Authors: Anthony G Williams
Flakpanzer
AA tank
Flakvisier
sighting system for anti-aircraft guns
Fliegerführer
Atlantik
Luftwaffe commander of maritime aviation over the Atlantic
Fliegerkorps
air corps, typically with 300–750 aircraft
Freya
air defence radar
Fühlungshalter
master fighter; fighter pilot who guided attacks on Allied bombers
Führer
leader: title given to Hitler
Führerhauptquartier
(FHQ): Hitler’s headquarters (there were several)
Führersonderzug
Hitler’s special train
G7a
submarine torpedo
Gebirgsjäger
mountain troops (translation: mountain hunters)
Gefechsstand
command post
Gefreiter
Army rank, equivalent to lance-corporal
Geleitzugschlact
travelling convoy battle
Generalleutnant
Lieutenant-General
Generalmajor
Major-General
Geschwader
Luftwaffe unit equivalent to a wing (90 planes)
Gruppe
Luftwaffe unit equivalent to squadron
Gruppe
Kommandeur
Group Commander; Luftwaffe rank
Hartkernmunition
hard (tungsten) cored AP projectile
Hauptman
rank equivalent to Army captain or flight-lieutenant
Heinrich
radio jamming, used against Gee
Horchdienst
radio “eavesdropping” service
Hornisse
SPATG using the 8,8cm AA gun in an armoured box on the Panzer III chassis.
Jagdpanzer
“hunting tank”: a model of heavy SPATG
Kammhuber Line
a line of defences against night bombers
Kampfgeschwader
bomber unit
Kanalkueste
part of Channel coast between
Kanonier
gunner
Kapitän
Captain, German navy
Kapitänleutnant
First Lieutenant, German navy
Kesselschlacht
cauldron battle: one in which the enemy is surrounded
Kommandogerät 36
Flak director
Korfu
used to detect H2S transmissions
Korvettenkäpitan
naval rank equivalent to Lieutenant-Commander
Kriegsherr
term for the Führer
Kriegsmarine
German Navy
Kurier
target (used by fighter controllers)
Lagebesprechung
Hitler’s daily conferences to discuss the military situation
Leichentuch
shroud – anti-bomber tactic of using searchlights to illuminate clouds from below to reveal bombers flying above them
Leutnant
equivalent to second lieutenant
Luger
service pistol, the first to use the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge
Luftwaffe
German air force
Luftwaffehelferin
female Luftwaffe staff
"Machen Sie Pauke”
order
to attack (informal term used by fighter controllers)
Marder
self-propelled anti-tank gun (the specification varied)
Marine-Kurier
naval radio system sending compressed messages in short bursts to minimise the risk of detection
Mauser Kar 98
standard bolt-action infantry rifle firing the 7.92x57 mm cartridge.
Metox
radar warning receiver; not sensitive to centimetric radar (see
Naxos)
MG 131
aircraft heavy machine gun, 13 mm calibre (Rheinmetall-Borsig
) [available earlier]
MG 151/20
aircraft cannon, 2 cm calibre, designed by Mauser
MK 103
large, high-velocity aircraft and anti-aircraft cannon, 3 cm calibre (Rheinmetall-Borsig)
[available earlier]
MK 108
compact, low-velocity, fast-firing 3 cm aircraft cannon (Rheinmetall-Borsig)
[available earlier]
M-Geschoss
Minengeschoss or mine shell; light weight and high capacity
Nachtjäger
night-fighter
Nachtjagdgeschwader
night-fighter unit
Naxos
radar warning receiver; sensitive to centimetric radar (see Metox)
Naxos-Z
airborne version of Naxos
Nebelwerfer
mortar
Obergruppenführer
Waffen SS rank equivalent to General
Oberleutnant
equivalent to first lieutenant
Oberst
equivalent to colonel
Oberstleutnant
equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel
OKH
High Command of the German Army (Oberkommando des Heeres)
OKL
High Command of the German Air Force (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe)
OKM
High Command of the German Navy (Oberkommando der Marine)
OKW
High Command of the German armed forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht)
Panzer
shortened form of Panzerkampfwagen (
q.v.
