This is a list of words, terms, concepts, and slogans that have been or are used by the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
military. Ranks and translations of nicknames for vehicles are included. Also included are some general terms from the
German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...
found frequently in military jargon. Some terms are from the general German cultural background, others are given to show a change that was made before or after the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
era. Some factories that were the primary producers of military equipment, especially
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
s, are also given.
Glossary
A
* A-Stand – forward defensive gunner's position on aircraft.
* abgeschossen – shot down; destroyed by means of firing.
* Abschnitt – sector, district.
* Ablösungsdivision – relief division (1917), later renamed ''
Eingreif division
Eingreif division (german: Eingreifdivision) is a term for a type of German Army formation of the First World War , which developed in 1917, to conduct immediate counter-attacks () against enemy troops who broke into a defensive position being he ...
'' (intervention division).
*
Abteilung
''Abteilung'' (; abbrv. ''Abt.'') is a German word that is often used for German or Swiss military formations and depending on its usage could mean detachment, department or battalion; it can also refer to a military division. In German, it ...
(Abt.) – a
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
-sized unit of
armor
Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...
,
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
or
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
; in other contexts a
detachment or
section
Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sig ...
.
** Abteilungsarzt – battalion
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
** Abteilungschef – battalion commander in artillery and cavalry formations
** Abteilungsführer – substitute battalion commander in artillery and cavalry formations
** Abteilungsveterinär – battalion
veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...
*
Abwehr – "defense"; as a shortening of ''Spionage Abwehr'' (spy defense) the term referred to the counter-espionage service (German Secret Service) of the German High Command, headed by
Admiral Canaris
Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a German admiral and the chief of the ''Abwehr'' (the German military-intelligence service) from 1935 to 1944. Canaris was initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi re ...
. Also an element in such compounds as ''Fliegerabwehr-Kanone'' "anti-aircraft gun."
* Abzeichen – insignia;
badge
A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fi ...
of rank, appointment or distinction.
*
Adlerangriff – "Eagle Attack"; term for projected "decisive attack" by the ''Luftwaffe'' on
RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Brita ...
under the direction of
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
, instituted to gain control of the skies from the Royal Air Force and soften Britain for the impending invasion forces planned in Operation ''Seelöwe'' (Sea Lion). These attacks ultimately failed and the air campaign is now known in the anglophone world as the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
.
*
Afrika Korps
The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...
– the elite German mechanized force commanded by
Erwin Rommel
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...
, known as the "Wüstenfuchs" (en: Desert Fox), which performed exemplary in Hitler's North African campaigns between 1941 and 1943. Allied efforts to defeat Rommel were high and many historians believe that had Rommel convinced
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
to provide him with three additional divisions of tanks, he very well could have gained command of the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
in early 1942 and cut off the vast supplies being sent from America to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
via the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
. In the end, the ''Afrika Korps'' was defeated by combined offensives from the British and Americans.
* Aggregat 4 (A4) – original name of the German
V2 rocket
The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed ...
.
* AGRU-Front – ''Technische Ausbildungsgruppe für Front U-Boote'' – technical training group for front-line
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s.
* AK – ''Alle Kraft (voraus)'', naval command for
flank speed
Flank speed is an American nautical term referring to a ship's true maximum speed but it is not equivalent to the term ''full speed ahead''. Usually, flank speed is reserved for situations in which a ship finds itself in imminent danger, such as ...
. Also "Äusserste Kraft!"
* Aal – "
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
"; slang for
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
.
* "Alarm!" –
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
order to activate the alarm and begin a
crash dive
A crash dive is a maneuver by a submarine in which the vessel submerges as quickly as possible to avoid attack. Crash diving from the surface to avoid attack has been largely rendered obsolete with the advent of nuclear-powered submarines, as they ...
. Also "Fire!", "Air raid!" for ''Luftwaffe'' fighter pilots, etc.
* Alarmtauchen – crash dive.
* "Alle Maschinen stop!" – naval command: "Stop all engines".
* "Alle Mann von Bord!" – naval command; "All hands, abandon ship!"
*
Allgemeine SS
The ''Allgemeine SS'' (; "General SS") was a major branch of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany; it was managed by the SS Main Office (''SS-Hauptamt''). The ''Allgemeine SS'' was officially established in the autum ...
– "General SS", general main body of the Schutzstaffel made up of the full-time administrative, security, intelligence and police branches of the SS as well as the broader part-time membership that turned out for parades, rallies and "street actions" such as ''
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
''; also comprised reserve and honorary members.
* Alte Hasen – "Old hares"; slang for military veterans who survived front-line hardships.
* ''
Amerikabomber
The ''Amerikabomber'' () project was an initiative of the German Ministry of Aviation (''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'') to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the ''Luftwaffe'' that would be capable of striking the United States (specifical ...
'' – A spring 1942 aviation contract competition for a Luftwaffe trans-oceanic range strategic bomber, only resulting in a few completed prototype aircraft from two firms, and many advanced designs that mostly remained on paper.
* Ami – German slang for an American soldier.
* Anton –
German spelling alphabet for A equivalent to Alpha (e.g.
Case Anton
Case Anton (german: link=no, Fall Anton) was the military occupation of France carried out by Germany and Italy in November 1942. It marked the end of the Vichy regime as a nominally-independent state and the disbanding of its army (the severel ...
)
* Ärmelband –
cuff title
The cuff title (German: ''Ärmelstreifen'') is a form of commemorative or affiliation insignia placed on the sleeve, near the cuff, of German military and paramilitary uniforms. The tradition can be traced back to the foundation of the "Gibralta ...
. Worn on the left sleeve, the title contains the name of the wearer's unit or a campaign they are part of. Cuff titles are still used in the German Army and Luftwaffe.
* Amt – office, main office branch.
* Amt Mil – German Army intelligence organization that succeeded the Abwehr.
* Amtsgruppe Allgemeine Wehrmachtsangelegenheiten (Office of General Military Affairs) – Department of the OKW responsible for general military affairs. in 1938–39, this office was called the ''Wehrwirtschaftsstab'' (Military Economics Staff).
* Angriff – attack.
* Angriffsmuster – attack pattern.
* Angriffsziel – attack objective.
* Ansatz (attack) – First World War military term, used in National Socialist vocabulary in the same ways as the word ''Einsatz'', though less frequently; one referred to bringing a piece of equipment, troops or a weapon "zum Ansatz" (into attack, or play).
* Anschluss – unification of Austria and Germany
* Armee – army, typically a numbered army.
* Armeeabteilung – command between a
corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
and an
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, an enlarged corps headquarters.
* Armeekorps – infantry corps.
* Armee-Nachrichten-Führer – army signals officer, served on the staff HQ of an army.
* Armeeoberkommando – field army command.
* Armee-Pionier-Führer – army engineer officer, served on the staff HQ of an army.
* Armee-Sanitäts-Abteilung – army medical unit.
* Artillerie (Art.) –
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
.
* Atomwaffe –
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
.
* Atomkrieg –
nuclear war.
