Soldier's slang glossary
A list of slang terms used in Bert's letter to help you understand what he means.
| Abdul | name for a Turkish soldier |
| Anzac soup | shell-hole polluted by a corpse |
| auntie | a Turkish broomstick bomb |
| Aussy | Australia; an Australian soldier; a wound bad enough to get a soldier back to Australia |
| axle grease | butter |
| babbling brook | an army cook |
| base wallah | someone employed behind the front line |
| Beachy Bill | a Turkish artillery piece which shelled the beach at Anzac |
| brass hats | senior officers |
| Bully (beef) | salted canned beef |
| Bumbrusher | an officer's servant |
| chat-bags | underclothes |
| coffin nail | cigarette |
| cricket ball | a Turkish grenade made of iron, the size and shape of a cricket ball, with a burning fuse. If possible, catch and throw back. (Compare this with a jam tin bomb.) |
| dial | face |
| furphy | a rumour |
| peninsh | peninsula (Gallipoli) |
| short arm inspection | medical examination of the penis to check for conditions such as STDs |
| stoush | fight |
| swing the banjo | shovel dirt |
| tourist | Australian soldiers (1st Division), often known as "six bob a day tourists" |
| winze | an underground connection between two trenches |