Whizz-bang

A whizz-bang is a light-weight shell that is fired from a smaller calibre field gun. The name derives from the sound the shell made prior to exploding. During the war a variety of slang terms were used by the Allies. The term whizz-bang was used by the British forces, however, they used a variety of slang terms to describe the different types of artillery shell that were in common use. One other such example is the "woolly bear," named for the characteristics of explosion and smoke seen in large German high explosive shells.