by Colin Gee
de Havilland Vampire
British single engine jet aircraft, produced in fighter, night-fighter and carrier versions.
Der Totentanz
Dance of Death / Danse Macabre.
DFS-230
WW2 German glider for up to 9 men [15 for F1 version].
Dingo
British Daimler 4x4 reconnaissance and liaison vehicle.
DRH
Deutsches Republikanischen Heer [Army]
DRK
Deutsches Republikanischen Kreigsmarine [Navy]
DRL
Deutsches Republikanischen Luftwaffe [Air Force]
F80 Shooting Star
US single engine turbojet fighter.
FN
Fabrique National, Belgian arms manufacturer.
FOO
Forward Observation officer
FUSAG
First US Army group, a subterfuge around D-Day, intended to mislead the Germans about the invasion's focal point.
G43 Gewehr
German WW2 7.92mm semi-automatic rifle.
GC&CS
Government code & cypher school, now known as GCHQ, Cheltenham, UK.
Geffchen & Richter
Company that produced the first walk-through metal detectors [mid 1920s].
Gigant
German Messerschmitt 323, motorised version of a heavy gilder, equipped with six engines, and capable of carrying a light tank or other vehicles.
Govno
Soviet expression for shit/bullshit/rubbish
Gran Sasso
September 1943 raid by Fallschirmjager and SS troops to liberate Mussolini from Italian captors.
Grand Slam
British earthquake bomb containing 22000 lbs [10000 kgs] of Torpex D1, equivalent to 6.5 tons of TNT.
Hals-und beinbruch
Literal meaning is 'break a leg', but is always intended as 'good luck'.
He219
German night fighter, also known as the Uhu [Eagle-owl]. First operational military aircraft to have ejector seats. Was greatly feared, but only produced in small numbers.
HEAT
High-explosive, Anti-tank. Shaped charge shells that penetrate using the Monroe effect.
Heracles Missions
So named as Heracles had killed the multi-headed Hydra, the Heracles missions were designed to cut the head off the Red Army by killing the front and overall command structures in Europe.
Hershey Bar
American chocolate bar
Horch 1a
German 4x4 multi-purpose vehicle.
HS-129/B3
German Henschel twin-engine ground attack fighter, known as the Panzerknacker. B3 version was equipped with the 75mm Bordkanone, and was a successful tank killer.
Hundchen
Marriage of an SDKFZ 251 and a Pak43 88mm anti-tank gun. Unsuccessful as it was top heavy.
HVAP
High Velocity, Armour Piercing
Hyena
Panther hull married to an M4A3 or similar turret, mounting a 76mm gun.
Imperia
Belgian automotive factory.
IS-IV
Soviet upgraded version of the IS-III, with increased armour, improved engine, longer chassis, but retaining the 122mm gun.
Jaguar
Panther modification, similar to the Ausf F.
JU-388
German Junkers twin engine multi-role aircraft.
JU-52
German three engine transport aircraft.
JU-87D
German single engine dive-bomber, known as the Stuka.
Killick
RN Leading Seaman
Koorva
Ukrainian word meaning whore.
Lanchester
British copy of the MP28 SMG.
Lilliput Pistol
German semi-auto pistol of 4.25mm calibre. 4.25" long and with a barrel length of 1.75".
M-18 RCL
US recoilless rifle of 57mm diameter.
M-20 RCL
US recoilless rifle of 75mm diameter.
M-29 Cluster bomb
US 500lbs cluster bomb containing ninety 4lbs charges.
M39 grenade
German egg-grenade.
M8 Greyhound
US-manufactured six-wheel armoured car, armed with a 37mm gun.
M9A1 Bazooka
US 57mm diameter rocket AT weapon.
Mamayev Kurgan
Dominant feature in the Battle for Stalingrad. Height 102.2 changed hands a number of times.
Matrose
Soviet seaman
Maxson mount.
A powered gun mount for 4 .50cal heavy machine guns, effective as an AA weapon or for ground use.
Me 323 Gigant
German Messerschmitt 323, motorised version of a heavy gilder, equipped with six engines, and capable of carrying a light tank or other vehicles.
MG-FF
German 20mm auto cannon used by the Luftwaffe.
Oberwachtmeister
Literally, Senior watch master. In German Army, equivalent to Oberfeldwebel.
Operation Cascade
British deception operation mounted in 1942 in the Middle East.
