Appendix
Glossary of Abbreviations and Foreign Terms

a. D. (außer Dienst)

Retired (from service)

Armeeabteilung

A reinforced corps, under a corps commander with a corps staff

Armeegruppe

A weak improvised army under an army commander with an improvised army staff

Caserne

Barracks

Diplorningenieur

Graduate engineer

Divisionsgruppe

A weak improvised division with an improvised division staff

Feldkommandantur

Administrative Area Hq (Regt level) in occupied territory

FFI

French Forces of the Interior

Freiherr (Frhr.)

Baron (title of nobility)

Frogattenkapitaen

Commander (Navy)

Gauleiter

Official in charge of a Nazi party administrative area (Gau)

Generaladmiral

Fleet Admiral

Generalarbeitsfuehrer

Senior official of the Reich Labor Service (RAD)

Generalarzt

Brigadier General (Medical)

General der Artillene

Lieutenant General (Artillery)

General der Fallschirmtruppen

Lieutenant General (Paratroops)

General der Flakartillerie

Lieutenant General (Antiaircraft Artillery)

General der Flieger

Lieutenant General (Air Force)

General der Gebirgstruppen

Lieutenant General (Mountain Troops)

General der Infanterie

Lieutenant General (Infantry)

General der Kavallerie

Lieutenant General (Cavalry)

General der Nachrichtentruppen

Lieutenant General (Signal)

General der Panzertruppen

Lieutenant General (Armor)

General der Pioniere

Lieutenant General (Engineers)

General der Waffen-SS

Lieutenant Genera! (Schutz-Staffel)

Generalfeldmarschall

Field Marshal

Generalintendant

Civilian official (QMC) with equivalent rank of a Brigadier General

Generalleutnant

Major General

Generaimajor

Brigadier General

Generaloberst

Four star General

Generalstabsrichter

Major General (JAG)

Graf

Count (title of nobility)

Grenadier (Gren.)

Honorary designation of all infantry regiments after 1942

Großadmiral

Fleet Admiral

Hauptmann

Captain (Army)

i. G. (im Generalstab)

GSC

Jaeger

Light infantry

Kampfgruppe

Battle Group; a term loosely assigned to improvised combat units of various sizes, named usually after their commanders

Konteradmiral

Rear Admiral

Korpsgruppe

A weak improvised corps with an improvised corps staff

Korvettenkapitaen

Lieutenant Commander (Navy)

KTB (Kriegstagebuch)

Unit war diary

Lehr

prefix indicating a demonstration unit

Luftgau

Air Force administrative command; a territorial subdivision of the administrative and supply organization of the Luftwaffe

Lw

Luftwaffe

Luftwaffenfeld (LwFd)

(prefix) Field (infantry combat) units of the Luftwaffe

Marine

(prefix) Naval

Ministerialrat

Ministerial Counselor (senior civil servant)

OB (Oberbefehlshaber)

Normally a Theater Headquarters, sometimes the Theater Commander

Oberleutnant

1st Lieutenant

Oberst

Colonel

Oberstleutnant

Lieutenant Colonel

OCMH

Office, Chief of Military History (Washington D.C.)

OKH (Oberkommando des Heeres)

Army High Command

OKL (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe)

Luftwaffe High Command

OKM (Oberkommando der Marine)

Navy High Command

OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht)

Armed Forces (Joint) High Command

Panzer (Pz)

(prefix) Armored

Panzergrenadier (Pz Gren)

usually motorized, occasionally mechanized, infantry

Panzergruppe

armored force, the size of an army but operating in conjunction with an army

RAD (Reichsarbeatsdienst)

Reich Labor Service; roughly equivalent to the CCC, but Nazi-dominated and continued active in wartime

Regierungsbaumeister

Civilian construction official with equivalent rank of a colonel

Rifter

Knight (title of nobility)

Rittmeister

Captain (Cavalry)

SS (Schutz-Staffel)

The Nazi Party Elite Corps; however, in military titles SS usually implies Waffen-

SS

(see explanation below)

SS-Gruppenfuehrer

Major General (SS)

SS-Obergruppenfuehrer

Lieutenant General (SS)

SS-Oberstgruppenfuehrer

Full General (SS)

Vizeadmiral

Vice Admiral

Volks

(prefix) Unit organized or reorganized after the total mobilization late in 194-4

Volksgrenadier (VG)

A term first applied in autumn 1944 to reorganized infantry divisions with reduced T/O and increased ratio of automatic weapons

Voikssturm

People's militia--somewhat resembles wartime State Guard in the US

Waffen-SS

Combat arm of the SS--in effect a partial duplication of the German Army

Wehrkreis

Military district; the basic military area of Germany, resembling somewhat the prewar U. S. Corps Area; had the additional functions of administering conscription and furnishing replacements to specific units (divisions and corps) whose home station is in the Wehrkreis

Wehrmacht

The Armed Forces

WFSt (Wehrmachtfuehrungsstab)

Armed Forces Operations Staff (Operations Division of the Armed Forces High Command)

z. b. V. (zur besonderen Verwendung

for special employment

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