* Aufbau Ost (Buildup East) – code name for the preparatory measures taken amid great secrecy for the attack on the Soviet Union, now known as
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
.
* aufgelöst – "dissolved"; disbanded, written off the
order of battle
In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the arme ...
.
* Aufklärung –
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
.
* Aufklärungs-Abteilung –
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
unit or battalion, also used to designate certain battalion-sized units.
*
''Aufklärungsgruppe'' (Aufkl.Gr., later AGr) – "Reconnaissance group", an aerial recon group of the ''Luftwaffe'', e.g. ''
Aufklärungsgruppe 11''.
* "Auftauchen!" – "surface the boat".
* Auftragstaktik –
mission-type tactics
Mission-type tactics (German: ''Auftragstaktik'', from ''Auftrag'' and ''Taktik''; also known as mission command in the US and UK) is a form of military tactics in which the emphasis is placed on the outcome of a mission rather than the specif ...
, the central component of German warfare since the 19th century
* Aus der Traum – "It's over!", "It's finished!", literally, "''The dream is over''"; a common German phrase for dashed hopes and a slogan painted by German soldiers near the end of the war expressing the inevitability of their situation.
* Ausführung (Ausf.) – version, model, variant, batch, for non-aviation related vehicles and ordnance.
* ''Ausführung!/Ausführen!'' – command to execute a given order
* ausgefallen – statement that equipment is down, has failed, is out of action.
* Ausrüstung – equipment
* Ausschreitungen – bloody atrocities (see ''Greuelerzählungen'').
* Auszeichnung – medal, accolade, distinction.
* außer Dienst (a.D.) –
iterally: "out of service"a retired officer. Example: Oberleutnant a. D. Johann Schmidt.
B
* B-Stand – Dorsal (top of fuselage) defensive gunner's position on aircraft.
* Backbord (Bb) –
Port side
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
of a ship.
*
Balkenkreuz
The ''Balkenkreuz'' ()
is a straight-armed cross that was first introduced in 1916–1918 and later became the emblem of the ''Wehrmacht'' (German Armed Forces) and its branches from 1935 until the end of World War II. It was used by the '' Wehr ...
– equal-armed black cross flanked in white, the emblem used on German Empire and Third Reich military aircraft and vehicles from March/April 1918 until
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...
* Banditen – bandits,
partisans in occupied territories in World War II; ''bewaffnete Banden'' – armed gangs; ''Soldaten in Zivilkleidung'' – soldiers in civilian dress; (see ''Franktireure'').
* Bandengebiet – territory controlled by partisan squads in occupied territories during World War II.
* Barbarossa (Red Beard) – code name for the massive Nazi attack against the Soviet Union (
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
) which began during June 1941 and failed miserably in the end despite early success. Operation Barbarossa is the English rendering of the German "Unternehmen Barbarossa." Barbarossa or `Redbeard' (Frederick I) lived from 1123 AD to 1190 and was both King of Germany and Holy Roman emperor from 1152–90. He made a sustained attempt to subdue Italy and the papacy, but was eventually defeated at the battle of Legnano in 1176. He was drowned in Asia Minor while on his way to the Third Crusade. Nonetheless, German superstition holds to this day and certainly was evoked by Hitler at the time, that Barbarossa rests in a mountain in Germany awaiting the moment to emerge and save Germany from certain defeat and to establish German ascendancy.
* Bataillon (Btl.) – battalion
** Bataillonsadjutant – battalion adjutant
** Bataillonsarzt – battalion physician
** Bataillonsführer – substitute battalion commander
** Bataillonskommandeur – battalion commander
** Bataillonsveterinär – battalion veterinarian
* Batterie (Bttr.) –
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
,
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
piece; also used for an
electrical battery
An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices.
When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negat ...
. sometimes also called ''
Akkumulator'', abbreviated as Akku.
** Batteriechef – battery commander
** Batterieführer – substitute battery commander
** Batterieoffizier – gun position officer
* Baubelehrung – vessel familiarization; when a boat or ship crew studied the construction of a new vessel; see "KLA."
* Baubeschreibung – general arrangement drawing sheet, giving basic dimensions and other measurement & physical parameters (materials, dihedral angles, etc.), of either German front line; or ''Beute''/"captured" Allied aircraft, in World War I. The same term was used in the Third Reich era for more comprehensive, multi-page technical document works for factory proposals concerning combat aircraft designs to the RLM and Luftwaffe.
* Baupionier – army construction engineer.
*
B-Dienst – ''Beobachtungsdienst'', literally, "observation service"; German Navy
cryptanalytical department.
* BDM
Bund Deutscher Mädel
The League of German Girls or the Band of German Maidens (german: Bund Deutscher Mädel, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi Germany ...
– League of German Girls, the girls' segment of the
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
.
* B. d. U. – ''
Befehlshaber der U-Boote
The ''Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote'' or BdU (Eng: "Commander of the U-boats") was the supreme commander of the German Navy's U-boat Arm (''Ubootwaffe'') during the First and Second World Wars. The term also referred to the Command HQ of the U- ...
'' – Commander-in-Chief of the U-boats (
Admiral Karl Dönitz); see FdU.
* Befehl (pl. Befehle) – order, command. "''Zu Befehl!''" was an affirmative phrase on par with "''Jawohl''".
* Befehlshaber – commander-in-chief; lit. "one who has (the power to issue) commands." Sometimes also used to refer to the headquarters of a C-in-C as an alternative to ''Hauptquartier.''
* Benzin –
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
, petrol.
* Benzintank –
fuel tank
A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelle ...
.
* Beobachter –
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
or
air observer
An air observer or aerial observer is an aircrew member whose duties are predominantly reconnaissance. The term originated in the First World War in the British Royal Flying Corps, and was maintained by its successor, the Royal Air Force. An ai ...
* Beobachtungsoffizier –
Artillery observer
An artillery observer, artillery spotter or forward observer (FO) is responsible for directing artillery and mortar fire onto a target. It may be a ''forward air controller'' (FAC) for close air support (CAS) and spotter for naval gunfire su ...
* Beobachtungswagen – observation or reconnaissance vehicle.
* Bereitschaft – readiness.
* Bergepanzer – armoured recovery vehicle.
*
''Berlin'' radar – most advanced airborne intercept radar of the WW II ''Luftwaffe'' in 1944–45, based on captured
cavity magnetron
The cavity magnetron is a high-power vacuum tube used in early radar systems and currently in microwave ovens and linear particle accelerators. It generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field while ...
technology, operated on
SHF-band 3.3 GHz frequency
* Beschlagschmied – blacksmith; see ''Hufbeschlagschmied''.
* Betriebstoff – fuel.
* Beutepanzer – captured tank or armoured vehicle.
* Bewährungseinheit – probationary unit.
* BK – ''Bordkanone''. heavy-calibre (usually over 30 mm) cannon for offensive use on aircraft.
* Blasen – U-boat order; "Blow the tanks!"
* Blechkoller – "tin fright"; in
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s, a form of nervous tension that could be caused by
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
attacks and resulted in violence or
hysteria.
