182 CEF Posted 22 April , 2003 Share Posted 22 April , 2003 I had a good weekend, I found a copy of " Ghosts have warm hands" By Will Bird ( The best first hand account of WW1 by a Soldier I have ever read) and a copy of "War Birds, Diary of an unknown Aviator" Well we now know who wrote the book and from whos Diary, however the author mentions something said By Billy Bishop. It seems when 85 Squadron was leaving England, Bishop instructed the pilots to watch the windsock and take off and land accordingly. The author states that Bishop did not say "windsock" but used the more common RFC term that caused the Ladies present to Blush. Does anyone know the term that was used? Thank you Dean Owen Whitby Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 22 April , 2003 Share Posted 22 April , 2003 An uncle of mine (a hard talking man), who was an RAF mechanic during WW2 had a phrase for these. I don't think I can print it here, and can't see Billy Bishop using it in front of a Lady somehow! I suspect that the phrase Bishop used actually seems quite tame nowadays. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 23 April , 2003 Share Posted 23 April , 2003 Croonaert, I think you should, otherwise we'll never know... Just to be safe (i don't know if inappropriate words are censored on this site), use a space between each letter. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 23 April , 2003 Share Posted 23 April , 2003 At the risk of seeming coarse, I suggest that Bishop may have used a common RFC/RNAS/RAF term for a windsock, ie 'Effel', a word derived from the initials F L, being an abbreviation for French Letter, a then common term for a condom. Regrettably, one could probably get away with that in even what passes for polite society today! Sigh Dolphin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 23 April , 2003 Share Posted 23 April , 2003 Croonaert, I think you should, otherwise we'll never know... Just to be safe (i don't know if inappropriate words are censored on this site), use a space between each letter. Jan OK. Similar to Dolphin's post. My uncle called it a "Cock-jacket". (He also called condoms "windsocks", by the way!) Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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