"88"
| German 88-mm. high-velocity dual-purpose antiaircraft and antitank piece |
Ersatzheer
| German Replacement Army |
ETO
| European Theater of Operations |
ExecO
| Executive officer |
FA
| Field artillery |
Feldheer
| German Field Army |
Flak
| Antiaircraft |
FM
| Frequency modulation |
FO
| Field order |
Fuesilier battalion
| Separate infantry battalion performing both reconnaissance and support in German division |
FUSA
| First United States Army |
FWD
| Forward headquarters |
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 |
Grazing fire
| Fire which is approximately parallel to the ground and does not rise above the height of a man, standing |
Half-track
| Combination wheeled and tracked armored personnel carrier |
H-hour
| Exact time on D-day at which a specific operation commences |
Hilfswillige
| Volunteer auxiliaries (non-German) |
Hist
| History |
Hp
| Horsepower |
Hq
| Headquarters |
Incl
| Inclosure |
Inf
| Infantry |
Info
| Information |
Intell
| Intelligence |
JCS
| Joint Chiefs of Staff |
JIC
| Joint Intelligence Committee |
Jnl
| Journal |
Jump-off
| Start of a planned ground attack |
Kampfgruppe
| German task force |
Kampfkommandant
| German combat commander |
Kampfstaerke
| Combat effective strength |
Landesschuetzen
| Home Guard battalion sometimes employed outside Germany |
LCM
| Landing craft, medium |
LCVP
| Landing craft, vehicle and personnel |
Ltr
| Letter |
Luftwaffe
| German Air Force |
LVT
| Landing vehicle, tracked |
M1 (Garand)
| American semiautomatic rifle |
M4 (Sherman)
| American medium tank |
M10
| American tank destroyer with 3-inch gun |
M26 (Pershing)
| American medium tank mounting a 90-mm. gun |
M36
| American tank destroyer mounting a high-velocity 110-mm. piece |
Marching fire
| Firing by troops while erect and advancing |
Mark IV
| German medium tank |
Mark V (Panther)
| German medium tank with heavy armor and high-velocity gun |
Mark VI (Tiger)
| German heavy tank |
Min
| Minutes |
Mm
| Millimeter |
MS(S)
| Manuscript(s) |
Msg
| Message |
NAF
| Symbol for messages from the Combined Chiefs of Staff to the Commander in Chief, Allied Expeditionary Force |
Nebelwerfer
| Multiple-barrel 150-mm. mortar or rocket launcher mounted on wheels and fired electrically |
NUSA
| Ninth United States Army |
OB NEDERLANDER
| Oberbefehlshaber Nederlander (Headquarters, Commander in Chief Netherlands) |
OB NORDWEST
| Oberbefehlshaber Nordwest (Headquarters, Commander in Chief Northwest [northwest Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands]) |
OB NW
| See OB NORDWEST |
OB SUED
| Oberbefehlshaber Sued (Headquarters, Commander in Chief South [southern Germany and several army groups on the Eastern Front]) |
OB WEST
| Oberbefehlshaber West (Headquarters, Commander in Chief West [France, Belgium, and the Netherlands]) |
OCMH
| Office, Chief of Military History |
OKH
| Oberkommando des Heeres (Army High Command) |
OKW
| Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces) |
OPD
| Operations Division |
Opn(s)
| Operation(s) |
Opnl
| Operational |
Panzerfaust
| One-shot, shaped-charge antitank weapon |
Plunging fire
| Gunfire that strikes the earth's surface at a high angle |
POZIT
| Proximity fuze |
PX
| Post Exchange |
RAMPS
| Recovered Allied Military Personnel |
Ranger
| Soldier specially trained to make surprise attacks on enemy territory |
Ret
| Retired |
Rpt
| Report |
S-2
| Intelligence officer or section of regimental or lower staff |
S-3
| Operations officer or section |
SACMED
| Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater |
SCAF
| Designates cables from Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, to the Combined Chiefs of Staff |
SCR
| Set complete radio |
Seamule
| 38-foot tug powered by two 143-hp. engines |
Sec
| Section |
SGS
| Secretary, General Staff |
SHAEF
| Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force |
Sitrep
| Situation report |
S-mine
| German antipersonnel mine |
SS
| Schutzstaffel (Elite Guard) |
Storm boat
| Metal ponton propelled by 50-hp. outboard motor |
Sub
| Subject |
Sum
| Summary |
SUSA
| Seventh United States Army |
T26
| See M26 |
TAC
| Tactical Air Command |
Tagesstaerke
| Present for duty strength |
TD
| Tank destroyer |
Telecon
| Telephone conversation |
T-forces
| Special forces designated to search for items of scientific value |
TM
| Technical manual |
TOT
| Time on target, a method of timing artillery fire from various points to fall on a given target simultaneously |
Tree burst
| Explosion of shells against trees, designed to destroy troops underneath |
TUSA
| Third United States Army |
TWX
| Teletypewriter exchange |
USA
| United States Army |
USAF
| United States Air Force |
USAREUR
| United States Army, Europe |
USNR
| United States Naval Reserve |
V-2
| German supersonic rocket |
Volksdeutsche
| "Racial Germans" from border areas of adjacent countries |
Volks Grenadier
| Honorific accorded by Hitler to certain infantry divisions |
Volkssturm
| A people's militia, partially organized in one of the last steps of German mobilization for total war |
VT
| Variable time (fuze) |
Waffen-SS
| Military arm of the Nazi party |