Interesting that Dahl coined the name. In the book "The Life and Times of Pilot Officer Prune" by Tim Hamilton (printed by permission of HMSO, ISBN no. 0-11-772629-X), mention is made of the unreliability of wireless equipment in RAF bombers during the war. One of the many P/O Prune creations were 'Marcolins', which were Gremlins that originated in the Marconi Wireless Telegraphy equipment but had now migrated to the Radio Transmitter. The book has an exerpt of the article:
"
Marcolins: A type of imp or gnome, related to the Gremlin family (q.v.) but confining their activities to W/T equipment. Marcolins are small and tubby and appear to be constructed mainly of resistance wire. This enables them amongst other things to insert themselves into the H/T lead and produce a falling feed, otherwise unaccountable. They invariably carry adequate equipment for their purposes, such as soldering irons for shorting positives to negatives, or a monkey-wrench for the double purpose of shifting frequencies or bashing in the tops of valves. Marcolins should be constantly suspected everywhere in W/T equipment and suitable steps taken to discourage and outwit them."
So there you have it, there are relatives to the Gremlins.
Kermie
