The clutching hand: Applied sometimes to a Quartermaster Sergeant, as being popularly supposed to benefit personally when there was a shortage of anything, rations, etc. The phrase would seem to have originated with a certain film melodrama of an exceptionally lurid kind. Also, an Air Force nickname for the "D.H.6" (De Havilland) aeroplane in use in 1917-1918 as an elementary training machine. [1]
References / notes
- ↑ Edward Fraser and John Gibbons (1925). Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases. Routledge, London p.59.
Glossary of words and phrases
The above term is listed in our glossary of words and phrases of the Armed Forces of Great Britain during the Great War. Included are trench slang, service terms, expressions in everyday use, nicknames, the titles and origins of British and Commonwealth Regiments, and warfare in general. These words and phrases are contemporary to the war, which is reflected in the language used. They have been transcribed from three primary sources (see Contents). Feel free to expand upon and improve this content.
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