* Blechkrawatte – "tin necktie," slang for the
Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross (German language ''Ritterkreuz'') refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that often denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield.
Most frequently the term Knight's Cross is used to refer to the Knight's Cr ...
*
Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg ( , ; from 'lightning' + 'war') is a word used to describe a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with close air su ...
– "lightning war"; not a widely used German military term, this word became popular in the Allied press and initially referred to fast-moving
battle tactics developed principally by German military theorists, most notably
Erwin Rommel
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...
,
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who, after the war, became a successful memoirist. An early pioneer and advocate of the " blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in t ...
, and
Erich von Manstein
Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein (born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski; 24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a German Field Marshal of the ''Wehrmacht'' during the Second World War, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes and ...
, using massed
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
s and ground-attack
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
s to speedily penetrate enemy lines at points and move to their rear, causing confusion and panic among enemy forces.
*
Blaukreuz – chemical warfare agent consisting of arsenic compounds, respiratory poison
* Bola – contraction of ''Bodenlafette'', a lightly armoured
casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...
-style of bulged ventral defensive gunner's position, using only flexible (unturreted) weapon mounts, a common fitment on German bomber aircraft designs, usually under the nose.
*
Bomber B
Bomber B was a German military aircraft design competition organised just before the start of World War II to develop a second-generation high-speed bomber for the ''Luftwaffe''. The new designs would be a direct successor to the ''Schnellbombe ...
– the abortive World War II-era aviation contract competition meant to replace all previous Luftwaffe medium bombers with a single design, meant to be used for all but the longest-range missions, and function as a combination of medium and
heavy bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...
, and meant to be powered by a pair of high-output aviation piston engines such as the
Junkers Jumo 222
The Jumo 222 was a German high-power multiple-bank in-line piston aircraft engine from Junkers, designed under the management of Ferdinand Brandner of the Junkers Motorenwerke.
Such was the projected performance of the engine compared to con ...
.
* Brotbeutel –
haversack
A haversack, musette bag or small pack is a bag with a single shoulder strap. Although similar to a backpack, the single shoulder strap differentiates this type from other backpacks. There are exceptions to this general rule.
Origins
The word ...
* Brücke –
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
. Can mean either the road structure or a ship's command center, also the supporting framework that existed below the bird-like monoplane wings of the earlier examples of the
Etrich Taube
The Etrich ''Taube'', also known by the names of the various later manufacturers who built versions of the type, such as the Rumpler ''Taube'', was a pre-World War I monoplane aircraft. It was the first military aeroplane to be mass-produced in ...
before World War I.
* Brückenleger – bridgelayer.
*
Brummbär – "grumbling
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...
"; a children's word for "bear" in German. It was the nickname for a heavy mobile artillery piece.
* Bundes –
federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
.
*
Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
– "Federal Defense Force", name adopted for the West German armed forces after the fall of the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. (Between 1945 and 1955 there was no German army.) The ''Bundeswehr'' consists of the ''
Heer'' (Army), ''
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
'' (Air Force) and ''
Marine'' (Navy), as well as (since the late 1990s) the ''
Streitkräftebasis
The Joint Support Service (german: Streitkräftebasis, , ''abbreviated:'' SKB, ; literally Armed Forces Foundation) is a branch of the German ''Bundeswehr'' established in October 2000 as a result of major reforms of the ''Bundeswehr''. It handl ...
'' (Joint Service Support Command) and ''
Zentraler Sanitätsdienst
The Joint Medical Service (german: Zentraler Sanitätsdienst der Bundeswehr, ''short form:'' Zentraler Sanitätsdienst, ) is a part of the ''Bundeswehr'', the armed forces of Germany and serves all three armed services (Army, Navy and Air Force ...
'' (Central Medical Service).
* Bürger –
citizen.
* Bürgerkrieg –
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
.
C
* C-Stand – ventral (underside of fuselage) defensive gunner's position on aircraft.
* Chef – commander of a unit or sub-unit, e.g. Regimentschef. A substitute in case of absence would be referred to as ''Regimentsführer'' etc.
* Chef des Generalstabes – Chief of the
General Staff
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
.
*
Condor Legion
The Condor Legion (german: Legion Condor) was a unit composed of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany, which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939. The Condor Legio ...
– volunteer forces of the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
and
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
(6000 or more strong) sent by Hitler to assist Franco during the Spanish Civil War (1936) on the stipulations that it remained exclusively under German command. The aerial branch of the Condor Legion gained notoriety for their comprehensive bombing of the Spanish rebel lines and the surrounding civilian centers, most notably the Spanish city of Guernica on April 27, 1937. After the successful utilization of the Condor Legion, a homecoming parade was held in Berlin on 6 June 1939 to honor the 300 Germans who died fighting in the campaign.
D
* der Landwehr (d. L.) - "of the Landwehr". A non-commissioned or commissioned officer in the ''Landwehr''. Example: Oberleutnant d. L. Johann Schmidt.
* der Reserve (d. R.) - "of the Reserve". A non-commissioned or commissioned officer in the Army Reserve. Example: Oberleutnant d. R. Johann Schmidt.
* Dachschaden – "roof damage"; a head wound, more commonly used in the sense of "gone bonkers", "Section 8"
*
Daimler-Benz
The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...
(DB) – a producer of military vehicles, and engines to power both German aircraft and surface vehicles.
* Deckung — Cover. "In Deckung!" means "Take cover!", and "In Deckung bleiben!" means "Stay under cover!" Compare Tarnung, meaning "concealment" or "camouflage".
*
Deutsches Afrikakorps
The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...
(DAK) – German troops sent to
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
under the command of
Erwin Rommel
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...
to prevent the loss of
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
to the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
by the
Italians
, flag =
, flag_caption = The national flag of Italy
, population =
, regions = Italy 55,551,000
, region1 = Brazil
, pop1 = 25–33 million
, ref1 =
, region2 ...
. The term is properly used to refer to Rommel's original force of two divisions that landed in Libya on February 14, 1941 (which stayed as a distinct formation for the remainder of the
North African Campaign), but often refers to all German forces that operated in North Africa, eventually consisting of several divisions and corps and formed into an entire Panzer Army.
* Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke (DAW; German Armament Works) – an armaments organization established in 1939 under SS control.
* Deutsche Minenräumleitung (DMRL) – German mine-sweeping group
* Dienst – service.
*
Division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
– in the army and air force a military formation, in the navy either a sub-unit of a squadron or trainings units of battalion size.
** Divisionsarzt – medical officer of a division.
** Divisionskommandeur – commanding officer of a division, typically a General officer. In the imperial army this was the post of a Generalleutnant.
* Dienstdolch – service dagger (uniform dagger).
* Donnerbalken – "thunder beam"; latrine.
* Drahtverhau – barbed-wire entanglement. Slang term used by German soldiers during World Wars I and II for a military-issue mixture of dried vegetables.
*
Drang nach Osten
(; 'Drive to the East',Ulrich Best''Transgression as a Rule: German–Polish cross-border cooperation, border discourse and EU-enlargement'' 2008, p. 58, , Edmund Jan Osmańczyk, Anthony Mango, ''Encyclopedia of the United Nations and Interna ...
