What is "fougasse"

Fougade \Fou`gade"\, Fougasse \Fou`gasse"\, n. (Mil.) A small mine, in the form of a well sunk from the surface of the ground, charged with explosive and projectiles. It is made in a position likely to be occupied by the enemy.

n. 1 A type of lattice-shaped bread associated with the area of Provence. 2 An old-fashioned type of land mine, in the form of a foxhole filled with explosives or projectiles.

Cyril Kenneth Bird, pen name Fougasse (17 December 1887 - 11 June 1965) was a British cartoonist best known for his editorship of Punch magazine and his World War II warning propaganda posters. He also designed many posters for the London Underground.

The son of Arthur Bird, a company director, he was born in London and educated at Cheltenham College and King's College London (B.Sc). While at King's College he attended evening art classes at the Regent Street Polytechnic and at the School of Photo-Engraving in Bolt Court. On 16 Sep 1914 he married Mary Holden Caldwell.

He was seriously injured at the Battle of Gallipoli during World War I and invalided out of the British Army (his pen name is based on the fougasse, a type of mine). He first contributed to Punch in 1916, while convalescing, and also contributed to several other British newspapers and magazines, including the Graphic and Tatler.

As one of the best known cartoonists of the time, he was one of 170 authors who created doll-sized books exclusively for Queen Mary's Dolls' House; his illustrated verse tale, written on postage stamp-sized pages, was published as a regular-sized hardback in 2012 by the Royal Collection and Walker Books.

In the course of the 1920s and 1930s, his drawings evolved from the traditionally representational to an innovative, spare, style that was both unique and popular, featuring in many advertising campaigns as well as in magazine editorial. He became art editor of Punch from 1937 to 1949, then editor until 1953. He was the only cartoonist ever to edit the magazine. During World War II, he worked unpaid for the Ministry of Information, designing humorous but effective propaganda posters including the famous " Careless Talk Costs Lives" series. For this work he was awarded the honour of Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1946.

He illustrated and co-wrote several humorous books with W. D. H. McCullough. These included the very successful Aces Made Easy – or Pons asinorum in a nutshell, on the subject of contract bridge, in 1934, and You Have Been Warned – A Complete Guide to the Road, in 1935.

In the mid 1950s, he taught at the Christian Science Sunday School in the Sloane Square church, which has since been converted into the Cadogan Hall concert hall. He died in London, aged 77.

Since 2009 his cartoon of a butler carrying a tray has been used to illustrate the front page of British Airways' First Class menus, continuing an association with the airline which goes back to the 1930s when Fougasse penned advertising posters for BA's forerunner, Imperial Airways.

Fougasse may refer to:

• Fougasse (cartoonist) (1887-1965) - Cyril Kenneth Bird, editor of Punch 1949-53
• Fougasse (weapon)
• Fougasse (bread)

A fougasse is an improvised mortar constructed by making a hollow in the ground or rock and filling it with explosives (originally, black powder) and projectiles. The fougasse was well known to military engineers by the mid-eighteenth century but was also referred to by Vauban in the seventeenth century and was used by Samuel Zimmermann at Augsburg in the sixteenth century. This technique was used in several European wars, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War. The term is still used to describe such devices.

In French cuisine, fougasse is a type of bread typically associated with Provence but found (with variations) in other regions. Some versions are sculpted or slashed into a pattern resembling an ear of wheat.