)
Panzeraufklärungs-
armoured reconnaissance unit
abteilung
Panzerbefehlswagen
armoured command vehicle
Panzerfaust
shoulder-fired recoilless anti-tank weapon
Panzergrenadiers
troops accompanying armoured units
Panzergruppe
armoured group
Panzerjäger
anti-tank self-propelled gun (translation: tank hunter)
Panzerkampfwagen
tank (translation: armoured battle vehicle)
Panzerspähwagen
armoured car
Panzertransportwagen
armoured transport
Peenemunde
research centre for rockets and projectiles
"
Pfielgeschoss
arrow shell – long-range sub-calibre HE artillery shell
Personenkraftwagen
armoured personnel carrier
Pioneeren
pioneers – military engineers
Pz
abbreviation of PzKpfw (
q.v.
)
PzKpfw
abbreviation of Panzerkampfwagen (
q.v.
)
PzKpfw II
light tank
PzKpfw III
25-30 ton battle tank with 5 cm L/60 gun (7
,5
cm L/45 in later versions) [similar to the historical PzKpfw III but with thicker sloped armour and introduced instead of the historical PzKpfwIII and IV]
PzKpfw IV
(Panther) 40-45 ton battle tank armed with 88mm L/56 gun; Ausf.B with 88mm L/71 and extra armour [similar to the historical PzKpfwVI Panther.
The historical PzKpfw IV was an earlier 25 ton tank]
Reichsjägerwelle
fighter broadcast frequency
Rheinmetall-Borsig
armaments firm, designers of MG 131, MK 103, MK 108
Rotterdamgerät
term for British H2S
RSHA
Reichssicherheitshauptamt: Reich Central Security Office
Rudeltaktik
tactic of attacking convoys with groups of submarines
(known as "wolf packs" by the British)
SA
Nazi private army (Sturmabteilung: Storm Detachment)
S-boot
(plural S-boote): Schnellboot (fast boat) = MTB
Scharführer
Waffen SS rank equivalent to Sergeant
Schnorkel
retractable air tube enabling submarines to run their diesel engines underwater
Schräge Musik
“jazz or oblique music”: used to describe upward-firing
aircraft
guns
employed in attacking bombers at night
Schwarm
a formation of four fighter aircraft
Schwartz Kapelle
“Black Orchestra”: Gestapo name for German resistance movement
Schwerpunkt
“heavy point”: the main focus of effort of a military attack
SD
Sicherheitsdienst = Security Service: the intelligence branch of the SS
SdKfz 221
4-ton, 4-wheel armoured car, with 7.92 mm MG
Sichelschnitt
sickle: used to describe the curving line of attack towards the Channel ports
Sitzbereitschaft
cockpit readiness
SS
Schutzstaffeln: elite guard of Nazi Party
Standartenführer
Waffen-SS Colonel
StG.40
automatic assault rifle designed around the 7.92mm Kurz (7.9x33mm) cartridge [identical to the historical StG.44 but available four years earlier]
Stuka
term for a dive-bomber (Sturzkampfflugzeug) which became particularly associated with the Ju 87
Sturmbannführer
Waffen SS rank, equivalent to Major
T5
see Zaunkönig
Truppenwetterdienst
military weather forecasting service
Typhoon
code word for operation to seize Moscow
Untermenschen
subhumans (literally, underpeople): Nazi term for Slavs
Unteroffizier
army rank equivalent to Corporal
Waffen SS
military wing of the SS
Walther P38
standard service semi-automatic pistol chambered for 9x19 mm Parabellum cartridge.
Walter turbine
experimental submarine propulsion system
Wehrmacht
armed forces (translation: defence power)
Weserübung
code name for the invasion of Denmark and Norway
Wolfram
tungsten
Wolfsschanze
“wolf’s lair”: code for the Rastenburg FHQ,
Wolfsschlucht
“wolf’s glen”: code for the Brûly-de-Pêche FHQ, Belgium
Wolfsschlucht 2
FHQ located at Margival, near Soissons, France
Würzburg
fighter and gun direction radar
Würz-Laus
feature which allows Würzburg to distinguish moving objects
Y-Gerät
radio navigation system for aircraft
xB-dienst
special section of Naval Intelligence concerned with code-breaking
X-Gerät
radio guidance system used for bomber navigation
Y-Gerät
radio guidance system used for bomber navigation
Zaunkönig
naval acoustic torpedo (sound king); also known as T5
Zeremonienmeister
Master Bomber
German Weapon Calibres
7.92 mm
rifle and machine-gun cartridge (7.92x57 mm)
7.92 mm Kurz
short cartridge of lower power for assault rifle (7.92x33 mm)
9 mm Luger
pistol and submachine gun cartridge (9x19 mm)
2 cm Flak 38
light automatic AA weapon (20x138 mm)