– "Push to the East", Germany's ambitions for territorial expansion into Eastern Europe.
* Düppel – German code name for
radar chaff, used by the Royal Air Force as ''Window'', possibly from ''düpieren'' (to dupe). or from
a suburb of Berlin of the same name, where it was allegedly first found near.
E
* Eagle's Nest – English name given to Hitler's mountain-top summerhouse at
Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; the ...
in the
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, not far from the ''
Berghof''. In German, it is known as the ''
Kehlsteinhaus
The (known in English as the Eagle's Nest) is a Nazi-constructed building erected atop the summit of the Kehlstein, a rocky outcrop that rises above Obersalzberg near the southeast German town of Berchtesgaden. It was used exclusively by mem ...
''. Hitler, however, visited the property only ten times and each visit was under 30 minutes.
* EG z.b. V. – ''Einsatzgruppe zur besonderen Verwendung'' – SS Special Purpose Operational Group.
* Ehrendolch – literally, "honor dagger", a
presentation
A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...
dagger
A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...
awarded for individual recognition, especially by the SS.
* Eichenlaubträger – holder of Oak Leaves to the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Knight' ...
.
* Eid –
oath
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...
. The current oath when joining the Bundeswehr is "Ich gelobe, der Bundesrepublik Deutschland treu zu dienen, und das Recht und die Freiheit des deutschen Volkes tapfer zu verteidigen" ("I pledge to faithfully serve the Federal Republic of Germany and to bravely defend the right
awand the freedom of the German people"). For soldiers joining for an extended period of time beyond the mandatory conscription of nine months, "so wahr mir Gott helfe" ("so help me God") is optionally added.
* Einfall –
invasion
An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...
.
* Eingeschlossen –
encirclement
Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces. The situation is highly dangerous for the encircled force. At the strategic level, it cannot receive supplies or reinforceme ...
, surrounded, cut off.
*
Eingreif division
Eingreif division (german: Eingreifdivision) is a term for a type of German Army formation of the First World War , which developed in 1917, to conduct immediate counter-attacks () against enemy troops who broke into a defensive position being he ...
– interlocking (counter-attack) division (1917–1918).
* Einheit – detachment or unit.
* Einheitsfeldmütze –
standard field cap
* Einsatz – duty, mission, deployment, action.
* Einsatzbereit – statement meaning, "Ready for action."
*
Einsatzgruppen
(, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...
– "mission groups", or "task forces". ''Einsatzgruppen'' were battalion-sized, mobile killing units made up of SiPo, SD or SS Special Action Groups under the command of the RSHA. They followed the Wehrmacht into occupied territories of
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. These units were supported by units of the uniformed German Order Police (Orpo) and auxiliaries of volunteers (
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
n,
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
n,
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n, and
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
). Their victims, primarily Jews, were executed by shooting and were buried in mass graves from which they were later exhumed and burned. At least a million Jews were killed in this manner. There were four ''Einsatzgruppen'' (A, B, C, D), which were subdivided into company-sized ''Einsatzkommandos''.
*
Einsatzkommando
During World War II, the Nazi German ' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellectu ...
– company-sized subunits of the ''Einsatzgruppen'' that took care of the mobilization and killing of Jews, partisans, Communists and others during the German invasion into the Soviet Union.
* Einsatz Reinhard (Mission/Action "Reinhard") – code name given on June 4, 1942 for the assignment to exterminate all Polish Jews in honor of SS Deputy Chief
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust.
He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...
who had been assassinated by Czech nationalists during a covert operation.
* Einsatztrupp (Troop Task Force) – smallest of the ''Einsatzgruppen'' units responsible for liquidations in the German-occupied territories.
* Einwohner – resident, inhabitant.
* Eisenbahn – "iron road"; railroad.
*
Eisernes Kreuz
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...
– "iron cross"; medal awarded for valorous service, and the German national military insignia from 1910 to the beginning of spring 1918, and once again from 1955 (with the establishment of the ''
Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
'') to today.
* Eiserne Kuh – "iron cow";
evaporated milk
Evaporated milk, known in some countries as "unsweetened condensed milk", is a shelf-stable canned cow’s milk product where about 60% of the water has been removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains adde ...
* Eiserne Ration – "iron ration";
emergency rations
Emergency rations are items of food and drink that a person stores and relies on in case of an emergency. Emergency food supplies can be purchased for camping trips or wilderness adventures. These supplies are meant to last for several days. M ...
* El Alamein (October–November 1942) – crucial battle of WW2 pitting the British under General Montgomery's 8th Army (approximately 1200 tanks) against General
Erwin Rommel
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...
's
Afrika Korps
The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...
(500 tanks) and fought primarily in Egypt. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Germans never regained the operational initiative, forcing Rommel to withdraw the bulk of his forces into Libya, marking the final stages of the Nazis' North African campaign.
*
Elefant
The ''Elefant'' (German for "elephant") was a heavy tank destroyer used by German Wehrmacht Panzerjäger during World War II. Ninety-one units were built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand, after its designer Ferdinand Porsche, using VK 45.01 ...
– "Elephant"; a heavy ''
Panzerjäger
''Panzerjäger'' (German language, German "armour-hunters" or "tank-hunters", abbreviated to ''Pz.Jg.'' in German) was a branch of service of the Nazi Germany, German Wehrmacht during the World War II, Second World War. It was an Anti-tank war ...
'' (tank hunter or tank destroyer) built on the chassis of Porsche's unsuccessful prototypes for the Tiger tank, and mounting the 88mm L/71 PaK 43.
* Elektra – a German radio-navigational system.
*
Endlösung
The Final Solution (german: die Endlösung, ) or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question (german: Endlösung der Judenfrage, ) was a Nazi plan for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to th ...
or Endziel – the "Final Solution"; refers to the
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
planned against the Jewish people.
*
Endsieg – final victory.
*
Enigma
Enigma may refer to:
*Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling
Biology
*ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain
Computing and technology
* Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup
* Enigma machine, a family ...
– German message
encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can decip ...
equipment.
* Ententeich – duck pond, maritime manoeuvre to create an area of calm sea in order to lower boats into the water or land aircraft
* Entmenscht – bestial, inhuman, brutish.
* Entscheidender Sieg –
decisive victory
A decisive victory is a military victory in battle that definitively resolves the objective being fought over, ending one stage of the conflict and beginning another stage. Until a decisive victory is achieved, conflict over the competing objecti ...
.
*
Entwicklung series
The ''Entwicklung'' series (from German ''Entwicklung'', "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Nazi Germany to produce a standardised series of tank designs. There were to be standard designs in ...
, more commonly known as the E-series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardised series of tank designs.
*
Einsatzgruppen reports – Einsatzgruppen commanders' report delivered daily to the
Reich Security Main Office
The Reich Security Main Office (german: Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and ''Reichsführer-SS'', the head of the Nazi ...
(RSHA) in Berlin which comprehensively listed secretly coded murder activities in the occupied territories along the Eastern Front.
