Reference Material
Glossary & Abbreviations
AIF
Ack Ack
AAMC
AASC
AIF
AMF
AWM
AWOL
ALEX.
CARO
Cpl
CO
CSM
DOW
DOAS
HQ
KIA
Kriegie
L/Bdr
L/Cpl
LMG
L/O
L/Sgt
LRDG
MID
MMG
MP
MT
NCO
OPS
ORs
Pte
POW
RAAF
RAN
RSL
Sgt
Spr
S/Sgt
SWPA
WIA
WO
VC
Anti-aircraft
Australian Army Medical Corps
Australian Army Service Corps
Australian Imperial Force. Volunteers serving abroad
Australian Military Forces
Australian War Museum - Canberra
Absent without leave
Alexandria
Central Army Records Office
Corporal
Commanding Officer
Company Sergeant Major
Died of wounds
Died on active service
Headquarters
Killed in Action
Krieggefagenis = AIF German POW
Lance Bombardier
Lance Corporal
Light machine gun
Liason Officer
Lance Sergeant
Long Range Desert Group
Mentioned in Dispatches
Medium machine gun
Military Police
Motor Transport
Non commissioned officer
Operations
Other Ranks
Private soldier
Prisoner of war.
Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Navy
Returned Soldiers League
Sergeant
Sapper
Staff Sergeant
South West Pacific Area
Wounded in action
Warrant Officer - Highest NCO rank
Highest award for valor. All ranks
Some AIF slang & colloquial expressions used in the text
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Bludger | Someone who dodges duty |
| Bonza | Excellent |
| Bod | Body, a person |
| Bully beef | Tinned Meat |
| Crook | No good, to be ill, bad |
| Dixie | Mess tin, food receptacle |
| Doggo | To lie unnoticed, to remain undetected |
| Don't give a stuff | Don't give a damn |
| Dud | Unexploded ammunition, broken, defective |
| Get nicked | Get knotted, get stuffed, get lost, piss off, go away |
| Get a hammering | Get a pasting, be under fierce attack, to be punished |
| Gong | Medal, decoration for valour |
| Give it a burl | Give it a try, make an attempt |
| Goldfish | Tinned herrings in tomato sauce |
| Gum leaves | Leaves from eucalyptus (gum) trees |
| Hard yakka | Difficult work |
| Hammering | To suffer losses, to be dealt with severely |
| Jerry | German |
| M&V | Tinned meat and vegetables |
| Niggle | Periodic complaint |
| Off his rocker | Insane |
| On the loose | An escapee avoiding recapture |
| Reccie | Reconnaisance |
| Rise & shine | Get out of bed, reveille |
| Savvy | Wise, knowledgeable |
| Scarper | To shoot through, to disappear |
| Scrounge | Search about, to appropriate something without permission |
| Shag on a rock | To stick out like a sore thumb, be noticeable |
| Shoot through | To disappear quickly, run off |
| Suss out | Reconnoitre, to solve a problem, to think things through |
| Spine bash | To be supine, to rest |
| Stuff | To have sex, be stuffed, beaten, defeated, exhausted |
| Taped | Correct, marked out properly |
| Tucker | Food |
| Whacko | Great, congratulations |
| Whinger | One who always complains |
| Wipe off | Completely destroy, not re-usable |
| Wog | A local native, non-Australian |