The two major 20th-century conflicts, sources of folklore among both military and
civilian groups. Emphasizing drama, misery, and historical significance, World Wars
folklore continued a tradition established in the American Revolution and strengthened
by the Civil War and other 19th-century engagements.
A rich folklore of the common soldier exists, but both enlisted men and officers shape
the basic themes of military folklore. Enlisted men created folk customs to cope with military demands and to bond with fellow soldiers, while officers encouraged folk
patterns to reinforce comradeship and commitment to the military life.
Humor about rations, boredom, and cold provided cohesiveness and relief in the
trenches and foxholes. Soldiers coined witticisms about such atrocities as gas attacks as
well as such pleasures as leave time. In their leisure hours, troops told jokes in the
canteen and created cartoons for camp newspapers, often depicting officers as bumbling
incompetents who were less courageous than enlisted men.
Folk vocabulary described the war and its participants. Soldiers became commonly
known as “doughboys” (from the biscuit flour they cooked) or GIs, and slang was created
to cope with aspects of the wars, such as “cooties” (lice), “Jerry” and “Krauts”
(Germans), “meat wagon” (ambulance), “Tommie” (British soldier), “Sammy” and
“Yank” (American troops). Phrases such as “Stars and Stripes,” “The Great War,” “Keep
the home fires burning,” and “The War to End All Wars” also circulated.
Wartime folklore, especially songs, expressed soldiers’ dissatisfaction and
disillusionment with military life. Ballad scholar G.Malcolm Law argues that no true
American folk ballads originated from World War I, only nonnarrative folk songs—such
as drill songs and cadence chants—that reveal the voice of the composite soldiers and
their culture. Soldiers yearned for adventure but usually encountered boredom. Their
songs empowered the powerless who must succumb to military discipline. Traditional
and popular military tunes also reaffirmed military values, purpose, and commitment as
the World War I lyric that emphasized: “We won’t be back till it’s over, over there.”
Most war songs patriotically memorialized a major battle and fleeing Huns, expressed
hopes for returning to civilian life, or described mothers and sweethearts back home.
Others were off-color rhymes, depicting local women’s immorality and the taverns
frequented or else complaining about superior officers, army life, and the ever-present
mud. Parodies of songs were also common, such as substituting “Underwear” for
“OverThere.”
World War I ditties, particularly the “Hinkie Dinkie Parlezvous” cycle, were
constantly revised into new versions through communal composition as bored soldiers
talked and sang at hospitals and over poker games. One typical stanza went: “John
McGregor our top sarge—Parlezvous. /A nice little chap, but his head’s too large.”
Another song criticized boxer Jack Dempsey, who avoided the draft by working in a
shipyard: “Dempsey helped to build a ship, /But couldn’t see the ocean trip.” Some
homefront lyrics even suggested women join military ranks: “If they should ever send a
suffrage regiment I’d hurry to enlist.”
Both American and Allied soldiers disseminated rumors and legends about battlefield
occurrences, often embellishing the stories as they passed them by word of mouth. British
troops told that they saw the ghost of a famous soccer player, kicking a ball as he led
troops on an attack mission. Other stories described enemy officers appearing, then
disappearing, in the Allied lines.
Some soldiers told of a deserter army that lived underneath no man’s land, or that the
German dead were rendered to fat at a tallow works, or that a giant German named “Joe
the Lamplighter” placed the rocket glares and mortars in the sky, or that German
Amazons manned machine guns and piloted planes. Others claimed that an Indian
soldier, “The Gurkha with the Silver Knife,” terrorized German trenches, disemboweling
the enemy.
Assigning nicknames to units, such as the Wildcat Division, was another popular
custom. Some nicknames were derisive, such as the Sightseeing Sixth, a unit that
allegedly arrived late to every battle. Shoulder patches worn by troops indicated their
division through symbolic patterns and phrases.
Apparitions are a well-known motif in military oral narratives. In both wars, soldiers
claimed to see the crucifixion or rainbows (providing the name for the Rainbow Division)
in the sky before battles or above the enemy during encounters. Troops considered this a
sign of divine favor and a good omen for victory.
Legends about folk saints defending soldiers and citizens abounded. Variations
include the saint appearing as an old man before or during battle, prayers by the soldier or
a family member resulting in miracles, the saint healing injuries and aiding prisoners of
war to survive or escape, or the saint appearing in a dream. Saints were also credited with
disabling enemy weapons and altering the direction of enemy planes and missiles.
