Reiter-Regiment. A cavalry regiment.
Ritterkreuz. Commonly referred to as the Knight’s Cross, the correct title is Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, or Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. Instituted in 1939, the Ritterkreuz and its grades were the highest awards that German military personnel could receive. It cannot, however, be compared to the Victoria Cross or the Congressional Medal of Honor, both of which can only be earned for acts of uncommon valor in the face of the enemy. Many senior German commanders were awarded the Ritterkreuz for the successful conduct of an operation while U-Boat commanders were decorated for sinking 100,000 tons of shipping and a points system operated for Luftwaffe fighter pilots.
Ritterkreuzträger. Someone awarded the Knight’s Cross.
Rollbahn. The main route of advance.
Sanitäts. Medical services.
Schlacht. Battle.
Schiesschule. Gunnery school. Armored training establishments were all under the command of the Kommandeur der Schuler der Panzertruppen.
Schnell. Literally, fast or hurry. Administratively, Panzer, Panzergenadier and Panzerjäger units were referred to as Schnelltruppen.
Schürzen. Removable armor plates fitted to the hull side, and sometimes the turret, of German tanks.
Schützenpanzerwagen. An armored infantry carrier, abbreviated to SPW. Usually refers to the SdKfz 250 and 251 halftracks.
Schwadron. A Squadron. A term used in the cavalry, a squadron was basically a company-sized unit. The companies of Panzer-Regiment 24, which had been raised from a cavalry unit, continued to be referred to as Schwadronen.
Schwere. Heavy. Could be used when referring to a weight class or to the equipment of a specific unit, for example schwere Panzer-Abteilung, a Tiger tank battalion.
Selbsfahrlafette. Self-propelled.
Sicherung. Security.
Sicherungseinheit. Security unit or detachment.
Sonderkraftfahrzeug. A special purpose vehicle, usually abbreviated to Sd.Kfz. or SdKfz. All German armored fighting vehicle were identified by a Sonderkraftfahrzeug inventory number, for example SdKfz 181 Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E.
Sonderverband. A special unit. This term could refer to a special operations formation, for example Sonderverband 288, or it could be applied to a temporary unit organized for a special purpose.
Stab. A headquarters or staff.
Stahlhelm. A steel helmet. Probably the most distinctive feature of the German soldier.
Standarte. Prior to 1940 a regiment of the Waffen-SS was referred to as a Standarte, hence the rank Standartenführer. After the French campaign the standard Wehrmacht unit designations were adopted.
Stellung. A fighting position.
Strassenbau. Road building or construction. Road engineer unit.
Stummel. Literally a stump, this was the unofficial name given to the SdKfz 251/9 halftrack armed with the short-barreled 75mm gun.
Sturm. Literally storm but more often assault.
Sturmartillerie. Literally assault artillery. This term was used during the early-war period to describe the assault gun units as they were controlled by the Inspekteur der Artillerie. The term came back into use in 1944 when some assault gun battalions were renamed as Heeres-Sturmartillerie-Brigaden.
Sturmbann. A term used to describe a battalion by Waffen-SS units until 1940.
Sturmgeschütz. Assault gun. Initially referred to the self-propelled guns built on the chassis of the Panzer III and later Panzer IV tanks, this term was also used later in the war for the companies of Panzerjäger battalions equipped with armored vehicles.
Sturmhaubitze. The howitzer armed version of the Sturmgeschütz III.
Sturm-Mörser. The 38cm armed assault gun built on the chassis of the Tiger I. Just nineteen of these vehicles were built, including the mild steel prototype, and saw action with three Sturm-Mörser -Kompanien before the end of the war.
Sturmpionier. A assault engineer.
Tauchpanzer. A tank specially equipped to run under water. These are rarely encountered in the period covered by this book.
Teile. A part or portion of a unit. This expression is often seen on contemporary situation maps and is sometimes abbreviated as Tle.
Totenkopf. Literally a death’s head. As a form of uniform insignia the Totenkopf was used by the cavalry of Frederick the Great and possibly earlier. The version worn by the Panzer units is significantly different to the Waffen-SS model.
Tropen. Tropical. A term which could be applied to everything from uniform items to vehicle modifications.
Truppenkennzeichen. Unit signs painted onto vehicles or signposts to identify a particular formation. Although these were necessarily approved by division or corps level command, many unofficial versions existed.
Truppenübungsplatz. A military training area. The German army controlled ninety-five main training centers within Germany and the annexed territories of Poland and Czechoslovakia. Most of these establishments had smaller satellites. The military facilities of the occupied countries were also appropriated and the Waffen-SS had six of its own major training grounds.
Umbenannt. Reformed or reorganized.
Verband. A unit.
Versorgung. Supply.
Veterinär. Veterinarian.
Volksgrenadier. Literally, people’s grenadier or infantry. A number of infantry division’s formed or rebuilt from August 1944 were named Volksgrenadier as a morale building exercise. They were organized along the same lines as regular infantry formations although they were allocated a greater number of automatic weapons. These formations should not be confused with Volkssturm.
Volkssturm. The German national militia formed from October 1944. All males between the ages of 16 and 60, who were not already serving in the armed forces, were eligible for conscription into the Volkssturm.
Waffenamt. Ordnance department.
Waffen-SS. The armed units of the SS or Schutzstaffel.
Werfer. Literally a projector or thrower. See also Nebelwerfer and Granatenwerfer.
