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Irvin Jacket: Standard R.A.F. Leather Flying Jacket lined with fleece.
Jankers: to be put "on charge" for a violation of service discipline.
Jerry Can: excellent German invention of heavy duty portable can for holding water, gasoline or other liquid. It quickly replaced leaky tin cans used by RAF and was manufactured in England to the German pattern.
Jink away: sharp maneuver, sudden evasive action of aircraft.
Juice: aviation fuel (as in "we are low on juice"). Also "gravy". Aviation fuel was 100 Octane gasoline.
K.D.: Khaki Drill. The R.A.F. tropical uniform replaced R.A.F. blue battledress in tropical and desert climates.
Keen: eager or reliable - "keen as mustard "- a pun on Kean's mustard powder.
KIA: Killed in Action.
Kipper Kite: Coastal Command aircraft that protected fishing fleets.
Kit: ones belongings, both issue and personal (hence kitbag). Also used to mean equipment, as in "Does that erk have the kit to repair the hole in the starboard wing?".
Kite: an aircraft.
Khamsin: a desert dust storm.
Knot: measure of air or ground speed - one nautical mile per hour (1.150 statute miles per hour).
KR's: King's Regulations - see "jankers".
Lib: Consolidated B-24 "Liberator" bomber.
Line shoot or shooting a line: exaggerating one's accomplishments, usually responded to by the line "there I was upside down, nothing on the clock but the makers name...."
L.M.F.: Lack of Moral Fibre - inability to continue on ops.
Lose your wool: lose composure.
M & V: Tinned Meat and Vegetable Stew.
M.A.A.F.: Mediterranean Allied Air Force.
Mae West: inflatable life vest worn over flying suit (thus called because when inflated it made one look like the "pigeon breasted" movie star).
Mahogany Spitfire: a desk "flown" by "penguins" and "ground wallahs".
M.A.S.A.F.: Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force.
M.C.: Medium Capacity Bomb as in "500 lb. MC".
Mepacrine: standard anti-malarial drug of the day.
Mess: the place assigned for the ranks, NCO's and Officers to eat or relax. These were separated and there was a protocol as to who could enter who's mess.
Met: Meteorology Officer or weather report.
M.I.A.: Missing in action.
Mickey Mouse: a bombing panel that consisted of a clockwork distributor and selection switches (sort of like a Mickey Mouse watch).
Mob: Royal Air Force.
M.T.: Motorized Transport.
M.T.O.: Mediterranean Theatre of Operations.
M.U.: Maintenance Unit. An airfield where aircraft were taken to be repaired when the work could not be done on the squadron.
NAAFI: Navy, Army, Air Force Institute. An organization which attempted to bring comforts to the crews (tea and buns, cigarettes etc.) to raise morale.
N.C.O.: noncommissioned Officer - in the RAF this meant Sergeant or Flight Sergeant.
Nickels: propaganda leaflets.
Nobby: all purpose nickname for anyone called "Clark" or "Clarke". Originally "clarks" (now almost universally spelled "clerks", but in the U.K. often pronounced "clarks") wore top hats as a sign of their trade. The gentry or "nobs" also wore top hats and thus the clarks came by the name "nobby" because of their "posh" hats.
Odd bod: crew member who had lost his crew or who had fallen behind the rest of his crew in number of operational trips and who flew as a "spare" with another crew.
Old lag: experienced airman.
Old Man, the: the Squadron C/O.
On the beam: some stations (but not many in Italy) were equipped with a landing beam which told the pilot he was on the correct glide slope for landing. If he flew too high he would hear a series of morse dots and if too low a series of morse dashes. The idea was to keep a steady tone in one's earphones. This system also showed up in some aircraft as a set of lights showing that one was on the correct beam or too high or low. Also used for flying on a navigation beam such as Gee or Oboe. The phrase was generally applied to being on the right course of action about nearly anything, as in "I think the Wingco's on the beam about not flying over the Alps again."
Op: operation - an attack on the enemy (USAAF term - "mission").
Opsum: Operational Summary - prepared by the Intelligence Officer from debriefing notes recording the results of an operation.
Oranges: Vitamin C tablets.
ORB: Operational Record Book. The official account of operations flown by the squadron.