* Erobert – conquered.
* Erkennungsmarke – identity tag; "dog tag".
* Erprobungsstelle – test centre.
* Ersatz – substitute, replacement, reserves; could refer to replacement troops or any substance used in place of another (e.g., ersatz coffee, ersatz rubber, etc.).
* Ersatzbataillone or Marschbataillone – coherent military replacement groups.
* Erschießungsaktion – Shooting action usually carried out by a member of a firing squad (Erschießungskommando).
* Etappendienst – German naval intelligence department.
* Etappenschwein – (slang) "rear swine" (
REMF
Pogue is American pejorative military slang for non-infantry MOS (military occupational specialty) staff, and other rear-echelon or support units.
History and etymology
The term was used as early as the First World War by US Marines to refer t ...
), a soldier with a safe job away from danger. Compare with Frontschwein.
* Exerzierpanzer – practice or exercise tank.
* Exzellenz – honorary address for a General officer from the rank of Generalleutnant upwards in the Prussian and Imperial Army
F
* Fahndung Funk (F. Fu.: Radio Search) – department of German Military Intelligence tasked to locate forbidden radio transmitters in France.
* Fahne (pl. Fahnen) – flag or banner.
* Fahnenjunker – lowest officer candidate rank equivalent to Unteroffizier (Corporal)
* Fahnenflucht –
desertion
Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ar ...
* Fahnenschmied –
farrier
A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adj ...
NCO
* Fähnlein (Squad) – unit of the ''Deutsches Jungvolk'' within the Hitler Youth.
* Fähnrich – officer candidate rank equivalent to Feldwebel (Sergeant). A Fähnrich is an NCO, though, and will have commensurable tasks.
* Fähnrich zur See – naval officer candidate rank equivalent to Bootsmann (Petty Officer 1st Class). A Fähnrich zur See is an NCO, though, and will have commensurable tasks.
* Fall – "case." A name for a German operation. The most important German offensives were called "cases," as they were viewed as problems to be solved.
*
Fallschirmjäger
The ''Fallschirmjäger'' () were the paratrooper branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first German paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. Throughout World War II, the commander ...
–
paratrooper
A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...
s; German
airborne troops
Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in a ...
.
* FdM –
Führer der Minensuchboote
* FdU –
Führer der Unterseeboote
The post of ''Führer der Unterseeboote (FdU)'' ("Leader of the U-boats") was the senior commanding officer of U-boat forces in a theatre of war. The submarine service in the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the Kriegsmarine of World War II, u ...
; Commander-in-Chief of U-boats (used from World War I to 1939, when the title was reduced to "Regional Commander").
* FdV –
Führer der Vorpostenboote
* Feigling –
coward
Cowardice is a trait wherein excessive fear prevents an individual from taking a risk or facing danger. It is the opposite of courage. As a label, "cowardice" indicates a failure of character in the face of a challenge. One who succumbs to cow ...
.
* Feind –
enemy
An enemy or a foe is an individual or a group that is considered as forcefully adverse or threatening. The concept of an enemy has been observed to be "basic for both individuals and communities". The term "enemy" serves the social function of d ...
. "Feindlich-" is used as an adjective, such as "feindliche Truppen" (enemy troops) or "feindliche Stellung" (enemy position).
* Feindfahrt – "enemy trip"; in U-boat terminology, a war cruise or combat patrol against the enemy.
* Feindbild – "enemy image"; prejudiced 'bogeyman' image of the enemy.
* Feld – field.
* Feldersatzbatallion – field replacement battalion, usually one per infantry division.
* Feldflasche – canteen.
*
Feldflieger Abteilung Feldflieger Abteilung (''FFA'', Field Flying Company) was the title of the pioneering field aviation units of what became the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (German air service) by October 1916, during World War I.
Composition
The use of aircraft as a tact ...
– "field airmen's section", abbreviated as "FFA". The earliest form of
''Fliegertruppe'' German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') flying unit in World War I, first formed in 1914 with six two-seater observation aircraft per unit.
*
Feldgendarmerie – Field Gendarmerie or "Field Police", the
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
units of the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
.
*
Feldgrau
''Feldgrau'' (English: field-grey) is a grayish green color. It was the official basic color of military uniforms of the German armed forces from the early 20th century until 1945 (West Germany) or 1989 (East Germany). Armed forces of other co ...
– "field gray"; the color of the ordinary German soldier's tunic – by extension the soldiers themselves.
*
Feldjäger
The ''Feldjäger'' () are Germany's military police. The term ''Feldjäger'', literally meaning field huntsmen or field Jäger, has a long tradition and dates back to the mid-17th century.
History
The first modern ''Feldjäger'' ...
–
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
detachments formed late in the war to root out deserters; later the name was applied to all military police units of the postwar
Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
.
* Feldkoch – cook.
* Feldlazarett –
field hospital
A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...
.
* Feldpolizeibeamter – field police officer.
*
Feldpost
''Feldpost'' is the German military mail service. Its history dates back to the 18th century in the Kingdom of Prussia during the Seven Years' War and War of the Bavarian Succession and has existed ever since in different forms and shapes.
Histo ...
, Feldpostbrief – mail to and from troops at the front.
*
Feldwebel
''Feldwebel '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupi ...
– non-commissioned rank in the Heer and Luftwaffe, the most junior of the "Unteroffiziere mit Portepee" (senior NCO) ranks. Approximately equal to sergeant.
* Feldzug –
military campaign
A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...
* Fernglas –
binoculars
Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...
; literally "remote glass".
* Fernmelde- – telecommunication.
* Fernsprech- – telephone.
* Festung –
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
.
* "Feuer auf mein Kommando" – "fire on my command".
* "Feuer Frei" – "fire at will".
* Feuerschutz –
suppressive fire
In military science, suppressive fire is "fire that degrades the performance of an enemy force below the level needed to fulfill its mission". When used to protect exposed friendly troops advancing on the battlefield, it is commonly called cov ...
, covering fire.
* Feuerwerker –
ordnance
Ordnance may refer to:
Military and defense
*Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment.
**The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...
NCO
* FlaK – Fliegerabwehrkanone, Flug(zeug)abwehrkanone – ''air defense gun'';
anti-aircraft artillery
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
(AAA) (e.g., the "
eighty-eight").
* FlaK-Helfer – "FlaK helper"; often underaged auxiliaries used to load and operate FlaK batteries and man searchlight batteries.
* Flakpanzer – armoured self-propelled antiaircraft gun, such as the
Möbelwagen
The 3.7 cm ''Flak auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen'' IV (sf) (''Sd.Kfz. 161/3''), nicknamed ''Möbelwagen'' ("Moving Van") because of its boxy shape, was a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun built from the chassis of the Panzer IV tank. It w ...
.
*
''Flakvierling'' – anti-aircraft, open turret-style weapon system employing a quartet ''(vierling)'' of 20mm autocannon,
employed on land, in self-propelled mounts and on ships.
* Flammpanzer – flame-throwing tank.
* Flammenwerfer –
flame-thrower
A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in Worl ...
.
