GUNNERS AND “GONNERS”

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 May 1941, Page 9

GUNNERS AND “GONNERS”

QRIGIN OF MILITARY TERMS. Probably few people realise the historical significance of the commonest military terms in general use, arid' 5 how far back their derivation takes' us in the history of war. Take, for example, the word ‘ ‘infantry. ’ This is of Italian origin. Italian commanders in the 15th and 16th centuries referred familiarly to their men as their “fanti,” their “boys” (writes L. H. Biddulph, in the “Sydney Morning Herald”). The collective term for several units of “fanti” was “fanteria,” which word the French adopted, Gallicising it as “fanterie” and “infanterie,” and we have taken it from them. “Artillery” is another word with an interesting derivation. The English word for a cannon is “gun,” cannon being the French word, but in the reign of Edward II the officer in charge of ordnance was called the “artillator,” and as the early bombards were put in his care they became known as “artillery.” There were six “gonners” among the men of the custodian of the King’s artillery in 1344, and in the following year at Crecy Sir Walter Wetewang’s accounts as Treasurer of the King’s Household show there were 12 “artillerymen and gonners” serving with the army.

The engineers, though a comparatively modern corps, bear a most ancient name. Seven “Ingyners” were shown on the strength of the army at Crecy in the above accounts. They were not, however, engineers in the modern sense, but the men who worked and fought the siege engines belonging to the army. The word comes from the late Latin “inginiator.” Their nickname, “sapper,” is our adaptation from the old French word “saper,” to dig. Their “pontoon” is really the French diminutive of “pont,” a bridge, pontoon meaning a little bridge. Their companion corps, the pioneers, originally intended to clear the way for the army, and dating back to the Civil War of the 17th century, also take their name from the old French “pionnier.” When we turn to the nomenclature of military ranks we find the names of the non-commissioned ranks even older than those of the superior officers, “Brigadier" is a comparatively modern term in the English army, not appearing till the wars ol William HI., • and comes from the Italian “brigata,” via the French, but in the French army the rank is now a noncommissioned one. “Colonel” is of respectable antiquity, going back to the' early 17th century, and is borrowed from the French, as so many of our military terms, but its derivation is uncertain. “Lieutenantcolonel” dates from the same period, but was originally used to denote the officer in a regiment who took the place of the colonel in commanding the latter’s company in it.

The term “major” is all that remains of the exalted rank of sergeantmajor, who, in an Elizabethan army, commanded the whole of the loot, and also in Cromwell’s army, under the title of sergeant-major-general. In the regiment the “sergeant-major” originally commanded one of the companies and also performed the duties of its adjutant. The latter term is, of course, pure French, meaning a helper.

FEUDAL SERGEANTS.

The word “sergeant” is by far the most ancient of our military terms. It is derived from the medieval Latin “serjahtia,” denoting a service due for lands held by the King. When in feudal times a knight could not personally perform his military service tor his land his deputy to perform it, if not of nightly rank, was termed a “sergeant,” and was, of course, armed and equipped as a man-at-arms. By the time of Edward 111 the term was applied to officers of the King called “sergeant-at-arms,” and 67 sergeants were on the strength of the army at Crecy. With the rise ol the infantry in the Continental armies of the 15th and 16th centuries the sergeant became responsible for the drill of the unit.

The term “corporal” takes us back to the days when an army was marshalled for battle in compact masses. The “Capo di squadra,” the Italian term, was the “head of the square,” a picked man; the French adapted the term as “caps d’escouade” (whence our words squad and squadron and eventually it became in French “caporal,” whence our word. It was in use in England in Elizabethan days, and the Headquarters Staff of the Army formed to resist the'threatened Spanish invasion at the time of the Armada included four “corporals ol the field,” officers receiving 4/- a day, a rate of pay equivalent to that of a captain of horse. The use of “lance” before the rank of sergeant or corporal has a rather interesting history. It also came from the Italian, from the term “lanz pesato,” meaning a “lance” (mounted man) who had lost his horse and had to march with the foot. Such a man was generally superior to the ordinary infantry soldier, and held, therefore, a distinctive and superior rank, whence in due time, was derived the prefix lance to the above ranks.

FRUITY GRENADES. The derivations of our names for military formations are also not without interest. “Battalion” comes through the French from the Italian diminutive of “battaglia”—a battle, in the sense of a body of men drawn up for battle—“battagliene.” Brigade, squad, and souadron have already been incidentally dealt with. “Corps” is pure French, meaning a “body,” whilst “platoon” comes from the French diminutive of “pelote”—a little ball—in the sense of being a compact little mass ol men — “peloton.” This tactical unit was devised by the great Swede, Gustavus Adolphus, and consisted of a body ol men having a frontage of eight men by a depth of six men. As to the names of weapons, the musket derived its pame from “mosquito,”' because of its small calibre, the larger weapons being originally called “drakes,” “falcons, ’ etc.", and the smaller ones after the lesser winged creatures. “Pistol and “howitzer” are of Czech origin, and are, like the weapons, a legacy from the great Bohemian leader of the 15th century. “Grenade” is derived from the Spanish “granada,” a pomegranate, and were first used by the Spaniards. In English we find the word in the 17th century used not only for hand-grenades, but also for shells fired from mortars, under the form of “granadoes,” whilst such shells were also called “bumboes,” our modern “bomb.” Your 17th century Englishman had to add “oes” to most military terms, e.g., palisadoes, embuscadoes, etc.