Facebook post (3 Apr 2020)
That’s me furloughed then…
Update (Nov 2022): Well it gave me the chance to finish the blog project, I suppose. Apparently, the expression derives from the Dutch verlof, “leave of absence”.
Facebook post #013 (11 May 2020)
I just found out that one of my relatives, Bert Baker, was furloughed. This was 100 years ago, mind, and it took ten days to get back from Alexandria before his leave could begin. He was in the Machine Gun Corps (the regiment with no history to fall back on, and a 36% casualty rate).
The form completed by his commanding officer has faded badly but I can make out “Sobriety: drinker. Is he reliable? Fairly. Is he intelligent? Average.”
When he wasn’t called back after six months, he married a German girl in Crouch End.