by John Wilson
Glossary
Ace—In the Royal Flying Corps, a pilot who has shot down five enemy planes.
Amiens—A town in northern France, far enough from the front lines that it was a safe place to recover from a wound.
Archie—Pilot slang for anti-aircraft fire from the ground.
Beaumont-Hamel—A town that was fortified by the Germans and formed part of the front lines that were attacked by the Newfoundland Regiment on July 1, 1916. Beaumont-Hamel was not captured until November 1916.
Berlin, Ontario—The name of Kitchener, Ontario, before it was changed in 1916.
Biplane—A plane with two layers of wings, most often one above and one below the pilot. This was the most common type of plane in the First World War.
Louis Blériot—The first pilot to fly over the English Channel, in 1909. For many years after his feat, he sold versions of his monoplane all over the world.
Camouflet—A small mine that was exploded to destroy enemy tunnels rather than trenches.
Chateau—A large French country house.
Dogfight—A battle between opposing planes in midair. So called because when dogs fight, they form a chaotic, churning mass.
Dressing station—The first place a wounded soldier could receive treatment behind the front line trenches. From there they would be sent farther away to hospitals or even over to England.
Duckboard—Slatted wooden boards that were laid on the floor of trenches to make walking easier.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand—The heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 triggered the outbreak of the First World War.
Fire step—Trenches had to be deep enough so that soldiers could walk along them without their heads sticking above the parapet. The fire step was provided so they could step up to see or shoot out into no-man’s-land.
Fitter—A mechanic whose job was to service fighter planes between sorties.
Fritz—A slang term for a German soldier or pilot.
Front lines—The trenches closest to the enemy.
Gas curtain—A heavy canvas curtain hung over the entrance to a dugout to prevent poison gas getting in.
Hangar—A large shed for storing planes.
Hun—A slang term for a German.
Max Immelmann—The first German ace and inventor of the Immelmann turn. The Pour le Mérite medal was nicknamed the Blue Max in his honor.
Immelmann turn—A manoeuver designed by Immelmann to gain an advantage on an enemy in a dogfight.
Lewis gun—A British machine gun with a drum of ammunition that clipped onto the top. It was light and simple enough to be mounted on early fighter planes.
Monoplane—A plane with only one layer of wings. The wings could be above the pilot or extending out from the side of the plane.
Over the top—Slang term for climbing out of the frontline trench to attack the enemy.
Pour le Mérite—The highest order of merit awarded by the Kingdom of Prussia (and Germany after 1870). Many famous German flyers, including Max Immelmann and the Red Baron, were awarded the Pour le Mérite in the First World War. The last one was given in 1918.
Royal Flying Corps—The British air force in the First World War. It became the Royal Air Force in 1918. Canada did not have its own air force until the Royal Flying Corps Canada was formed in 1917.
Sortie—A flying mission to attack the enemy or carry out reconnaissance.
Stand-to—At dawn, the most common time for an attack, the soldiers had to stand to on the fire step to be prepared.
Triplane—A plane with three layers of wings. Two famous aces, Canada’s Raymond Collishaw and Germany’s Red Baron, flew these types of planes.
U-boat—A German submarine. From the German Unterseeboot, meaning “undersea boat.”
Verdun—A French town and the site of one of the biggest battles in the First World War. The battle lasted from February to December 1916.
Kaiser Wilhelm II—King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany from 1888 to 1918.
Wire—Barbed wire that was run along in front of trenches to prevent attackers from getting close.
