the way) during the Peninsular War.

Field Dressing:

Small bag of bandages and pins carried by each man for application to small wounds.

Field Punishment Number 1:

Punishment of soldiers that involved being tied to a gun-wheel and being put on a bread and water diet.

Fini Kapu:

Gone, finished, napoo. From French finis and German kaputt (done for).

Fire-Step:

Step upon the forward face of a trench upon which men stood to fire or observe. The floor of the trench was lower so that the soldiers could walk upright without exposing their heads above the top.

Firework Display:

Night bombardment. Also known as Brock's Benefit, after the well-known firework manufacturer.

Five-Nine:

German 5.9 inch artillery shell.

Fizzer:

A charge (disciplinary). Origin unknown.

Flag Wagger:

Signaller.

Flak:

Anti-aircraft fire. From German Flieger Abwehr Kanone, aircraft defense gun.

Fleabag:

Sleeping bag.

Flechette:

Anti-personnel dart dropped from an aircraft.

Flying Pig:

British 9.45 inch trench mortar bomb.

Football:

Trench mortar bomb. From the shape. (Soccer ball shape)

Foot-Slogger:

British infantryman. Eighteenth century term originally used by cavalrymen. Foot slogging is marching.

Forby:

A small piece of flannelette cloth, used by a soldier to clean his rifle. From the fact that the cloth was four inches by two inches (four-be-two).

Fortnight:

The space of fourteen nights and days; two weeks.

Forty-Tens, The:

The 2nd Battalion, The Leinster Regiment. The nickname is derived from the battalion's time in India. When forming up for a parade, each man called out the number of his position in the rank in consecutive order. After the forty-ninth man correctly called out his number, the next man, the fiftieth, shouted out 'forty-ten'. The name has stuck ever since.

Fosse:

Slag heap of mining spoil. See Crassier. From French.

Four-Two:

German 4.2 inch artillery shell.

Fray Bentos:

(1) Corned beef, bully beef, named after the prevalent brand. From the port in Uruguay of the same name, famous for meat-packing. (2) Very good, very well. From a corruption of the French très bien.

Fred Karno's Army:

Nickname given to the New British Army raised during WWI under Lord Kitchener. It was an allusion to Fred Karno, a comedian and producer of burlesque. Kitchener's volunteer army was often so hurriedly prepared to replace casualties at the front, especially after the First Battle of Ypres, that they were often under-prepared and under-equipped presenting a rather raggle-taggle show.

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.

Funky Villas:

Foncquevillers, French village in the Pas-de-Calais.

Furphy:

A rumor (Australian). The Furphy Engineering Company of Australia made water carts for the army. Soldiers would often gather around these carts and exchange gossip.