Glossary
| A Gp | Army Group |
| Abn | Airborne |
| ADSEC | Advance Section |
| Admin | Administrative |
|
Alarmbataillon |
Emergency alert battalion |
|
Alarmeinheit |
Emergency alert unit |
|
Anlage |
Appendix or annex |
| AW | Automatic weapons |
| Armd | Armored |
| Arty | Artillery |
| BAR | Browning automatic rifle |
| Bn | Battalion |
| Bomb | Bombardment |
| Br | British |
| Cav | Cavalry |
| CCA | Combat Command A |
| CCB | Combat Command B |
| CCR | Combat Command Reserve |
| CCS | Combined Chiefs of Staff |
| CG | Commanding general |
| CinC | Commander in Chief |
| CO | Commanding officer |
| Co | Company |
| CofS | Chief of Staff |
| Comdr | Commander |
| Conv | Conversation |
|
Das Volk |
German people |
| Dir | Directive |
| DSC | Distinguished Service Cross |
| Dtd | Dated |
| DUKW | 2½-ton, 6 x 6 amphibian truck used for short runs from ship to shore |
| Ech | Echelon |
| EM | Enlisted men |
| Engr | Engineer |
|
Ersatzheer |
Replacement Army |
| ETO | European Theater of Operations |
| Evng | Evening |
| Ex | Executive |
| FA | Field Artillery |
| FAAA | First Allied Airborne Army |
|
Feldheer |
Field Army |
| FO | Field order |
|
Füsilier battalion |
Separate infantry battalion performing both reconnaissance and support in German division |
| FUSA | First U.S. Army |
| GHQ | General Headquarters |
|
Heeresgruppe |
Army group |
| Hist | Historical; history |
| Hq | Headquarters |
| Ind | Indorsement |
| Instrs | Instructions |
| Intel | Intelligence |
| Interv | Interview |
| IPW | Interrogation of prisoner of war |
| Jnl | Journal |
|
Kampfgruppe |
German combat group of variable size |
|
KTB |
Kriegstagebuch (war diary) |
|
Kurhaus |
Thermal bath establishment |
|
Landesschützen battalion |
Home Guard battalion sometimes employed outside Germany |
| Ltr | Letter |
| MEW | Mobile Early Warning |
| Mng | Morning |
| Msg | Message |
| Mtg | Meeting |
| NCO | Noncommissioned officer |
|
Nebelwerfer |
Multiple rocket projector |
| NUSA | Ninth U.S. Army |
| O | Officer |
|
OB WEST |
Oberbefehlshaber West (Headquarters, Commander in Chief West [France, Belgium, and the Netherlands]), highest German ground headquarters of the Western Front until May 1945 |
| OCMH | Office of the Chief of Military History |
|
OKH |
Oberkommando des Heeres (Army High Command) |
|
OKL |
Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (Luftwaffe High Command) |
|
OKM |
Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine (Navy High Command) |
|
OKW |
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Armed Forces [Joint] High Command) |
| Opn | Operation |
| Organization Todt | Paramilitary construction organization of the Nazi party, auxiliary to the Wehrmacht. Named after its founder, Dr. Todt. |
|
Ost-Bataillon |
Non-German volunteer troops from east-European countries |
| Panzerfaust | Recoilless German antitank rocket, hand carried. A “one-shot” weapon. |
| Per | Periodic |
| Prcht | Parachute |
|
Puppchen |
A two-wheeled bazooka |
| PWI | Prisoner of war interrogation |
| RAF | Royal Air Force |
| Rcd | Record |
| Rcn | Reconnaissance |
| Regt | Regiment |
| Rpt | Report |
|
Schuetzenpanzerwagen |
Armored half-track |
|
Schuh mine |
German antipersonnel mine |
| S–2 | Intelligence officer or section of regimental or lower staff |
| S–3 | Operations officer or section of regimental or lower staff |
| SCR | Signal Corps radio |
| Sec | Section |
| SHAEF | Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force |
| Sitrep | Situation report |
| SP | Self-propelled |
|
Sportplatz |
Sports stadium |
| Sq | Squadron |
|
SS |
Schutzstaffel (Elite Guard) |
| Tac | Tactical |
| T/5 | Technician Fifth Grade |
| Tel | Telephone |
|
Topf mine |
German antitank mine |
| TOT | Time on target, a method of timing artillery fire from various points to fall on a given target simultaneously |
| TUSA | Third U.S. Army |
|
Vergeltung |
Vengeance |
| VHF | Very high frequency |
|
Waffen-SS |
Combat arm of the SS (Schutzstaffel, Elite Guard); in effect a partial duplication of the German Army |
|
Wehrkreis |
German Army administrative area, for the most part inside greater Germany |
|
Werfer |
Rocket projector |
|
WFSt |
Wehrmachtführungsstab (Armed Forces Operations Staff) |