Operation Freston
British mission to Southern Poland in January 1945. Considered a failure as most of its personnel were captured by the Red Army.
Operation Pantomime
Within RG, land operations including and following the coastal invasion of Poland.
Panje Cart
Horse-drawn cart used by the Red Army
Panther Felix
French-produced Panthers with a 17pdr gun.
Panther II
German upgraded Panther, with increased armour and gun mounted.
Project Raduga
Raduga is Russian for Rainbow.
PTRD
Soviet anti-tank rifle firing a 14.5mm round.
Pumpkin Bomb
US conventional HE bomb, built to resemble the 'Fat Man' Plutonium bomb.
Purple Heart
US military award for being wounded or killed in service. It was also awarded for meritorious performance of duty, which reason was subsequently discontinued.
RASC
Royal Army Service Corps
Rheinbote
In German, the Rhine Messenger, a short-range rocket intended for use as artillery, with an effective range of around 100 miles.
RNoAF
Royal Norwegian Air Force
Saab 17
Swedish single engine reconnaissance bomber.
Saab 21
Swedish single engine pusher type fighter/attack aircraft.
SAAG
Second Allied Army Group, a formation created to fool the Soviets about Allied intentions.
SAFFEC
South American Field Forces, European Command.
Schrage Musik
German upward firing auto cannons. Literally 'Jazz', the weapon enabled attacks from underneath target aircraft.
Schwimmwagen
German military car capable of 'swimming'. Powered by a rear mounted propeller and steered by the front wheels.
SCR-536 Handie-Talkie
The original walkie-talkie of early WW2 movie fame.
SGMT
Soviet infantry and tank mounted MG, also known as the SG43 Goryunov, firing a 7.62mm round.
Skata
Greek word for shit.
SKS
Soviet semi-automatic carbine of 7.62mm calibre, complete with integral bayonet.
Skyraider
US single engine ground attack aircraft with high load capacity and excellent loiter time.
SMERSH
Acronym for Spetsyalnye Metody Razoblacheniya Shpyonov, a group of three counter-intelligence agencies. Also known as 'Death to spies.'
SNAFU
Abbreviation for 'Situation normal, all fouled up'. The reader may substitute 'fouled' as he/she sees fit.
Spartacist
A Germa
n group of radical socialists, which went on to become the German Communist Party.
SPAT
Self propelled anti-tank.
Springfield Rifle
US .30-06 bolt-action rifle replaced by the Garand.
Staghound
US produced T17E1 armoured car, known as the Staghound in British use. Armed with a 37mm M6 gun, plus 2-3 MGs
STAVKA
Soviet term for the High Command of Soviet Forces. Junior to the GKO.
Super Pershing
US heavy tank mounting the improved T15E1 90mm gun and extra armour protection.
T20E2 Garand
US selective fire version of the Garand, with a 20-round magazine and a recoil checker.
T3 Carbine
US M2/3 Carbine fitted with infra-red siting and a 30 round magazine.
T-54
Soviet MBT armed with a 100mm gun, superior in performance to the 88mm on the Tiger II. Eventually the 54/55 became the most produced tank in history. RG introduces the 54 ahead of schedule.
T-70
Soviet light tank with a two man crew, armed with a 45mm gun.
T-80
Soviet light tank with a three man crew, armed with a 45mm gun.
Tallboy
British earthquake bomb of 12000lbs of Torpex D1 explosive.
Teller Mine
German made AT mine containing 5.5kgs of TNT.
Teutobergerwald
A range of low wooded hills strung between Lower Saxony and Rhine-Westphalia. Once much larger than it is today, legend suggests that it was the location for the loss of Varus and his Legions in 9AD.
TOE
Sometimes known as TO&E, an acronym for table of organisation and equipment.
Torpex
Explosive 50% more powerful than TNT, originally designed as torpedo explosive filler, hence the name.
Vernam's cypher
Named for Gilbert Vernam, the cypher became the basis of the coded one-time pad, believed impossible to crack [if properly random.]
Westland Whirlwind
British twin engine fighter withdrawn from service in 1943. For RG, a handful were reinstated to equip two squadrons in 1946.
Willie Pete
White Phosphorous.
Winchester M-12
US pump action shotgun with an external tube 6 shot magazine. [12, 16, 20, and 28 gauge.]
Winchester M-69
US bolt-action .22 rifle fitted with a suppressor.
