Pincher Martin, O.D.: A Story of the Inner Life of the Royal Navy

Two minutes later Emmeline was sitting by Pincher's bed. Her eyes were full of tears, tears of happiness, and to Pincher she was the most adorable thing in the world.

'Oh Hemmeline!' he sighed huskily, his throat working and his fingers clutching her hand. 'Oh Hemmeline!'

'Well, Bill, what's the matter?' she asked dreamily, turning her head and smiling at him through her long lashes.

''Ow I love you!'

'Silly boy!' she chided softly.

We will draw a veil over what happened next. The ward was a very public place; but the other patients discreetly turned their heads away and pretended not to see.

Mr and Mrs Joshua Billings were away for fully half-an-hour. To Emmeline and Pincher it seemed more like five minutes.

III

The wedding, a month later, was a very quiet one.

THE END

1

'The Straits' = the Mediterranean.

2

'In the rattle' = in trouble.

3

O.D. = the slang term for 'ordinary seaman.' 'O.S.' is one official naval contraction, and 'Ord.' another. 'O.D.' is derived from the latter, in the same way as an able seaman is known as an 'A.B.'

4

The term 'matlo,' derived from the French for 'sailor,' is always used by bluejackets in referring to themselves.

5

E.R.A. = engine-room artificer.

6

A 'killick' is an anchor, which is the badge worn by a leading seaman. 'Dipping the killick' means that the badge is removed, and that its wearer has been disrated to A.B.

7

'Pompey' is the naval slang term for Portsmouth.

8

Men serving in destroyers receive sixpence a day extra pay. It is known as 'hard-lying money.'

9

K.H.B. = King's hard bargain, a term used in connection with a man who is an undesirable character.

10

The commanding officer of a man-of-war is frequently referred to as 'the owner,' or 'the old man.'

11

Weighed anchor.

12

A fraction of a knot.

13

A 'godown' is a warehouse.

14

'Snotty' is the naval slang term for midshipman.

15

Assistant-paymaster.

16

Going on the 'razzle' = going on the spree.

17

To 'part brassrags' is to sever friendly intercourse with a chum. Chums frequently use one another's rags in polishing the brasswork of the ship; when they quarrel they naturally cease to do this.

18

'Tickler' is a derogatory term for an ordinary seaman.

19

A ship's steward's assistant is always known as a 'dusty boy.'

20

M.A.A., master-at-arms.

21

No. 10 = a particular form of punishment.

22

Paymaster.

23

'Chawing the fat' = spinning a yarn.

24

'Tin 'ats' = drunk.

25

A 'killick' is an anchor, and a petty officer wears crossed anchors as his distinctive badge.

26

'P.Z. Exercises' – that is, mock actions, fought between two opposing squadrons; so called from the two-flag signal directing the fleet to carry out these manœuvres.

27

'The Bloke' = the commander. 'Jimmy the One' = the first lieutenant.

28

The ship's company of a ship hailing from Devonport are known as 'Duffos' to the men of ships with Portsmouth and Chatham crews. A 'duff' is a pudding, and the term probably originated on account of the west-countrymen's supposed liking for that comestible.

29

Most ships, even those carrying proper musicians, have a home-made band formed by the men themselves. It always goes by the name of the 'squeegee band,' though why I cannot say.

30

'Fanny,' the receptacle from which a bluejacket drinks his rum.

31

'Lammy coats,' the name given by the men to the thick duffel coats with hoods served out in cold weather. They are fastened with toggles and beckets instead of buttons and button-holes.

32

When a ship is abandoned a certain amount of water, biscuit, and rum is placed in all the boats.

33

A coast or a shoal is said to be 'steep to' when comparatively deep water extends right up to its seaward edge. The lead, therefore, gives little indication of a ship's proximity to danger.

34

Oil-fuel supply ship.

35

'Make and mend' = an afternoon set apart for making and mending clothes – that is, a half-holiday.

36

'Our boss,' the commodore in command of the force to which the Mariner was attached.

37

A tracer shell for use against aircraft has a small cavity in its base filled with composition which is ignited when the gun fires. It emits a thin trail of smoke in the daytime and a luminous track at night, so that the gunners are able to see where their projectiles are going.

38

That is, those destroyers attached to Sir David Beatty's squadron.