Many soldiers wore protective amulets. In World War I, a black cat sewn on a uniform
was considered good luck. Mistletoe, shells etched with the soldier’s name, Bibles, and
the 91st Psalm were pinned over hearts to keep soldiers from being wounded. Soldiers
also considered wearing a heroes’ clothing lucky and believed that carrying a loved one’s
possessions ensured good fortune. Aviators wore mismatched socks and shoes from
successful missions, but they avoided apparel from fliers who had been shot down.
World War II soldiers, fighting for the symbolic Four Freedoms listed by President
Franklin D.Roosevelt, served “for the duration.” These troops contributed new jargon,
jokes, and jingles to war folklore. The terms included “SOP” (standard operating
procedure), “deuce and a half” (a two-and-one-half ton truck), and “GI” (government
issue). Kilroy was a familiar name found in soldiers’ graffiti.
Women participated in World War II as auxiliary troops, adapting popular songs such
as “Gee, Mom I Wanna Go Home” with verses unique to women’s experiences and
frustrations with military life: “The stockings in the Army they’re made of binder twine” and “WAC [Women’s Army Corps] days, WAC days, dear old
break your back days.” GI stories also belittled women at the front, describing the
supposed promiscuity of USO entertainers who might, for example, misunderstand the
military meaning of the word “mess.”
Soldiers spread tall tales in their barracks. Many military anecdotes, pivoting on
absurdities and lies, embellished and exaggerated events and personages to emphasize the
superiority of one military branch over the other. A popular tale about the “USS
NeverSail,” really the Tuscarora, described a giant naval vessel manned by a monkey
crew that sailed the Seven Seas.
Other tall stories depicted alcoholic mice, bent rifles that fired around hills to kill
hidden Japanese soldiers, and the Ghost Dog of Florida Island near Guadalcanal that
brought death or disaster to whoever saw it. Ghost ships and planes were common motifs
of war folklore. Other tall tales known as “snow jobs” were perpetuated by drill
instructors; these detailed severe punishments for minor infractions and functioned to
scare recruits into conformity.
Soldiers circulated superstitions about how to be discharged or to flunk medical
examinations, including eating a large stack of pancakes or sleeping with soap under both
armpits. Soldiers believed that they had to eat all of the food on their plate to survive, and
aviators threw glasses into fireplaces for good luck.
World War II folk imagery included bombers named for women and heroes and often
decorated with erotic paintings and military symbols. Gestures, such as the traditional
military salute learned by every enlisted man to express respect, or its derisive variation
that involved thumbing the nose, and the two-finger “V for Victory” gesture popularized
by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill boosted morale. In addition, political
leaders used proverbs in their speeches to appeal to crowds.
On the homefront, wives were advised not to see their husband off to service or to talk
about missions, past or future, in order to avoid bad luck. Schoolchildren stepped on
cracks, believing that action killed Nazi soldiers. Rumors circulated about the possibility
of men reported killed or missing in action unexpectedly returning home. The homefront
also spread stories about Japanese and German invaders and saboteurs or domestic
conspirators and traitors harming civilians.
Jokes about stupid civilians reinforced troops on the front. One story about a small
Ohio town stated that when the citizens read the headlines “Americans fight with Axis,”
they assumed the Allies were doing so poorly they had to fight with axes not rifles.
Terms such as “Rosie the Riveter” acquired everyday usage, and gold stars symbolized
sons and husbands sacrificed to war. Rationing, flour-sack dresses, and care packages
also joined mainstream folk culture.
Other folklore themes of World War II include stories about soldiers still fighting the
war on deserted Pacific islands decades after the war ended. Rumors also circulated about
the atomic bomb, its monstrous effects on the Japanese people, and the possibility of the
Germans almost detonating an atomic weapon before the Americans. Other tales concerned the Holocaust and the fate of surviving European Jews. Stories abounded
about Adolf Hitler and other prominent Nazis escaping the command bunker and safely
moving to South America.
American traditions still glorify heroes of the two World Wars with patriotic motifs
that incorporate Uncle Sam, the national colors, statues and memorials, commemorative
items celebrating the anniversary of battles, and the observation of Decoration Day,
Memorial Day, and Veterans Day with flags, parades, and red poppies to remember those
who did not return.
Elizabeth D.Schafer
References
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