*
Flecktarn
''Flecktarn'' (; "mottled camouflage"; also known as ''Flecktarnmuster'' or ''Fleckentarn'') is a family of 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-color disruptive camouflage patterns, the most common being the five-color pattern, consisting of dark green, light green, ...
– spotted camouflage.
* Fliegerabwehr-Abteilung – anti-aircraft battalion.
* Fliegerabwehrkanone – see FlaK.
* Fliegerbombe (FliBo) –
aerial bomb
An aerial bomb is a type of explosive or incendiary weapon intended to travel through the air on a predictable trajectory. Engineers usually develop such bombs to be dropped from an aircraft.
The use of aerial bombs is termed aerial bombing.
...
* Fliegerdivision – lit. Flight division.
* Fliegerkorps – lit. Flight corps
* Fliegerschwert – airman's sword (part of an officer's
regalia
Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereign ...
).
* Fliegertruppe – part of the official name (''Die Fliegertruppen des Deutschen Kaiserreiches'') of the Imperial German Army Air Service, existing under that name from 1910 to October 1916, when it was reorganized as the ''
Luftstreitkräfte
The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alth ...
''.
* Flotte –
naval fleet
A fleet or naval fleet is a large formation of warships – the largest formation in any navy – controlled by one leader. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land.
Purpose
In the modern sense, fleets are usually, but not ne ...
* Flottille (Fl.) – flotilla.
* Flucht nach vorn – "flight to the front"; trying to assault rather than wait or retreat while under threat.
* Flüchtlingslager –
refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...
.
* Flügelmann –
wingman
A wingman (or wingmate) is a pilot or UAV who supports another pilot in a potentially dangerous flying environment. ''Wingman'' was originally the plane flying beside and slightly behind the lead plane in an aircraft formation.
According to t ...
* Flugbombe V-1 (
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...
) – pulse-jet engine powered flying bomb carrying high-explosive warhead known to the Allies as the "buzz bomb".
* Flugzeug – aircraft.
* Flug(zeug)abwehrkanone – see FlaK.
* Flugzeugträger –
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
.
* Fluten – U-boat order; "Flood the tanks!"
* Formaldienst – drill and ceremony.
* Forschungsamt – intelligence service of the ''
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
''.
* Forstschutz – Forest Police (see ''
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...
'')
* Frachter –
freighter.
* Franktireure –
terrorists
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
; (see ''
Freischärler'').
* Franktireurkrieg – Guerrilla warfare, terrorist warfare.
* Fregattenkapitän – naval rank, literally meaning "frigate captain", in between Korvettenkapitän and Kapitän zur See. Commanded a light cruiser, or served as the executive officer on a capital ship, hence often translated as commander
* Freikorps – volunteer corps (see ''Freiwillige''). The Freikorps was an early volunteer paramilitary organizations formed in the wake of the German defeat in the First World War making up the German army in lieu of the restrictions mandated by the Treaty of Versailles; they consisted primarily of demobilized soldiers, disillusioned young men, and fanatical conservative nationalists who blamed Social Democrats, Jews, and communists for Germany's problems.
*
Freischärler – irregular or guerrilla (see ''Widerstandskräfte'').
* Freischärlerunwesen – "pestering by guerrillas"; guerrilla activities or terrorist incidents.
* Europäische Freiwillige, Freiwillige – volunteer.
* Fremde Heere Ost/West (FHO/FHW) – Foreign Armies East/West, staff intelligence specialist on the subject.
* Frieden – peace.
* Fritz-X – The Luftwaffe's radio-controlled glide bomb, precursor to today's "smart weapons" or PGMs.
* Fronterlebnis – front experience. Fronterlebnis was a literary genre which romanticized the war experience and the camaraderie of being 'brothers-in-arms'.
* Frontgemeinschaft – front-line comradeship or community; group of front-line combat soldiers.
* Frontkämpfer – front line soldier
* Frontschwein – (slang) "front pig" soldier serving long at the front, often used as an ironic accolade for a soldier with the will to fight. Compare with Etappenschwein.
* Der Führer – "The Leader"; title used by Adolf Hitler: ''Mein Führer'', ''Der Führer''.
* Führerbunker – (literally meaning "shelter [for the] leader" or "[the] Führer's shelter") was located about 8.2 metres beneath the garden of the old Reich Chancellery building at Wilhelmstraße 77, and about 120 metres north of Hitler's New Reich Chancellery building in Berlin. This underground bunker was Hitler's last FHQ and where he and his wife Eva Braun ended their lives on 30 April 1945.
* Führer Headquarters, Führerhauptquartiere (FHQ) – a number of official headquarters especially constructed in order to be used by the Führer.
* Führer Headquarters, Führersonderzug – a special train built for and used by the Führer.
* Führer – in the army a substitute commander of a unit or sub-unit in absence of the regular commander (see 'Chef'); in the navy a flag officer (e.g. Führer der Uboote)
* SS-Führungshauptamt – SS Leadership Head Office, the administrative headquarters of the Waffen-SS.
* Funke – 1) radio [''die Funke'', f., slang abbreviation for ''Funkgerät'']; 2) spark [''der Funke'', m.]; the literal (pre-radio) meaning of the word.
* Funker – radio operator (from ''funken'' [verb], to transmit by radio).
* Luftwaffe radio equipment (Funkgerät) of WW II, Funkgerät (prefix: FuG) – generic term for radio and airborne Identification friend or foe, IFF, Direction finding, RDF and airborne and some ground-based radar equipment.
* Funkmessbeobachtungsgerät (FuMB) – radar detector.
* Fusilier, Füsilier – historic term often used to refer to light infantry, originally named after the ''fusil'', or musket, such troops once carried. During World War II, a name given to infantry formations with some
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
abilities that replaced an infantry division's reconnaissance battalion mid-war when the Germans reduced the number of standard infantry battalions in their divisions from 9 to 6.
* Füsilierbataillon – in the Imperial army the 3rd battalion of a Grenadier-Regiment. Its designation was F, as in F/GR10 for Füsilierbataillon of the Genadier-Regiment 10.
* Futtermeister – quartermaster responsible for fodder
* Freya radar – first operational radar with the ''Kriegsmarine''.
G
* Gabelschwanzteufel – P-38 Lightning "Fork Tailed Devil".
* Garnison – garrison
* Gasmaske – gas mask
** Gasmaskenbehälter – gas mask container.
* Gaspistole – starting pistol; a gun that fires blanks.
* Gau (country subdivision), Gau – An administrative region equivalent to a shire or province.
* Gauleiter – supreme territorial or regional Nazi party authority(-ies). Gau (territory), Gau leader.
* Gebirgsjäger – mountain troops; a mountain "unit" might be referred to as either ''Gebirgs'' or ''Gebirgsjäger''.
* Gebirgstruppe – mountain troops.
* gefallen (gef.) – fallen, killed in action
* Gefecht – combat, action.
* Gefechtsgepäck – infantry assault pack.
* Gefechtsstand – Command and control (military), command post.
* Gefechtsstation – naval term, "General quarters, battle stations" or (more literally) "combat stations".
