What did British soldiers mean by "Gertie Wears Velvet" during World War One?

lanfranco

They were referring to the village of Godevaersvelde (did I spell that correctly?), to the rear of the Ypres Salient. It was a Casualty Clearing Station, according to this list. And I was hoping that it would turn out to be a rather naughty song. http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ltg/projects/jtap/dce/elspeth/french.html Aug 21 05, 7:39 AM

Flem-ish

Very well done. The actual name is Godewaersvelde with "w". The equivalent of "Geoffrey's Field". This village is practically on the Belgian-French border, at the foot of one of the so-called Flemish hills but just inside France. In this section of the Ypres Salient British soldiers had to cope with Flemish placenames often pronounced the French way. They facilitated the pronunciation problem by re-defining the names. Other such re-interpretations were Hallebast a hamlet which became Hellblast Corner and of course the notorious Passendale which after "Third Ypres" became Passion Dale. Funny slang names created by people who were face to face with death. Aug 21 05, 9:45 AM

Create a Free FunTrivia ID to add to, request more/new answers, or edit this entry

How did 'hydrogen sulphide' help British pilots during World War II? It's a tachycardia by emotional choc that was observed during the first world war on soldiers that had no organic heart lesion. What is it? What were the long term effects of World War One for soldiers and their families and is there a site about it? During the Vietnam War US soldiers and marines often would write on their helmets. When did the US military outlaw this practice?

1 Poland during World War II This is a quiz about the Polish campaign of September 1939 and the Polish Army created in exile. It's my first quiz, so I'll be very happy to read your remarks. European War Difficult 15 Q Jurek86 May 06 03 1038 plays 2 World War One World War One contained many devastating battles and many horrendous inventions. It also produced many heroes, poets, artists and legends. See how much you remember from history class. World War I Tough 10 Q TemplarLLM Aug 22 00 5751 plays 3 World War One Part 1 of quiz on World War One. World War I Tough 10 Q deadmeat Feb 16 01 3297 plays