I recently dug out my “Musketry” manual and although it has a pretty old-fashioned name it contained vocabulary, searching ground and fire control orders. The copy I have is dated 1946 and is stamped “Forsa Cosanta Aituil 30 Jan 1952, Carlow” in the old Irish script, the Clo Gaelach.
Read on for a discussion of military vocabulary and some of the phrases that drove us mad as privates and I am sure we used as we rose through the ranks!
Vocabulary.
The military vocabulary is given on pages 8 and 9. Always interesting is the small amount of colours available. White, Grey, Yellow, Green, Brown, Black, Blue and Red are listed although some instructors insisted on putting “battleship” in front of grey. In the army there is only one shade of grey the other 49 are best left to civvies.
There are only three types of trees: Bushy topped trees, Fir trees and the ever-popular Poplar tree. Other physical items in the landscape are also listed, although I have no idea what a windcharger might be. It might take a member of one of the more rural units to differentiate between Ricks and Stooks.
We practiced in the hut with the landscape targets which were a permanent feature on the wall. The company that made them also produced a series on India, Africa, Belgium, Germany and France but we didn’t use them! I suspect it was the standard British countryside series we used.
Pronunciation
There must be a class in the Depot for pronunciation, just as there must be one in Templemore to teach Gardai how to pronounce VEH-HICK-ELL. In the army the most obvious words are BASS-ICK for basic and POOCHES for pouches. In fact each set of 37 pattern webbing had a pair of BASSICK POOCHES.
Of course useful phrases were also taught
Drill instruction phrases
No, no, no. Your other left foot.
STAND STILL!!!!! NOT A MOOOOOVE!!!!! – (A favourite of Arthur’s RIP)
one,twothree, one – and in Irish…
Ag glaoigh amach an t-am:
haón, dó trí, haón,
Move the rifle around your head, not shake your big lump around the rifle
Pull in on the butts everywhere – has this been discontinued since women were allowed enter, can we still ask “Do the butts look big from here?” (The firing point obviously…)
Useful everyday phrases
Everyone outside now!
“Everyone off the truck!” followed a few minutes later by “Everyone back on the truck!”
Fall in, in trees and branch out………..
Fall out, smoke if you got ‘em, otherwise go through the motions
Hurry up…and wait.
Form three sides of a circle round me…
When I want your opinion, I’ll tell it to you.
I didn’t say it was your fault, I said that I’m blaming you.
Well Done for that – take yesterday off!
Look up off the ground, if there was any money down there I would have picked it up by now!
Stand up you three men and be counted.
There’s a big return spring rod on that pen
I need 3 volunteers – you, you and you!