handlanger

noun2

1. •
   (South-Africa) An unskilled assistant to an artisan.

   • […] building himself brick by brick, with his wife as his only handlanger. — 1976
2. •
   (South-Africa, figurative) An aide, an assistant.

noun1

1. •
   (historical) A low-ranking artillery soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army.

   • The Handlanger soldier was not a gunner or a bombardier, since he merely acted as labour on gun-sites […] — 1973