War Words

One thing wars are good for (if anything) is the spawning of new words and expressions. Soldiers are particularly involved in this, especially when they’re far from home, and have chances to leave their own form of calling-card. In World War II, one of the most widely spread expressions inscribed, usually by American troops, was “KILROY WAS HERE.” One theory is that in a certain ship-building yard, there was an Inspector whose job was to check on the work being done by welders and other girder-making workers. Having approved a certain job, he would chalk his name there. And his name, of course, happened to be Kilroy.

Another actual word which was widely circulated in World War II was “BLITZ,” which is the German word for lightning, and is often teamed with the German word for Thunder, as in “Donner und Blitzen.” You may remember that, in Clement Moore’s famous poem, “A Visit from Saint Nicholas,” those are the names of two of Santa’s Reindeer.

But the Nazi Army gave Blitz a more sinister meaning, when Hitler spoke of his tactics in invading France in 1940 as a “Blitzkrieg,” or “Lightning War.” The British, who then had to suffer a series of huge air raids by German bombers, called it “The Blitz,” – and, looking back long afterwards, that was how they still referred to it.

You may know that, in the early months of World War II, there was very little fighting, and the American press dubbed it the Phony War. But some inspired reporter came up with a new term, and called it a “Sitzkrieg.” 

When those events gave rise to the large-scale fearful departure of civilians from a threatened area, this became known as an “Evacuation,” and the people involved – especially children – were referred to as “Evacuees.” But, before that, a more general term for people seeking more or less emergency shelter and comfort, not necessarily in a wartime context, but from any disaster, has been “Refugee.”

Another word often connected with modern warfare has been “Propaganda.” I think the first time I heard it used it was at home, by my own Mother, during World War II. She used it disparagingly, to dismiss some of the things I had been hearing about the war at school. But it was also used in a positive way, about ideas and information disseminated by a Department of our own Government, which were supposed to help our side win the war. One such usage, often encountered by children, was in promoting the sale of bonds and stamps.

This was a way of lending money to the Government.

Another interesting war word is SHRAPNEL, for dangerous bomb fragments, which is named for a British Army Officer who developed a type of bomb more than 200 years ago. That combination of steel and explosives has been an unhappy part of world history for longer than America has been a country. Hand-thrown grenades were so popular in the British Army that a whole Regiment was known – and celebrated in song – as the British Grenadiers.

And our own National Anthem celebrates a major event of the War of 1812 in which an American-held Fort withstood a siege and bombardment from the sea. As no doubt you know, the words feature “the rockets’ red glare,” and “bombs bursting in air.”

Some other wartime words were associated with shipping. One was “Blockade,” a tactic used to close an enemy port by preventing any ships from going in or out.

This, of course, was a much better way of sealing off a country or region before the development of aviation.

Then at sea, particularly in the North Atlantic, which most important shipping routes crossed, the most effective method of dealing with the menace of U-boats was the convoy system, in which a large number of ships sailed together, some whose purpose was to protect the others.

I have some personal knowledge of this aspect of World War II – since my own Father, though a civilian, was a passenger on a British merchant ship which was torpedoed and sunk. But, thanks to the convoy system, he was rescued by a lifeboat from another ship.

Many years later, meticulous German record-keeping told me that the crew of that U-boat had been captured and held in a Canadian P.O.W. camp. After the war, the Captain rejoined his family in Germany, where he resumed a successful business career – and he out-lived my Father by several years!