"The whole nine yards"

Posted by Barry on December 24, 1999

In Reply to: "The whole nine yards" posted by Kenn Morris on December 24, 1999

: According to a recent program 'Weapons at war' on the
: history channel, "The Whole nine yards" refers to the
: length of a Browning .50 cal. machine gun ammunition
: belt, as fitted to many WW2 bombers and several types
: of tanks operating in both the European and Pacific
: theaters. Giving the enemy 'the full nine yards' refers
: to all the ammo contained in the ammo box fitted to the
: left side of these weapons. The film star Audie Murphy
: used one of these weapons to win a Cong.Med. of Honor
: in the European theater! Perhaps someone could ask him?

I posed this question to a 77 years old neighbour of mine who flew, as a rear gunner (with, he insists with pride, the rank of sergeant), in RAF Lancaster bombers during WW2 and he has no recollection of the expression "The Whole nine yards". This cannot be taken as evidence that the expression does not refer to the length of the ammunition belt but it can be used to indicate that the phrase was not common in the RAF during WW2.

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