Glossary
AAA | Antiaircraft artillery |
AAF | Army Air Forces |
AAR | After action report |
Abn | Airborne |
ACIGS | Assistant Chief, Imperial General Staff |
Admin | Administrative |
ADSEC | Advance Section |
AEAF | Allied Expeditionary Air Force |
AEF | Allied Expeditionary Force |
AF | Air Force |
AFA | American Forces in Action |
AGF | Army Ground Forces |
AGp | Army Group |
AGWAR | Adjutant General, War Department |
Ammo | Ammunition |
ANCXF | Allied Naval Commander Expeditionary Force |
Anlage(n) | Appendix or annex |
ANVIL | The plan for the Allied invasion of southern France |
Armd | Armored |
Arty | Artillery |
Avn | Aviation |
AW | Automatic weapons |
BAOR | British Army Operations Records |
BAR | Browning automatic rifle |
BCT | Battalion combat team |
Bd | Board |
BLUECOAT | British Second Army attack south from Caumont, beginning on 29 July 1944 |
Bn | Battalion |
Br | Branch; British |
C | Combat |
Cav | Cavalry |
CB | Combat battalion |
CCA | Combat Command A |
CCB | Combat Command B |
CCR | Combat Command R |
CCS | Combined Chiefs of Staff |
CG | Commanding General |
CT | Combat Interviews |
CIGS | Chief, Imperial General Staff |
CinC | Commander in Chief |
Circ | Circulation |
Cm’ | Chemical |
CO | Commanding Officer |
Co | Company |
COBRA | First Army plan and operation to penetrate the German defenses in the Cotentin by the combination of concentrated power on the ground and overwhelming bombardment from the air; the breakthrough starting 25 July |
CofS | Chief of Staff |
Comd | Command |
Comdr | Commander |
COMZ | Communications Zone |
Conf | Conference |
Conti | Control |
COSSAC | Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (designate) |
CP | Command post |
CROSSBOW | The Allied air attacks by heavy bombers on the launching sites for the German V—1 weapons |
Dept | Department |
Dir | Directive |
Div | Division |
Doc | Document |
DRAGOON | The plan for the Allied invasion of southern France, code name that replaced |
ANVIL | |
DSC | Distinguished Service Cross |
ECB | Engineer combat battalion |
Engr | Engineer |
ESB | Engineer special brigade |
Est | Estimate |
ETHINT | European Theater Historical Interview of former German military personnel |
ETOUSA | European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army |
EUCOM | European Command |
FA | Field artillery |
FFI | Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur (French Forces of the Interior) |
Flak | Antiaircraft |
Fld | Field |
FO | Field Order |
714 | BREAKOUT AND PURSUIT |
FORTITUDE | Allied deception operations designed to convince the Germans of an invasion of western Europe in the Pas-de-Calais area |
FUSA | First U.S. Army |
G-1 | Personnel section of division or higher staff |
G-2 | Intelligence section of division or higher |
staff | |
G-3 | Operations section of division or higher staff |
G-4 | Logistics and Supply section of division or higher staff |
Gen | General |
GOODWOOD | British Second Army plan and operation, south of Caen, 18 July 1944 |
Gp | Group |
HE | High-explosive |
Hist | Historical |
Hosp | Hospital |
Hq | Headquarters |
IG | Inspector General |
Immed | Immediate |
Incl | Inclosure |
Inf | Infantry |
Info | Information |
Instr | Instruction |
Intel | Intelligence |
Interv | Interview |
I.S.I.S. | Inter-Service Information Series |
Jnl | Journal |
JPS | Joint Staff Planners |
Jt | Joint |
King Tigers | German heavy tanks |
KTB | Kriegstagebuch (war dairy) |
Ltr | Letter |
LVT (1) | Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Unarmored (Mark I) “Alligator” |
MC | Medical Corps |
Mecz | Mechanized |
Mil | Military |
Min | Minutes |
MIRS | Military Intelligence Research Section |
MLR | Main line of resistance |
Msg | Message |
Mtg | Meeting |
NCWTF | Naval Commander Western Task Force |
Nebelwerfer | Rocket projector or chemical mortar |
NEPTUNE | The plan for the invasion of western Europe, used for security reasons after September 1943 in place of OVERLORD |
OB WEST | Oberbefehlshaber West |
Oberbefehlshaber West | Highest ground headquarters of the Western Front |
Oberster Befehlshaber der Deutschen Wehrmacht | Supreme Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces |
Objs | Objectives |
Obs | Observation |
OCMH | Office of the Chief of Military History |
OKH | Oberkommando des Heeres (Army High Command) |
OKL |
Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (Air Force High Command) |
OKM | Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine (Navy High Command) |
OKW | Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Armed Forces High Command) |
OMAHA | The Normandy beach assaulted by the U.S. V Corps on 6 June 1944 |
ONI | Office of Naval Intelligence |
OP | Observation post |
Opn (s) | Operation (s) |
Ord | Ordnance |
OVERLORD | Plan for the invasion of western Europe in 1944 designed to secure for the Allies the lodgment area bounded by the Seine, Eure, and Loire Rivers |
Panther | German Mark V tank |
Panzerfaust | Recoilless German antitank rocket, hand-carried |
Per | Periodic |
Ping | Planning |
POL | Petrol, oil, and lubricants |
Prog | Progress |
PS | Planning staff |
PWI | Prisoner of war interrogation |
Pz | Panzer |
QMG | Quartermaster General |
RAF | Royal Air Force |
Rcd | Record |
RCT | Regimental combat team |
Recon | Reconnaissance |
Regt | Regiment |
Rev | Revised |
Rhinos | Rhinoceros attachments to cut hedgerows |
Rpt | Report |
S-3 | Operations and training section of a unit not having a general staff |
SC | Supreme Commander |
SCAEF | Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force |
SCR | Signal Corps radio |
Sec | Section |
Secy | Secretary |
Sery | Service |
SGS | Secretary, General Staff |
SHAEF | Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force |
Sig | Signal |
Sitrep | Situation report |
SOP | Standing operating procedure |
SP | Self-propelled |
Spec | Special |
Sq | Squadron |
SS | Shutzstaffel (Elite Guard) |
TAC | Tactical Air Command |
TD | Tank destroyer |
Tel | Telephone |
Telecon | Telephone conversation |
Telg | Telegram |
TF | Task force |
Tiger | German Mark VI (heavy tank) |
Tk | Tank |
TOTALIZE | First Canadian Army attack toward Falaise, 8 August 1944 |
TSFET | Theater Service Forces European Theater |
TUSA | Third U.S. Army |
USAF | U.S. Air Force |
USAFET | U.S. Army Forces, European Theater |
USFET | U.S. Forces in the European Theater |
USSAFE | U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe |
USSTAF | U.S. Strategic Air Forces |
UTAH | The Normandy beach assaulted by the U.S. VII Corps on 6 June 1944 |
V-1 | Vergeltungswaffe (Vengeance weapon) |
V-2 | Supersonic rockets |
VHF | Very high frequency |
Waffen SS | Combat arm of the SS |
Wehrmacht | Armed Forces |
Wehrmachtbefehlshaber | Armed Forces Commander |
Werfer | Mortar, rocket launcher |
WFSt | Wehrmachtführungsstab (Armed Forces Operations Staff) |
WP | White phosphorus |