Wolf
Marriage of a Panther hull and a Panzer IV turret.
X7 Rottcapschen
German wire-guided AT missile used during WW2. Literally 'Red Riding Hood', the missile apparently enjoyed success against the IS series of heavy tanks.
ZSU-37-2
Soviet SPAA mount on the SU-76 chassis, of twin 37mm guns.
Zundapp
German motorcycle, either single or combination.
Fig# 177 - Rear cover from paperback of ‘Sacrifice’.
‘Initiative’ - the story continues.
Read the opening words of ‘Initiative’ now.
Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds.
Robert Oppenheimer, quoting Krishna, avatar of Vishnu, from the Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita.
Chapter 149 - THE POWER
1000 hrs, Tuesday 30th April, Frankenberg an der Eder, Germany.
It was the eighty-third anniversary, and the Foreign Legion’s most important and significant day of the year.
Camerone Day celebrated the lost battle of Camerone, named for a hacienda in Mexico, where sixty-five legionnaires resisted a force of nearly three thousand Mexican soldiers.
It, above all other battles, created the mystique that surrounded the Legion from that day forward.
The commander, one Captain Jean Danjou, was killed early on in the battle, but his false hand was subsequently found, and became the subject of veneration each Camerone Day, when the icon, the symbol of the Legion’s fighting spirit, was paraded in front of ranks of legionnaires.
The honour of holding the icon and marching with it in front of assembled legion units was a singular one, an honour that had once been afforded to the long dead Vernais, tortured to death in front of Brumath.
Normally, the most precious item in the Legion’s inventory remained safely within the confines of its headquarters but, as most of the Legion was in the field in Germany, the Camerone Day parade was being held in a large open green space on the north bank of the Eder River.
Every Legion unit found in the French First Army had a representative section present, the main guard being mounted by men of the 1st Régiment Etrangere Infanterie.
The Legion Corps D’Assaut group was led by a proud Lavalle, the mix of ex-SS and long-service Legionnaires blending seamlessly into one group, and into the parade in general.
It had been too much to expect one of the new German contingent to be included in the direct parading of Danjou’s hand, but it was a source of celebration and immense pride that Haefali had been honoured with command of the parade, and the singular honour of carrying the sacred relic had been granted to a Marseille-born Legion Caporal-chef from the Alma, and command of the honour guard given to Oscar Durand, Lieutenant in the 1st Régiment de Marche.
There was even a small squad comprising members of the 16th US Armored Division, until recently a solid member of the Legion Corps, their tank being one of two on parade that day, the other vehicle the only noticeable German contribution to proceedings.
The Sherman M4A3E8 led the way, followed closely by the noisier and larger Tiger Ie.
The day beforehand, a Legion tank crew had been assembled at the repair facility and presented with their vehicle, lovingly restored by cannibalism from wrecks found across the battlefields, or by manufacturing those pieces that escaped detection.
Each of the five men wept as Walter Fiedler, the workshops officer, presented them with the repaired heavy tank...
...Lohengrin.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Camarón]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Danjou]
1100 hrs, Wednesday, 1st May, 1946, Red Square, Moscow, USSR, and the Oval Office, Washington DC, USA.
Stalin stood upright and proud amongst the political and military leadership of the Soviet Union, as large bodies of troops and vehicles swept past, the traditional ‘urrahs launched from thousands of enthusiastic throats.
It was an impressive display, that fact more appreciated by the hierarchy than the multitude of citizens that gathered for the traditional International Workers’ Day parade, who saw nothing unexpected about the standard huge display of Soviet military might.
The participants had been stripped from internal commands, men on leave, those recuperating from wounds, anything that could stand or march was on parade.
For the citizenry it was as impressive as ever but, in reality, it was an illusion.
Of course, T-34m46’s, with thicker armour and adapted to take the 100mm, T-44’s similarly armed, followed by a phalanx of one hundred and twenty IS-III battle tanks, decked out as a Guards formation, all received rapturous receptions, appreciated as clear indicators of Soviet military superiority. Had they not been receiving specifically edited reports of fighting in the frontline, they may have felt differently.
The fly past of Red Air Force regiments was extremely impressive.
The political decision to retain the majority of new and replacement aircraft, depriving the front line units solely to ensure sufficient numbers were on display on May Day, had been heavily contested by the military contingent, but to no avail.
