Originally Posted by
Haraka
I was given to believe that the term "crab" came from the old crab fatting apparently used to caulk between deck planks -it being the same colour as the RAF blue serge.
Haraka,
I ‘m happy to be corrected on this, but my understanding is that the term ‘crab’ isn’t derived from the stuff used for deck caulking. You’re quite right that ‘crab’ is a contraction of the old term ‘crabfat’ - my late father (ex Navy) used the latter term all the time. However, my understanding is that the original ‘crabfat’ was a paste that British troops used in WW1 to combat lice infestations in their nether regions. This paste was a blue grey colour. When the RAF uniforms appeared, using a blue grey serge (originally manufactured for a massive contract for pre-revolutionary Russian troops) the similarity in colour (‘crabfat blue’) immediately led to the term being applied to the wearers.
As an aside, deck planking was traditionally caulked with a mixture of tar and shredded hemp called ‘oakum’
Again, I’m happy to be corrected on this one - there is a lot of ‘urban myth’ stuff out there.
Hope this helps, best regards as ever to all my good RAF friends out there.
Engines