Colin Gee - Stalemate

Operation Anvil: August 1944 landing in Southern France.

Operation Apple Pie: US project to capture German officers with specific knowledge about the Soviet Union’s industry and economy.

Operation Berkut: Soviet land operation designed to push through the Alsatian plain and break into France via Colmar.

Operation Kurgan: Soviet joint-operation to employ paratroopers, Naval Marines, NKVD agents and collaborators to attack and neutralise airfields, radar, communications and logistic bases throughout Europe. Subsequently enlarged to include assassinations of Allied senior officers.

Operation Paperclip: OSS project to recruit German Scientist to the Allied cause post May 1945.

Operation Sumerechny: Soviet plan to remove German leadership elements from their prisoners. All officer ranks from captain upwards were to be executed.

Operation Unthinkable: Study ordered by Churchill to examine the feasibility of an Allied assault on Soviet held Northern Germany.

Operation Varsity: The largest single airborne operation of WW2, undertaken in March 1945, Varsity involved dropping over 16,000 paratroopers to the east of the Rhine.

OSS: US Intelligence agency formed during 2, The Office of Strategic Services was the predecessor of the CIA, and was set up to coordinate espionage activities in occupied areas.

P.O.L.: Petrol, oil, and lubricants.

Panther: German heavy-medium tank, considered by many, to be the finest tank design of WW2. Armed with a high-velocity 75mm and 2-3 machine-guns, it could stand its ground against anything in the Allied arsenal and considered by many to be the finest all-round tank of World War 2.

Panzer IV: German tank, which served throughout the war in many guises, mainly with a 75mm gun.

Panzer V: See Panther Tank

Panzer VI: See Tiger Tank

Panzerfaust: German single use anti-tank weapon. Highly effective but short ranged.

Panzerjager: Antitank troop[s] [German]

Panzerkanonier: Tank gunner.

Panzertruppen: The German tank crews.

Panzer VIb: See King Tiger Tank

PE-2: The Soviet Petlyakov PE-2 was a twin-engine multi-purpose aircraft considered by the Luftwaffe to be a fine opponent.

PEM scope: Soviet sniper scope for Mosin and SVT rifles.

PIAT: Acronym for Projector, Infantry, Anti-tank, the PIAT used a large spring to hurl its hollow charge shell at an enemy.

Plan Chelyabinsk: Soviet assault plan utilising lend-lease equipment in Western Allies markings.

Plan Diaspora: Soviet overall plan for assaulting in the East and for supporting the new Japanese Allies.

Plan Kurgan: Soviet joint-operation to employ paratroopers, Naval Marines, NKVD agents and collaborators to attack and neutralise airfields, radar, communications and logistic bases throughout Europe. Subsequently enlarged to include assassinations of Allied senior officers.

Plan Zilant: The Soviet paratrooper operations against the four symposiums, detailed as Zilant-1 through Zilant-4.

PLUTO: Acronym for ‘Pipeline-under-the-ocean’, which was a fuel supply pipe that ran from Britain to France, laid for D-Day operations and still in use at the end of the war.

Pointe-du-Hoc: Cliff face and bunker position near Omaha beach, Normandy, assaulted by US 2nd Ranger Battalion on D-Day.

PPD: Soviet submachine gun capable of phenomenal rate of fire. Mostly equipped with a 72 round drum magazine but 65 rounds were normally fitted to avoid jamming. It was too complicated and was replaced by the PPSH.

PPS: Simple Soviet submachine gun with a 35 round magazine.

PPSh: Soviet submachine gun capable of phenomenal rate of fire. Mostly equipped with a 72 round drum magazine but 65 rounds were normally fitted to avoid jamming.

Pravda: Leading newspaper of the Soviet Union, Pravda is translated as ‘Truth’.

PS84: Passenger Aircraft built at factory 84, the initial designation of the Li-2 transport aircraft.

PT-34: Soviet T-34/76 with mine clearing Mugalev attachment.

PTAB: Each Shturmovik could carry four pods containing 48 bomblets, or up to 280 internally. Each bomblet could penetrate up to 70mm of armour, enough for the main battle tanks at the time.

PU scope: Soviet sniper scope for Mosin and SVT rifles.

Puma: German eight-wheel armoured car with a 50mm and enclosed turret.

Pyat: In Russian, the number five.

Ranger , USS: US Aircraft carrier [CV-4], Survived WW2 and was scrapped in 1947.

RCT: Regimental Combat Team. US formation that normally consisted of elements drawn from all combatant units within the parent division, making it a smaller but reasonably self-sufficient unit. RCT’s tended to be numbered according the Infantry regiment that supplied its fighting core. [See CC for US Armored force equivalent.]

Red Devils: Nickname for the British Airborne troops, the Red berets.

Red Star: Standard issue Soviet military cigarettes.

Rodina: The Soviet Motherland.

Schmuck: A Jewish insult meaning a fool of one who is stupid. It also can literally mean the foreskin that is removed during circumcision.

Schwere Panzer Abteilung: Heavy tank battalion [German].

SDKFZ 234: German eight-wheel armoured car equipped with a range of weapons, the most powerful of which was a 75mm HV weapon. Of the four variants, the Puma with its 50mm and enclosed turret is probably the most well known.

Seagulls: Affectionate nickname for the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy.

Senninbari: Japanese good luck charm given to soldiers, rooted within the Shinto religion. Each one carried 1000 stitches, each from a different woman. Typically, they were waist belts but could also be headbands, vests, and flags.

Shaska: A Cossack’s curved sword.

Sherman [M4 Sherman]: American tank turned out in huge numbers with many variants, also supplied under lend-lease to Russia.

Shinhoto Chi-Ha: Upgraded Japanese battle tank, based on the Chi-Ha. The Shinhoto had a 47mm gun superior to the 57mm in its forebear.

Shinto: Japanese religion [Shintoism].

Shtrafbat: Soviet penal battalion.

Shturmovik: The Ilyushin-2 Shturmovik, Soviet mass-produced ground attack aircraft that was highly successful.

ShVAK: Soviet 20mm auto cannon that equipped aircraft, armoured cars, and light tanks.

Skat: German card game using 32 cards.

SMLE: Often referred to s the ‘Smelly’, this was the proper name of the Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield rifle.

SOE: British organisation, Special Operations Executive, which conducted espionage and sabotage missions throughout Europe.

Spitfire, Supermarine: British single-engine fighter aircraft.

SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer: SS equivalent of captain.

St Florian: Patron saint of Upper Austria, Linz, chimney sweeps, and firefighters.

ST-44 [MP43/44]: German assault rifle with a 30 round magazine, first of its generation and forerunner to the AK47.

Standard HDM .22 calibre pistol: Originally used by OSS, this effective .22 with a ten round magazine is still in use by Special Forces throughout the world.

Starshina: Soviet rank roughly equivalent to Warrant Officer first Class.

Station ‘X’: See Bletchley Park entry.

STAVKA: At this time this represents the ‘Stavka of the Supreme Main Command’, comprising high-ranked military and civilian members. Subordinate to the GKO, it was responsible for military oversight, and as such, held its own military reserves that it released in support of operations.

Sten: Basic British sub-machine gun with a 32 round magazine. Produced in huge numbers throughout the 40’s.

Stroh rum: Austrian spiced rum.

Studebaker: US heavy lorry supplied to the Soviets under lend-lease, or built in the USSR under licence, often used as the platform for the Katyusha.

Stuka [Junkers 87]: Famous dive-bomber employed by the Luftwaffe.