Wehrmacht. The German armed forces was made up of the Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. The Waffen-SS, while under the authority of the Reichsführer-SS and the Nazi Party, was tactically subordinated to the Wehrmacht.
Wehrmachtsgefolge. A cover-all term used to refer to organizations that were part of the armed forces but served outside Germany supporting units of the Wehrmacht such the Reichsarbeitsdienst, Deutsche Rote Kreuz, and Organization Todt. Working under the authority of the Wehrmacht also provided these groups with some protection under the Geneva Convention.
Werkstatt-Kompanie. A maintenance company.
Wirtschaft. Administration.
z.b.V. (zur besonderen Verwendung). For special use.
Zimmerit. A thick past applied to the horizontal surfaces of armored vehicles, most often tanks, for roughly a year until September 1944. Once applied the paste was softened with a blow torch and scored with a trowel or special roller to produce a pattern of ridges or grids. The resulting uneven surface was intended to minimize the ability of magnetic mines to stick to the vehicle.
Zug. A platoon. Several Züge formed a company.
Zugkraftwagen. A three-quarter tracked towing vehicle.
COMPARATIVE RANK TABLE
Within German military and paramilitary organizations, rank is known as Dienstgrad or service grade. The rank of Schütze (1) indicated a private of an infantry regiment. In the cavalry, a private soldier was referred to as a Reiter, a Kanonier in the artillery, a Pionier for engineers, Funker for signals, Panzerschütze in a tank unit, and Jäger for light infantry or a mountain unit. Somewhat confusingly, an Oberjäger was the equivalent of an Unteroffizier. In late 1942, in an effort to boost morale, infantry regiments were renamed Grenadier-Regimenter and the rank of Schütze became Grenadier while a private of an armored infantry regiment was a Panzergrenadier. Certain infantry regiments received the honor titles of Fusilier and Musketier and their soldiers were renamed accordingly. The ranks of Fähnrich and Jun
ker (2) signified an NCO who had been accepted as an officer candidate. A Captain or Hauptmann (3) was referred to as a Rittmeister in the cavalry or any mounted branch. Similarly, the rank of Feldwebel was replaced by Wachtmeister in cavalry, artillery, signals, and any horse-drawn formations. In fact, the non-commissioned officer rank structure was quite complex, with titles such as Oberbeschlagmeister identifying a battalion Farrier sergeant major, but it need not be detailed here. It should be noted that battalions or regiments which had been raised from cavalry formations, such as Panzer-Regiment 24, continued to use the cavalry rank titles. In addition, many German officers were from aristocratic families and, in some regiments at least, were addressed by their titles rather than rank. The Waffen-SS rank of Oberführer (4) had no direct equivalent and was a holdover from the early days of the Nazi Party. It should be thought of as a senior Colonel. The Luftwaffe rank of Flieger (5) only applied to flying units and due to the meddling of Reichsmarschall Göring, the air force controlled a large number of infantry and armored formations, which used a rank structure similar to the Heer. Within paratroop and Luftwaffe ground units, Schütze was replaced by Jäger with the rank of Oberjäger being the equivalent of an Unteroffizier, as it was in the army. The specialized ranks such as Kanonier, Pionier, Funker, and Panzergrenadier were also used. The rank of Hauptgefreiter (6) was abolished in May 1944 and replaced by Stabsgefreiter, which had been introduced earlier in the year. The units of the Volkssturm, which first went into combat in October 1944, were never employed in greater than battalion strength. The upper ranks shown here (7), although officially in control of these militia units, were in fact functionaries of the Nazi regime and are included here as a matter of interest only. Interestingly, the rank of Stabsführer (8) was a Hitlerjugend grade, although it is uncertain if this indicates any connection with that organization. During the last weeks of the war, four divisions and two mountain brigades were raised from men of the Reichsarbeitsdienst or RAD, the official state labor service. Personnel of RAD units had in fact fought in the front line during the war, famously reinforcing 9.SS-Panzer-Division in the battles around Arnhem in Holland. The RAD combat units raised in 1945 contained a high proportion of army officers among their commanders, although at least Infanterie-Division Schlageter, the first RAD division, was initially commanded by an RAD Generalarbeitsführer. In 1945, three divisions were raised from Kriegsmarine personnel and two further divisions were in the process of formation when the war ended, although the latter may have been fictitious titles invented to camouflage the movements of other formations. They were commanded by a mixture of navy and army officers. Within the army and air force, the rank of General was formally given with the officer's branch—for example, General der Panzertruppen or General der Fallschirmtruppe. General officers of the Waffen-SS were formally referred to by their Schutzstaffel title and its army equivalent—for example, SS-Oberstgruppenführer und Generaloberst der Waffen-SS. In the field, there was a tendency for Waffen-SS personnel to adopt the simpler Heer ranks—for instance, Major instead of SS-Sturmbannführer—and the office of the Reichsführer-SS was forced to issue a number of directives during the war forbidding the practice.
About the Author
Dennis Oliver is the author of over twenty works on Second World War armored vehicles, including To The Last Bullet: Germany's War on 3 Fronts, Westwall: German Armor in the West 1945, Viking Summer and A Sound Like Thunder. Dennis has worked with a number of well-known publishers, including Pen & Sword, Concord Publications, and ADH Publishing. This is his first book with Skyhorse. Dennis lives with his wife Sai and their two children in Queensland, Australia.
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