Encyclopedia - Dug-Out
The 'dum-dum' was a British
military bullet developed for use in India - at the Dum-Dum Arsenal - on the
North West Frontier in the late 1890s.
The dum-dum comprised a jacketed .303 bullet with the jacket nose open to expose its lead core. The aim was to improve the bullet's effectiveness by increasing its expansion upon impact.
The phrase 'dum-dum' was later taken to include any soft-nosed or hollow pointed bullet. The Hague Convention of 1899 outlawed the use of dum-dum bullets during warfare.
During the First World War the Belgian government faced German charges of having used dum-dum bullets in battle. Kaiser Wilhelm II wrote a telegram to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson on 7 September 1914 protesting such use; the Belgians strongly denied the Kaiser's charges.
Photograph courtesy of Photos of the Great War website
A "blimp" was a word applied to an observation balloon.
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