OTE: Operational Tour Expired. What a crew was after completing 40 operations.
OTU: Operational Training Unit.
Overload tanks: extra fuel tanks required when the Wellington was operated at its extreme range. Two could be fitted in the bomb bays and one could be fitted on the rest cot in the fuselage.
Pack up, to: to break down, as in "My port engine packed up coming out of the target area".
Packet, to catch a: to be on the receiving end of offensive fire, as in "I heard Nobby caught a packet over Verona last night".
Penguin: term for ground officers with no operational experience - a bird with wings that can't fly.
Plaster: to bomb heavily and accurately.
Plonk: cheap Italian wine, also "AC plonk" (AC 2 was the lowest rank in the R.A.F.).
Pom: Australian term for the British. Also "Pommy" used as in "What a typical Pommy cockup".
Port: the left side of an aircraft as seen from pilots seat.
Posted: orders sending a crewman to another station or responsibility.
Prang: to crash an a/c or to hit a target well.
Press on regardless: unofficial motto of RAF, meant to show "keenness" to fly through adversity to the target - often stupid advice. Many men died "pressing on regardless" of severe icing and "duff" engines and died because of it. Often used in an ironic way to show resignation to keeping on with a task no matter how ridiculous or unpleasant. Also used as an expression to "buck up" those who were depressed about something.
Prune, Pilot Officer: a fictional officer in the R.A.F. training manuals who demonstrated all of the things that could go wrong if procedures were not followed correctly.
PSP: Perforated or Pierced Steel Planking (also called Marsden Matting) - steel mats used on newly created airfields to hold the weight of aircraft, used as taxiways, hardstandings, and runways.
Pukka: genuine, as in "pukka gen".
Pulpit: cockpit of aircraft, also "office".
Pundit: a flashing light which signaled a Morse Code letter in order to assist navigation.
P.W.: Prisoner of War. US term - P.O.W.
Queen Mary: an articulated "semi" trailer used to transport aircraft or aircraft parts by ground to M.U.'s for service or refurbishment.
RAFVR: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve - members of the RAF for the duration of the hostilities.
Rigger: ground crew responsible for airframe (special areas might include "instrument basher" and "sparks" to look after instruments and electrical systems).
Roddie or rodded bombs: bomb fitted with a rod in the nose so that it would explode above the ground - used in antipersonnel ops.
Ropey: uncomplimentary adjective "A ropey landing", "A ropey type", "A ropey evening", etc.
Round: one cartridge of .303 ammunition. Ammunition was measured in number of rounds carried.
Runup: to test engines for magneto drop before taking off - also the route taken into the target area before the bomb dropping point was reached.
Salvo: bomb selection which released all bombs at the same time.
SBC: Small Bomb Container - canister to hold a load of the standard 4 lb. magnesium incendiary bomb - usual load was 6 to 8 SBC's.
Scramble: mainly a fighter term. To get airborne as quickly as possible.
Scrambled eggs: a reference to the gold braid on high ranking officers' hats.
Scarecrow: crews reported aircraft blowing up without evidence of attacks (e.g. tracer), and the story arose that the Germans were firing scarecrow shells to simulate stricken aircraft, so as to demoralise crews.
Scream downhill: execute a power dive.
Screamer: bomb that makes a whistling sound as it comes down.
Screened: a period after completing a tour when the crewman could not be called on to do operational flying.
Scrub: to cancel an op.
Shakey-do: see "dicey do".
Shot down in flames: crossed in love or severely reprimanded.
Shot up: very drunk.
Shot to ribbons: totally incapable through drink.
Show: performance or situation - ("that was a good show over Budapest" or "he put on a bad show").
Shufti: to look.
Six, to hit for a: to score maximum points - to put on a very good show (from cricket) .
Skipper: the pilot/captain of the aircraft and crew leader. In the air his rule was law regardless of his rank.
S.O.C.: Signed off Charge. Aircraft no longer usable or wanted by R.A.F.
Sortie: one aircraft doing one trip to target and back.
Spam: canned meat product produced by Hormel in the US. A substitute for real meat (see Bully Beef).
Spam can: a B-24 Liberator.
Sparks: term for either the ground crew who looked after the electrical systems or the aircrew wireless operator.
