This month's 'FlyPast' magazine carries a letter from the doyen of 8th historians, Roger Freeman. Given our recent discussions about historical accuracy, fallibility of memory, etc I thought it may be of interest to quote : -

Too Early To Use 'Jug' ?

As a long-time crusader for keeping to the terminology of the time when dealing with historical subjects....the nickname 'Jug' for the P47 Thunderbolt is predominantly a post-Second World War adornment and yet one I see frequently used in articles about the aircraft's wartime use. Having been long ago told that it was never heard in one of the foremost Eighth fighter groups, I set out to find if the name was used in the others. The result was that I could find no written evidence in unit reports, histories, magazines and newspapers of the time where the P47 was called 'Jug'.

The occasional veteran would still insist it was used, but upon careful consideration it was found that the tag was something picked up in post-war years. Memories are fallible, the more so the further we get from the event. I have had requests published in magazines asking for wartime 'Jug' references without response. I've an open mind on this and would welcome evidence of 1942-45 references to 'Jug'.'

Roger A. Freeman
Colchester, Essex

Any thoughts ?

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Very interesting post, Martin.
I've had discussions about this idea in the past with Erich, among others. This type of thing I believe points to the necessity of using multiple sources of information. Veterans' accounts provide us with a first-hand view of the war and can often shed light on a HUGE variety of topics. Veterans, after all, were the ones who actually experienced the war and can thus clearly give us one of the best views on it. BUT- as Freeman notes, memory can often fail. Heck, every one of us has undoubtedly experienced this! And many law enforcement agencies have done studies demonstrating the fallibility of witnesses even in recent events. So, we also need the more "academic" sources for our studies- the ones which have access to many primary sources, etc.

This always reminds me of one of the classic examples... if we were to believe at face value the accounts of American soldiers fighting in Normandy, those soldiers would have fought more Tiger tanks than germany ever produced!
But if we were to ignore those accounts and only look at the academic accounts, we would have little or no idea about the actual fighting and how things happened, only numbers, units, and costs.

We need to use both sources to really understand WW2.
My take on it anyway.

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Seriously, all today is missing is free cotton candy and the annual Bay State Hooker Parade to make it any better.

Roger has been fortunate that he was there during the war, but only as a boy. There is no doubt that he has materials that even the vets do not have or even remember but I can only say from interviewing the so 15 P-47 pilots they have ALL called it with affection the JUG. Most apparent was the Hub Zemke and Frances Gabreski interivew I was fortunate to have for over 6 hours back in 1992.

E