Glossary
AAI | Allied Armies in Italy |
AAR | After Action Report |
Actg | Acting |
AF | Air Force |
Anlage |
Appendix or annex |
A and P | Ammunition and Pioneer |
AR | Army Regulations |
Armd | Armored |
Arty | Artillery |
AT | Antitank |
Atchd | Attached |
Atk | Attack |
Bailey bridge | Portable steel bridge of the “through” type. The roadway is supported by two main trusses composed of ten-foot sections called “panels” pinned together to form a continuous truss. Capacity may be increased by adding extra trusses alongside the first, by adding an extra truss on top of the first to make a second story, or by both means. |
Bn | Battalion |
BAR | Browning automatic rifle |
Bazooka | Recoilless antitank rocket launcher, hand-carried |
Bazooka pants | Additional armor to protect tank tracks from antitank fire |
Br | Bridge |
Btry | Battery |
Burp gun |
A colloquial term applied by American troops to German submachine guns of the MP (Maschinenpistole) 40 type |
(C) | Combat |
CCA | Combat Command A, one of the major, flexible combat formations in armored divisions |
CCB | Combat Command B, in armored division |
CCR | Reserve Combat Command, in armored division |
CE | Corps of Engineers |
CG | Commanding General |
Cml | Chemical |
CO | Commanding Officer |
Co | Company |
CofS | Chief of Staff |
Comdg | Commanding |
Comdr | Commander |
Com | Communications |
CP | Command post |
D Day | Target date for the beginning of a specific military operation |
Div | Division |
EM | Enlisted men |
Engr | Engineer |
Equip | Equipment |
ETHINT | European Theater Historical Interview of former German military personnel |
ETO | European Theater of Operations |
Ex Off | Executive Officer |
FA | Field Artillery |
Fahnenjunkerschule |
German officer candidate school |
Feldgericht |
Military tribunal of summary nature |
FO | Field order; forward observer |
FUSA | First United States Army |
G-1 | Personnel officer or section of divisional or higher staff |
G-2 | Intelligence officer or section |
G-3 | Operations officer or section |
G-4 | Supply officer or section |
Gp | Group |
Gren |
Grenadier |
H Hour | Exact minute for the beginning of a specific military operation |
Hist | Historical |
Hq | Headquarters |
Hv | Heavy |
Inf | Infantry |
Info | Information |
Instn | Instruction |
Intel | Intelligence |
Interv | Interview |
IPW | Interrogation Prisoners of War |
Jnl | Journal |
Kampfgruppe | German combat group of variable size |
KIA | Killed in action |
K ration | One of several types of emergency field rations |
KTB |
Kriegstagebuch (War Diary) |
Landesschuetzen |
German local security units, designed for rear-area service but later pressed into front-line duty. |
Ldr | Leader |
Ln | Liaison |
Lt | Lieutenant; light |
Ltr | Letter |
(M) | Medium |
M-4 (Sherman) | American medium tank |
M-10 (Tank Destroyer) | American vehicle, lightly armored, mounting a 3-inch gun, highly maneuverable |
M-18 (Tank Destroyer) | Same as M-10 but mounting a 76-mm. gun |
M-20 (Smoke Generator) | A generator for making smoke from fuel oil under combat conditions |
M-29 (Weasel) | Tracked, lightly armored cargo carrier |
MAAF | Mediterranean Allied Air Force |
MAC | Medical Administrative Corps |
Machine pistol | German submachine gun, known to American troops as a “burp gun” |
Mark IV | German medium tank |
Mark V (Panther) | German heavy tank |
Mark VI (Tiger) | German heavy tank |
MATAF | Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force |
Med | Medical; Mediterranean |
MIA | Missing in action |
MID | Military Intelligence Division |
MLR | Main line of resistance |
Mm. | Millimeter |
Msg | Message |
Mtr | Motor |
Nachrichtenschule |
Signal school |
NCO | Noncommissioned officer |
OB WEST |
Oberbefehlshaber West (Highest German ground headquarters on the Western Front) |
OCMH | Office of the Chief of Military History |
Off | Officer |
OKW |
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Armed Forces High Command) |
OP | Observation post |
Opn | Operation |
Panther | German Mark V heavy tank |
Panzerfaust |
Recoilless German antitank rocket, hand-carried. A “one-shot” weapon. |
Pcht | Parachute |
PL | Public Law |
Plat | Platoon |
Pon | Ponton |
Pz | Panzer |
RAF | Royal Air Force |
Rcn | Reconnaissance |
Regt | Regiment |
Ret | Retired |
Rpt | Report |
S-1 | Personnel officer or section of regimental or lower staff |
S-2 | Intelligence officer or section |
S-3 | Operations officer or section |
S-4 | Supply officer or section |
SCR | Signal Corps radio |
Sec | Section |
SG | Smoke Generator |
Sherman | American medium tank, M-4 |
Sit Rpt | Situation Report |
S-mine | German antipersonnel mine |
SP | Self-propelled |
SS |
See Waffen-SS. |
Subj | Subject |
Sum | Summary |
T-2 retriever | Tank recovery vehicle of the M-31 series |
TAC | Tactical Air Command |
TD | Tank destroyer |
Tdwy | Treadway |
Teller mine | German antitank mine |
TF | Task force |
Tiger | German Mark VI heavy tank |
Tk | Tank |
Tns | Trains |
TOT | Time on target, a method of timing artillery fire from various points to fall on a given target simultaneously. |
Tp | Telephone |
Trps | Troops |
TUSA | Third United States Army |
USAAF | United States Army Air Force |
USAF | United States Air Force |
Waffen-SS |
Combat arm of the SS (Schutzstaffel—Elite Guard); in effect a partial duplication of the German Army. |
Weasel (M-29) | Tracked, lightly armored cargo carrier |
WIA | Wounded in action |
Wpns | Weapons |