Quote:
Originally Posted by ATAG_Dutch
.....'Low flak over Manston' (of course they should say 'ack-ack', I mean we're not Germans after all, but 'flak' seems to be 'de riguer' in these latter days), or 'Vulcher (vulture?) over Littlestone!'....
Perhaps an arcane point but just for the record the two ex-RAF WW 2 aircrew that I knew (both dead now unfortunately) ALWAYS talked about FLAK and never about Ack Ack. As far as I could tell it was very much adopted jargon in operational squadrons of the RAF, essentially because a)they were on the receiving end of it and b)that's what the Germans called it. The stuff put up over RAF airfields would be more correctly described as Ack Ack, however again, the impression I gleaned from my conversations with these guys is that this would also be loosely described as FLAK and to call it anything else would immediately cast doubt on your credentials as "operational aircrew". Too much talk about Ack Ack and you may fall under suspicion as some 'back area base-wallah' up for a look. Of course, as with most things, there are no hard and fast rules about such things.
|