Colin Gee - Opening Moves

Fig #30 – Hamburg – initial Soviet Attack

Fig #31 – Hamburg - Finale

Rosignoli, Guido

The Allied Forces in Italy 1943-45

ISBN 0-7153-92123

Kleinfeld & Tambs, Gerald R. & Lewis A.

Hitler’s Spanish Legion – The Blue Division in Russia

ISBN 0-9767380-8-2

Delaforce, Patrick

The Black Bull – From Normandy to the Baltic with the 11th Armoured Division

ISBN 0-75370-350-5

Taprell-Dorling, H.

Ribbons and Medals

SBN 0-540-07120-X

Pettibone, Charles D.

The Organisation and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Volume V – Book B, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

ISBN 978-1-4269-0281-9

Pettibone, Charles D.

The Organisation and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Volume V – Book A, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

ISBN 978-1-4269-2551-0

Pettibone, Charles D.

The Organisation and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Volume VI – Italy and France, Including the Neutral Conutries of San Marino, Vatican City [Holy See], Andorra and Monaco

ISBN 978-1-4269-4633-2

Pettibone, Charles D.

The Organisation and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Volume II – The British Commonwealth

ISBN 978-1-4120-8567-5

Chamberlain & Doyle, Peter & Hilary L

Encyclopedia of German Tanks in World War Two

ISBN 0-85368-202-X

Chamberlain & Ellis, Peter & Chris

British and American Tanks of World War Two

ISBN 0-85368-033-7

Dollinger, Hans

The Decline and fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan

ISBN 0-517-013134

Zaloga & Grandsen, Steven J & James

Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two

ISBN 0-85368-606-8

Hogg, Ian V.

The Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of World War II

ISBN 0-85368-281-X

Hogg, Ian V.

British & American Artillery of World War 2

ISBN 0-85368-242-9

Hogg, Ian V.

German Artillery of World War Two

ISBN 0-88254-311-3

.30cal machine-gun: Standard US medium machine-gun.

.45 M1911 automatic: US automatic handgun

.50 cal: Standard US heavy machine-gun.

105mm Flak Gun: Next model up from the dreaded 88mm, these were sometimes pressed into a ground role in the final days.

39th Kingdom: See Kingdom 39

6x6 truck: Three axle, 6 wheel truck.

Achilles: British version of the M-10 that carried the high velocity 17-pdr gun.

Addendum F: Transfer of German captured equipment to Japanese to increase their firepower and reduce logistical strain on Soviets

Alkonost: Creature from Russian folklore with the body of a bird and the head of a beautiful woman.

Anschluss: The 1938 occupation and Annexation of Austria by Germany.

BA64: Soviet 4x4 light armoured car with two crew and a machine-gun.

Battle of the Bulge: Germany’s Ardennes offensive of winter 1944

Bazooka: Generic name applied to a number of different anti-tank rocket launchers introduced into the US Army from 1942 onwards.

Bletchley Park: Location of the centre for Allied code breaking during World War two. Sometimes known as Station X.

Blighty: British slang term for Britain.

Boyes: .55-inch anti-tank rifle employed by the British Army but phased out in favour of the PIAT.

Brandenburghers: Rough German equivalent of commando, who were trained more in the arts of stealth and silent killing.

Bund Deutsche Madel: The League of German Girls, young females’ organisation of the Nazi Party.

Camel: US cigarette brand.

Cavalry: The German army had cavalry until the end, all be it in small numbers. The SS had two such divisions, the 8th and 22nd.

Chesterfield: American cigarette brand.

Combat Command [CC]: Formation similar to an RCT, which was formed from all-arms elements within a US Armored Division, the normal dispositions being CC’A’, CC’B’ and CC’R’, the ‘R’ standing for reserve.

Colibri: High-class men’s accessories producer, initially specialising in cigarette lighters.

Colloque Biarritz: The fourth symposium based at the Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg.

Deuxieme Bureau: France’s External Military Intelligence Agency that underwent a number of changes post 1940 but still retained its ‘Deux’ label for many professionals.

Douglas DC-3: Twin-engine US transport aircraft, also labelled C-47. [Built by the Russians under licence as the Li-2]

DP-28: Standard Soviet Degtyaryov light machine-gun with large top mounted disc magazine containing 47 rounds.

Edelzwicker: Alsatian wine that is a blend of noble and standard grapes, and as a result is sometimes hit and miss, sometimes superb.

Fallschirmjager: German Paratroops. They were the elite of the Luftwaffe, but few Paratroopers at the end of the war had ever seen a parachute. None the less, the ground divisions fought with a great deal of elan and gained an excellent combat reputation.

Fat Man: Implosion-type Plutonium Bomb similar in operation to ‘The Gadget’.

FBI: Federal Bureau of Intelligence, which was also responsible for external security prior to the formation of the CIA.

FFI: Forces Francaises de L’Interieur, or the French Forces of the Interior was the name applied to resistance fighters during the latter stages of WW2. Once France had been liberated, the pragmatic De Gaulle tapped this pool of manpower and created ‘organised’ divisions from these, often at best, para-military groups. Few proved to be of any quality and they tended to be used in low-risk areas.

FG42: Fallschirmgewehr 42, a hybrid 7.62mm weapon which was intended to be both assault rifle and LMG.

Firefly: British variant of the American M4 armed with a 17-pdr main gun, which offered the Sherman excellent prospects for a kill of any Panzer on the battlefield.

Fizzle: Failure of a nuclear device to properly explode, but which can result in radioactive product being distributed over a sizeable local area.

Gamayun: Creature from Russian folklore with the body of a large bird and the head of a beautiful woman.

GAVCA: Grupo de Aviação de Caça [Portuguese] Translated literally means ‘fighter group’, the 1st GAVCA serving within the Brazilian Expediationary Force.

GAZ: Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, Soviet producers of vehicles from light car through to heavy trucks.

Gebirgsjager: German & Austrian Mountain troops.

Gestapo: GeheimeStaatsPolizei, the Secret Police of Nazi Germany.

Gitanes Mais: French cigarette brand

GKO: Gosudarstvennyj Komitet Oborony or State Security Committee, the group that held complete power of all matters within the Soviet Union.

Großdeutschland: Literally, ‘Greater Germany’, the elite Grossdeutschland Division was not an SS formation although it wore a cuff title on its right arm.

GRU: Glavnoye Razvedyvatel’noye Upravleniye of Soviet Military Intelligence, fiercely independent of the other Soviet Intelligence agencies such as the NKVD.

Hapsburg: European monarchy that ruled Austro-Hungary amongst other European states.

Hauptmann: Equivalent of captain in the German army.

Hero of the Soviet Union award: The Gold Star award was highly thought of and awarded to Soviet soldiers for bravery, although the medal was often devalued by being given for political or nepotistic reasons.

Hitler Youth [Hitler Jugend]: Young males’ organisation of the Nazi Party.

Hohenzollern: Noble house of Germany, Prussia, and Romania.

IS-II: Soviet heavy tank with a 122mm gun and 1-3 mg’s.

IS-III: Iosef Stalin III heavy tank, which arrived just before the German capitulation and was a hugely innovative design. 122mm gun and 1-2 mg.

Jeep: ½ Ton 4x4 all terrain vehicle, supplied in large numbers to the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.