Spawny: very lucky.
Spoof: a diversionary raid or operation.
Spot on: see "bang on".
Sprog: a "new boy" fresh from training - inexperienced (also a "sprog crew").
Squadron Leader: rank of officer who usually led a Flight (or two Flights, "A" and "B" on a usual squadron).
Squirt: to fire a short burst from machine guns, as in "the rear AG gave him a squirt before we went into the corkscrew".
Starboard: the right side of the aircraft as seen from pilot's seat.
Stick: bomb selection so that bombs would be released at timed intervals from their carriers in the bomb bay (also to release only a part of bomb load - going around a second time to drop the rest).
Strip, to tear off a: to be severely reprimanded by a superior. In extreme cases a "strip" (ie: rank stripes), would be literally be stripped off thus, demoting an airman for extreme problems.
Tea: next to gasoline the most important liquid in the RAF.
Tee Emm: R.A.F. Magazine (after Training Manual).
Ten-tenths: no visibility because of total cloud cover. Also 10/10ths flak - very heavy concentration.
T.D.: time delay fuse setting on bomb which determined when bomb would explode.
Theatre or Theatre of Operations: the geographic area where combat was taking place - eg: The Mediterranean Theatre, The Far East Theatre etc.
T.I.: Target Indicator - colored pyrotechnic devices dropped by Pathfinder Forces to identify targets, effectively used only after April 1944 by 205 Group.
Ticket: pilot's certificate.
Tiggerty-boo: all in order (tiggerty from the Hindustani teega).
Tin basher: metal worker.
Tin fish: torpedo.
Twitch: body tremors developed by aircrew after a number of operations - "he's got the twitch" - sign of operational stress.
Tommy: after Tommy Atkins (Kipling). Originally used to denote the British infantryman, later to be used by the Germans as "tommi" as their equivalent to "Gerry". U.S. equivalent - "G.I."
T.O.T.: time on target. The time briefed for aircraft to attack target area.
Tool along: fly aimlessly.
Touch bottom: to crash.
Touch down: to land.
Tour of Operations: the amount of time or number of "ops" that a crewman had to complete before being "screened".
Tracer: a type of machine gun round which glowed as it moved showing the way to the target and allowing for adjustments in sighting. Unfortunately this also gave away bomber's position. Usually every fourth round was a tracer.
Trip: an op.
Twit: see "clot".
Type: a kind of person ( as in: "he's an aircrew type" or "he's a bolshie type").
Two-six (2-6): general base call "down the flights" that all personnel were needed on a job.
Umbrella: parachute.
Undercart: the undercarriage of an aircraft. Two main wheels and a tail wheel in the case of "taildraggers" like the Wellington. Two main and a nose wheel for "tricycle" aircraft like the B-24. Attempting a landing with the "cart up" was considered a "putting up a large black" for the pilot.
U/S: unserviceable - broken or not available.
Vees: a brand of wartime cigarette.
Vegetables: acoustic or magnetic mines sowed on "gardening" expeditions to various "beds".
VHF: Very High Frequency - Radio band.
Vic: aircraft formation in the shape of a V. Usually three aircraft but could be more.
Waafize: the substitution of WAAF for male members of a unit.
Wad: cake or bun or scone "char and a wad".
Waffle/waffling: out of control, losing height; or cruising along unconcernedly and indecisively.
Wallah: chap or fellow.
Wallop: beer.
Wanks: strong liquor.
Washed out: to fail as a student pilot or other trade. One was then usually remustered as something more suitable to one's abilities.
Weaving: a gentle form of corkscrew. An evasive maneuver to allow gunners maximum view around aircraft.
Weaving, to get: to get going, hurry up.
Wimpy: Vickers Armstrong's Wellington Bomber - after J. Wellington Wimpy from "popeye" comic strip.
Window: strips of metalized paper cut to length of wavelength of enemy radar to confuse search and control radar - effective on radar controlled guns and searchlights.
Wing: unit made up of two or sometimes three squadrons.
Wingco: Wing Commander (rank of officer who led a squadron).
Wizard or wizzo: excellent - superlative (eg: a "wizard prang").
Yellow doughnut: collapsible dinghy carried on aircraft.
Yellow peril: training aircraft.
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