Red Tops — A derogatory terms for the tabloid newspapers in the United Kingdom. It refers to the red banner across the top of several of the newspapers. More Information.
RPG — a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon system that fires rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. More Information.
SA80 — standard issue 5.56x45mm rifle for UK military since 1987. A selective fire, gas-operated assault rifle. More Information.
Sangar — is a temporary fortified position built of sandbags or similar materials. More Information.
Scratcher — a military slang term for sleeping bag, or more generally, bed.
SUSAT — a 4x telescopic sight often fitted to SA80 rifles. The Sight Unit Small Arms, Trilux, or SUSAT, has tritium-powered illumination utilised at dusk or dawn. See also SA80. More Information.
Terry — a military slang term for a member of the Taliban.
Triage — the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition. From the French verb ‘triager’ - to sort. More Information.
UAV — Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. A remotely controlled aircraft without a human pilot on board. More Information.
Ugly — A common nickname for the Apache helicopter, based on its appearance. Also a commonly used callsign for them, with the individual helicopter identified with numbers, for example, Ugly 19.
WMIK — Pronounced ‘Wimick’, a WMIK is a common name for a type of Land Rover Wolf based on the Land Rover Defender. The acronym stands for Weapons Mounted Installation Kit, which adds machine guns to the rear and passenger side. More Information.
Zulu Time — a time zone used by the military which indicates Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). More Information.
Acknowledgments
There’s a whole bunch of people without whom this book would never have seen the light of day! There’s even a few people who may recognise bits of themselves in the book — if you do, well, you know who you are so I’m not going to name you here! There is a story behind this story, but I have taken many liberties and any errors are entirely mine.
I’m not a fan of the term ‘self-publishing’ — there’s a whole team behind me that I couldn’t do without. So in no particular order, here they all are.
Cara F., my editor has been fantastic as always (and I promise that one day I will learn how to use commas properly!). My small but perfectly formed team of advisors deserve a special mention — so in strict first name alphabetical order, massive thanks are due to Alistair G., Bob S., Cynthia G., John K., Marianne E., and last but not least, Sue S. Thank you all for your help, support, and most of all, encouragement!
Paul H., my cover designer, deserves a special mention for stopping me from trying to do my own covers and showing me how it should be done!
Finally, this acknowledgement section won’t be complete without thanking my much better half without whom none of this would be possible.
Irene — thank you for everything.
Nathan Burrows.
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