* Gefechtsverband – defensive aerial tactic employed against USAAF heavy bombers when ''Zerstörer'' twin-engined heavy fighters had proven too vulnerable to Allied single-engined fighters – used heavily armed Focke-Wulf Fw 190 operational history#The Sturmböcke, Fw 190As as bomber destroyers in place of the slower ''Zerstörer'' aircraft, with Bf 109Gs for escort.
* Gefreiter – enlisted rank, senior to privates but not considered an NCO.
* Gegenangriff – counterattack.
* Gegenoffensive – counter-offensive.
* Gegenstoß – hasty counter-attack.
* Gegenschlag – counter stroke.
* geheim – secret.
* Geheime Feldpolizei (GFP) – Secret Field Police. It was Germany's secret military police that was organised by the German high command (OKW) in July 1939 to serve with the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
. It was mainly designed to carry out security work in the field, as the executive agent of the
Abwehr.
* Geheimfernschreiber – (literally, "secret distance writer") cipher machine.
* Gelbkreuz – mustard gas
* Geleit – :wikt:escort, escort.
* Geleitschutz – convoy.
* Gemeindepolizei – local police.
* Gemeinschaft – community.
* Generalfeldmarschall – Field Marshal.
* Generalkommando – the headquarters of an army corps.
* Generalstab des Heeres (Gen. St.d. H.) – German Army
General Staff
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
.
* gepanzert (gep.) – armoured.
* Geschütz – cannon, gun.
* Geschützführer – gun captain / commander / layer.
* Geschwader – originally and literally a naval "Squadron (naval), squadron" and, therefore, equivalent to the French ''escadre'' or Italian ''squadriglia''; in military aviation, the translation varies:
** World War I ''
Luftstreitkräfte
The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alth ...
'': a unit comprising four fighter ''Organization of the Luftwaffe#Staffel, Staffeln'', such as ''Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I), Jagdgeschwader 1'' (JG 1) –the famous "Flying Circus", led by Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"); also used for the ''Kagohl'' and ''Bogohl'' German strategic bombing during World War I, heavy bomber units, the last two mentioned unit types specifically tied to the ''Oberste Heeresleitung'' or "OHL";
** World War II ''Luftwaffe'': comprising three or more ''Gruppen'', each made up of three (or sometimes four) ''Staffeln''; a WW2 ''Geschwader'' was equivalent to a Commonwealth of Nations, British Commonwealth air force group (air force unit), group, a French ''Wing (military aviation unit), escadron'', an Italian ''stormo'', an Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, IJAAS ''hikōdan'', an Imperial Japanese Navy Air Corps, IJNAC ''sentai'', a Soviet aviation division, a USAAF/USMC Wing (air force unit), air wing, and/or a US Navy carrier air group;
** current ''Luftwaffe'': a ''Geschwader'' comprises a "technical group" (''Technische Gruppe''), a "flying group" (''Fliegende Gruppe''), along with two or three other flying ''Staffeln'';
* ''Geschwaderkennung'' – the two-character alphanumeric identification code used by a non-day-fighter ''Geschwader'' for unit identification, that appeared to the left of the fuselage ''Balkenkreuz'' on most World War II Luftwaffe aircraft. It also included two letters to the right of the cross, the third letter designating the aircraft's individual identification, with the fourth letter designating the aircraft's assigned squadron ''(Staffel)'' within the unit.
* Gestapo – ''Geheime Staatspolizei'' – Secret State Police. Originally the Prussia secret state police and later (as part of the SiPo then merged into the RSHA) the official secret police force of Nazi Germany. Gestapo was derived as follows: Geheime Staatspolizei.
* Gewehr – rifle, such as the Gewehr 43.
* Gift – poison; ''giftig'': poisonous, toxic.
* Gleichschaltung – "coordination", coordination of everything into Nazi ideals.
* Gliederung – table of organisation
* Goldfasan (Golden pheasant) – derogatory slang term for high-ranking Nazi Party members. Derived from the brown-and-red uniforms similar to the colors of male pheasants and the perceived behaviour of high-ranking party officials living in peace and luxury at home.
* Gotenstellung – Gothic Line German defense line in Italy, north of Florence.
* Grabenkrieg – trench warfare.
* Granate – grenade, used not only for hand grenades (''Handgranate'') but also for other explosive ordnance such as mortar (''Werfgranate'') and armor-piercing (''Panzergranate'') shells.
* Granatwerfer (GrW) – Mortar (weapon), mortar.
* Grenadier – traditional term for heavy infantry, adopted during World War II from mid-war onward as a morale-building honorific often indicative of low-grade formations.
* Grenze – border.
* Grenzschutz – Border guard, border patrol.
* Greuelerzählungen – atrocity stories.
* – German soldiers' derogatory acronym for ''Größter Feldherr aller Zeiten'', a title initially publicized by Nazi propaganda to refer to Adolf Hitler during the early war years; literally, the "Greatest Field Commander of all Time".
* Grundausbildung (abbr. Grundi) – basic training
* Gruppe (Luftwaffe) – a ''gruppe'' usually consisted of three ''Staffeln'' of nine to twelve aircraft. An equivalent would be a US or French group (air force unit), group. In Commonwealth air forces the equivalent would be a Wing (air force unit), wing.
* Gruppe (Heer) – in the army a ''gruppe'' is the equivalent to a squad
* Gruppenführer – squad leader, also a Gruppenführer, Nazi party rank.
* Gruppenhorchgerät (GHG) – hydrophone array.
* Gulaschkanone – "goulash cannon", mobile field kitchen
* Gruppenstab – command staff.
* Gustav Line – German defense line in Italy, centered on the monastery of Monte Cassino.
* GvD – Gefreiter vom Dienst – soldier who is the runner of CQ (call), CQ.
H
* Hafen – harbour. "Flughafen" is airport.
* Hafthohlladung – German magnetically-adhered, shaped charge anti-tank grenade munition, ironically the type of ordnance that if the Allies also possessed them, ''Zimmerit'' was meant to prevent the use of.
* Hakenkreuz – (literally, "hooked cross") the swastika symbol used by the Nazi Party.
* "Halbe Fahrt!" – naval command calling for half-speed. "Halbe Fahrt voraus" is "half-speed ahead" and "Halbe Fahrt zurück" is "half-speed reverse".
* Halsschmerzen – "sore throat" or "itchy neck"; used to describe a reckless or glory-seeking commander, implying an obsession with winning the #RK, Knight's Cross.
* Halt – Stop! Freeze!
* Handelsmarine – German Ship transport#Merchant Navy/Merchant Marine, merchant marine.
* Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG (Hanomag) – producer of military vehicles, principally the Sd.Kfz. 251 medium-armoured halftrack.
* "Hart..." – naval command calling for a sharp turn. "Hart Backbord" is "hard-a-port" and "Hart Steuerbord" is "hard-a-starboard".
* Härteübung – hardiness training.
* Haubitze – howitzer.
* Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei (HA-SiPo) – Security Police headquarters.
* Hauptbahnhof – main or central station.
