Talk:Two six heave

The story regarding the British Royal Navy as the point of origin for "Two, six, heave" is not supported by evidence, and current scholarship is casting doubt on the veracity of the story as phrase origin. The earliest reference in print to "Two, six, heave" as yet known in maritime history and folklore scholarship is 1961. There is some anecdotal mention of it as early as the 1940s, but no earlier - and that is indeed unusual in the closely studied and avidly collected field of maritime folklore, the subject of fieldwork scouring since at least the 1880s. Some problems with the tale: The British Navy's six-man gun positions did not give the gun crews numbers, but named them "1st" and "2nd" after the jobs they were to do: 1st loader, 2nd loader, etc. See -- This origin may be an apocryphal story. Its history is obscured by the fact that since it appeared, the story has been avidly replicated in sail training books, on web sites, on working boats,and even in museums. But there is no evidence that it's at all 'traditional.' A citation contemporaneous with the supposed Royal Navy usage would be needed to support this story as the derivation of "two,six." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.63.122.237 (talk • contribs)


 * While the statement you make may be correct I think it warrants substantially more than that to put the "disputed" tag in the article. Your statement itself requires citations in order to make it a substantial dispute.
 * I support your right to dispute the factual accuracy, but do not support that tag. Thus I am removing the tag and suggesting more evidence is brought for each side of the discussion.  Fiddle Faddle 22:55, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

In the pre-war and war-time RAF, the call was simply "Two Six!". Used either to call for a coordinated effort or, by extension, calling all available hands (ie OR airmen) to the task. Moving aircraft in the absence of a tractor, or fuel cans in the absence of a truck, eg. RAF tradition includes elements carried over from the RNAS connection of WWI date. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.106.219 (talk) 05:29, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I was aware of the RAF connection long before I heard of any naval version. Supposedly the NCO of ground crew would receive a "form 26" to authorise preparing an aircraft for flight.24.108.28.165 (talk) 00:12, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

The article says "(i) Two men would be insufficient to haul out a gun, which could weigh in excess of two and a half tons" but later talks about block and tackle, or at least in the reference in the bottom it talks about pulley system (my point being it should reference that fact). I agree two may not have been enough, even with a few blocks, but maybe they lead the effort, and the other 4 helped, and thus their numbers shouted. I don't know why they'd be at the front but whoever is at the front of a line is important; they identify problems, set the angle of the line to be pulled etc. 82.8.69.174 (talk) 07:26, 3 July 2015 (UTC)Baldavier