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Balloo and Ballyhooly: Army vernacular for the name of the French town of Bailleul. Bailleul was at one period of the War outside the fighting area, and was a military centre. As such it was also a centre for social gatherings and diversions, through which the phrase "A trip to Ballo," i.e. a pleasure trip, came to be a colloquialism. In 1918, in the great German breakthrough, Bailleul was entirely destroyed by the enemy, the houses, Cathedral, fine Town Hall – everything being blown up or burned to the ground.[1]

References / notes

  1. Edward Fraser and John Gibbons (1925). Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases. Routledge, London p.14.
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