Dogfight or Dogf...??
The "Last Tommy" thread has reminded me of a tale I heard many years ago from an RFC veteran. 'Twas the late 60s, just after I joined up, and I was summoned (no better word) to the presence of Mr Walker, an ex-RFC man who lived a few doors down, living over the sweetshop his wife ran.
He was rarely seen out, so Mrs Walker (don't think adults had Christian names then - at least not to baby pilot officers) ushered me into the front room. We chatted for a while, then he smiled and asked:
"Young Teeters, do they still talk about dogfights in the RAF."
"Yessir" I replied, whereupon he began chuckling, a chuckle which became an emphysemic rattling cough - but he still smiled.
"Never really called them that" he said, "We called 'em Dogf*cks"
Shock horror from Plt Off Teeters that old folk should know such words.
"Think about it! When dogs fight, they go head-to-head; when they f*ck, one tries to get behind the other which was what we tried to do to the Hun"
"So why are they called Dogfights"
Cue more emphysemic rattling laughter.
"It was the bloke from the Times who came out to the front to write an article.. He said he couldn't write dogf*ck, he'd best call it a dogfight - so dogfight it became."
I've never heard the story anywhere else, has anyone heard anything similar - it sounds so logical ... and I hope it is true.
[Mr Walker died a couple of years later, and left me a gold and blue-enamelled RFC wings brooch....]