Ww1

[TNScotsman]

I'm hoping this is the right spot for this as it showed up in social media. The following picture was posted by the Veterans' Foundation (I saw it shared by a friend), and accompanied with the explanation, "Due to the kilts worn by the Scottish soldiers on the World War 1 battlefront, their German enemies called them the "ladies from hell"."

Also, what a wonderfully loyal dog to be in the trenches with its adopted clan!

Attachment 41517

[TNScotsman]

...and of course the image didn't properly embed... Attached here.

[Bruce Scott]

It's an interesting photo showing a mix of rifles. The majority appear to be carrying MLEs while the soldier third from right in the peaked cap (and perhaps a couple of others) has an SMLE.

[OC Richard]

About the term "ladies from hell" I wondered what the German provenance was for that term, or if it was a myth created by Allied soldiers.

These articles say that while mentions of "ladies from hell" and "devils in skirts" occur in British newspapers there's no mention of these terms in any known German newspapers, war memoirs, diaries, letters, etc.

In other words as far as we know the Germans never used the term.

https://languagesandthefirstworldwar...ies-from-hell/

https://www.keymilitary.com/article/...nd-ladies-hell

The second article mentions a linguistic argument against the existence of these terms in German:

Another thing that speaks against the use of such nicknames by Germans, one which is never mentioned but immediately obvious to any native German speaker, is that the German translations of Ladies from Hell (‘Die Damen aus der Hölle’ or ‘Die Höllendamen’), or of Devils in Skirts (‘Teufel in Röcken’) sounds more than a bit awkward, if not outright silly, and it certainly has no potential to have turned into well-established nicknames like Tommy (for the British), Franzmann (for the French) or Ivan (for the Russians).

[Ninehostages]

About the term "ladies from hell" I wondered what the German provenance was for that term, or if it was a myth created by Allied soldiers.

These articles say that while mentions of "ladies from hell" and "devils in skirts" occur in British newspapers there's no mention of these terms in any known German newspapers, war memoirs, diaries, letters, etc.

In other words as far as we know the Germans never used the term.

https://languagesandthefirstworldwar...ies-from-hell/

https://www.keymilitary.com/article/...nd-ladies-hell

The second article mentions a linguistic argument against the existence of these terms in German:

Another thing that speaks against the use of such nicknames by Germans, one which is never mentioned but immediately obvious to any native German speaker, is that the German translations of Ladies from Hell (‘Die Damen aus der Hölle’ or ‘Die Höllendamen’), or of Devils in Skirts (‘Teufel in Röcken’) sounds more than a bit awkward, if not outright silly, and it certainly has no potential to have turned into well-established nicknames like Tommy (for the British), Franzmann (for the French) or Ivan (for the Russians).

The Black Watch of Canada reference the same legend dating from the Western Front of WWI. I've never heard it being used in the context of any of the several other Canadian Highland Battalions of the same conflict.