The Great War
The Tommy's Tongue
G - Gee
- Gas Bag:
- (1) The cloth bag in which the respirator was carried, or sometimes the respirator (gas helmet) itself.
(2) An airship or barrage balloon.
- Gasper:
- Cheap cigarette.
- Gas Pipe Cavalry:
- Army Cyclist Corps.
- Gaspirator:
- British gas mask incorporating a filter. From a combination of gas and respirator.
- Gassed:
- Getting gassed, getting drunk.
- Gearsman:
- Tank crew member responsible for managing the gears.
- Geese:
- Portuguese. See also Pork and Beans.
- Geranium:
- Staff officer. So called because of the red cap-band and collar tabs. See also Red Tab.
- Gieves, Matthew & Seagrove:
- Naval slang for the trio of Great War campaign medals (1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal).
From the well-known firm of naval outfitters. See also Pip, Squeak & Wilfred.
- Glasshouse:
- Military prison or detention center.
- Glory Hole:
- Dug-out.
- Go Up:
- To go up the line, i.e. into the trenches.
- Go West:
- (1) To be killed, to die. The most popular euphemism of this type. (2) To go astray or be stolen.
- Goer:
- Shell passing overhead.
- Goggle-Eyed Booger with the Tit:
- British gas helmet. The wearer had to breathe in through the nose from inside the helmet and breathe out through a valve held in the teeth.
- Gooseberry:
- Barbed wire entanglement or reel. From the prickly nature of the gooseberry bush.
- Gorblimey:
- Peaked canvas service cap, made sloppy in appearance by removing the wire stiffener from the crown,
not usually seen until after the end of 1914; generally scruffy or sloppy.
A Cockney expression, a corruption of God blind me.
- Grass-Cutters:
- Small anti-personnel bombs dropped from aircraft on to camps and bivouacs behind the lines.
They were designed to burst on impact and scatter shrapnel balls at low-level,
with the intention to kill rather than to destroy material things.
- Green Cross:
- German phosgene gas, from the marking painted on the delivery shell casing.
- Greyback:
- (1) British army shirt, with sharp-edged tin buttons. From the color.
(2) A louse.
- Grey Hen:
- Rum jar. A grey and brown earthenware jug which contained the rum ration, usually Navy Pusser's rum.
- Griffin:
- Confidential information or warning of trouble to come. The bottom line.
- Grog:
- Rum, usually watered down.
- Grubber:
- Spade or entrenching tool.
- Gum Boots:
- Rubber boots or waders sometimes worn in wet trenches.
- Gunfire:
- Strong tea, usually laced with rum.