No Man’s Land — The area between the trenches.

On your own — At liberty.  Your time is your own.

Out or over there — Somewhere in France.

Parados — The back wall of a trench.

Parapet — The front wall of a trench.

Patrol — One or more men who go out in front and prowl in the dark, seeking information of the enemy.

Periscope — A boxlike arrangement with two mirrors for looking over the top without exposing the napper.

Persuader — A short club with a nail-studded head.

Pip squeak — A German shell which makes that kind of noise when it comes over.

Push up the daisies — To be killed and buried.

Ration party — A party of men which goes to the rear and brings up rations for the front line.

Rest — Relief from trench service.  Mostly one works constantly when “resting.”

Ruddy — Same as bloody, but not quite so bad.

Sandbag — A bag which is filled with mud and used for building the parapet.

Sentry go — Time on guard in the front trench, or at rest at headquarters.

Shell hole — A pit made by the explosion of a shell.

Souvenir — Any kind of junk picked up for keepsakes.  Also used as a begging word by the French children.

Stand to — Order for all men to stand ready in the trench in event of a surprise attack, usually at sundown and sunrise.

Stand down — Countermanding “stand to.”

Stokes — A bomb weighing about eleven pounds usually thrown from a mortar, but sometimes used by hand.

Strafing — One of the few words Tommy has borrowed from Fritz.  To punish.

Suicide club — The battalion bombers.

Tin hat — Steel helmet.

Wave — A line of men going over the top.

Whacked — Exhausted.  Played out.

Whiz-bang — A German shell that makes that sort of noise.

Wind up or windy — Nervous.  Jumpy.  Temporary involuntary fear.

Wooden cross — The small wooden cross placed over a soldier’s grave.