* Hauptfeldwebel – company sergeant-major or first sergeant.
* Hauptkampflinie (HKL) – literally ''main combat line'', official term for "front" until the end of World War II.
* Hauptmann – Captain (land), army captain.
* Hauptquartiere (HQ) – headquarters.
* Hauptstadt – capital city.
* Hauptwachtmeister – company first sergeant in artillery and cavalry units.
* Heckenschütze – "hedge marksman" hidden, ambushing sniper.
* Heckschütze – tail gunner the man to handle the Heckstand.
* Heckstand – tail gunner, tail gun defensive position on aircraft.
* Heer (disambiguation), Heer – regular German Army. Can also be used for any national army.
* Heeresgruppenkommando (HGr.Kdo) – army group command.
* Heimat – home, homeland.
* Heimatkurs – the way home. Literally "homeland course".
* Heimatschuß – "homeland shot"; a wound not severe enough to be permanently disabling, but of sufficient severity to require evacuation from the battlefront. The German soldier's equivalent of the American G.I.'s "million-dollar wound" or the British soldier's "Blighty wound".
* Heldenklau – "stealing" or "snatching of heroes"; slang term used to denote the practice of commandeering rear-echelon personnel for front-line service.
* Henschel & Sohn, Henschel – railroad locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer, and a firm responsible for many German World War II weapons systems for both the ''Wehrmacht Heer'' and the ''Luftwaffe'', especially the heavy Tiger I and Tiger II tanks and the Henschel Hs 293 guided anti-ship missile.
* "Herr..." – In past and modern German military protocol, "Herr" ("mister") is said before ranks when someone is addressing a person of higher rank. For example, a lieutenant ("Leutnant") would address his captain as "Herr Hauptmann" ("Mr. Captain"). Superior officer address subordinates with "Herr" and their last name or simply their rank, but not adding "Herr" to the rank. This practice was forbidden in the Waffen-SS, as it offended Himmler's egalitarian principles.
* Hetzer – agitators; also a hound, hunting dog and as such the unofficial name of a certain mid-war model of Hetzer, German tank destroyer.
* Hiwi (volunteer), Hilfswillige (Hiwis) – German Army volunteer forces usually made up of Soviet volunteers serving in non-combat capacities.
* Himmelfahrtskommando – literally, "trip to heaven mission", a suicide mission.
* Hinterhalt – ambush.
* Hitler-Jugend (HJ) –
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
. The German youth organization founded by the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Made up of the ''Hitlerjugend'' proper, for male youth ages 14–18; the younger boys' section "Deutsches Jungvolk" for ages 10–14; and the girls' section "Bund Deutscher Mädel" (BDM).
* Hitlersäge – "Hitler saw", nickname of the MG42 machine gun. Also named "Singende Säge" (singing saw), "Knochensäge" (bone saw) or "Hitlersense" (Hitler scythe)
* HJ-Fahrtenmesser (Hitler Youth knife) – common
dagger
A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...
specially designed for the Hitler Youth, Hitler Jugend.
* HJ-Spätlese – nickname for the Volkssturm.
* Höckerhindernisse – anti-tank obstacles often referred to as "Dragon's teeth (fortification), Dragon's Teeth".
* Hoheitsabzeichen – national insignia e.g. on a tank or aircraft.
* ''Hohentwiel (Radar), Hohentwiel'' – ''FuG 200'' UHF-band (500 MHz) maritime patrol airborne radar gear.
* Hubschrauber – helicopter.
* Hufbeschlagschmied,
farrier
A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adj ...
.
* Hummel (artillery), Hummel – "bumble-bee"; nickname for a piece of Self-propelled artillery, mobile artillery.
* Hundehütte – literally, "dog house", punishment hut.
I
* im Dienst (i.D.) – in service.
* Indianer – Indians. Luftwaffe slang for an enemy fighter (from the game of cowboys and Indians.)
* Infanterie (Inf.) – infantry.
* Inhaber der Befehls- und Kommandogewalt (IBuK) – commander-in-chief, Minister of Defence (Germany), Minister of Defence (peacetime) or Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Federal Chancellor (wartime)
* Iststärke – actual strength (compared to ''Soll-Stärke'')
* Iwan – German slang for a Soviet soldier (similar to "Jerry" or "Kraut", the British and American slang terms for Germans).
J
* Jabo (Jagdbomber) – Ground attack aircraft, fighter-bomber.
* Jagdgeschwader (JG) – single-engine Fighter aircraft, fighter Wing (air force unit), wing/group (air force unit), group, literally ''hunting squadron''.
* Jagdpanzer – "hunting tank"; armoured
casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...
-style self-propelled tank destroyer.
* Jagd-Kommando – "hunting commando"; generally refers to a commando outfit that remained behind enemy lines when an area was overrun and would carry out sabotage and other guerrilla warfare, guerrilla actions. These units did not generally operate as such and were later taken over by the SS and used as frontline combat troops in 1944–1945.
* Jäger (military), Jäger – [1] light infantry; used alone or as part of a specialty such as ''Gebirgsjäger'' or ''
Fallschirmjäger
The ''Fallschirmjäger'' () were the paratrooper branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first German paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. Throughout World War II, the commander ...
''. [2] Fighter Airplane. The root ''Jagd''- is also used in its literal meaning of "hunter" for weapon systems such ''Jagdtiger''.
* jawohl – simply the word "yes" with the emphatic "wohl", which one might translate as "Yes, indeed!", "Aye, aye, sir!" or "Absolutely yes!" Widely used in World War II.
* Junkerschule – SS officer academy.
K
* "Kaczmarek" – wingman
* Kadavergehorsam – "absolute duty and blind obedience till death."; lit.: "carcass obedience"
* Kaiserliche Marine (KM) – Imperial German Navy
* Kaiserlicher Yacht-Club (KYC) – Imperial Yacht Club
* Kameradschaft – small military unit, or phrase for "comrade support amongst soldiers" (see ''Volkgemeinschaft'').
* Kampf – struggle, fight or conflict.
* Kampfeinsitzer Kommando (KEK), the first specialist, single-seat armed scout/fighter units of the ''Fliegertruppe'' predecessor of the
Luftstreitkräfte
The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alth ...
, first formed by Inspektor-Major Friedrich Stempel in February 1916, and the direct predecessor units to the ''Jagdstaffeln'' fighter squadron units first formed in the late summer of 1916.
* Kampfflotte – battle fleet.
* Kampfgeist – fighting spirit.
* Kampfgeschwader (KG) –
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
Wing (air force unit), wing (USAAF practice)/group (air force unit), group (RAF practice)
* Kampfgruppe—1. an Army Battlegroup (army), battlegroup or task force; formal designation of an ''ad hoc'' task force, or informal term for a combat unit at greatly reduced strength. 2. In the ''Luftwaffe'', a bomber unit equivalent to a US/French group (air force unit), group or a British Commonwealth Wing (air force unit), wing.
* Kampfmesser – combat knife.
* Kampfplan – battle plan.
* Kampfschwimmer – frogman.
* Kampfzone – battle zone.
* Kampfwunde – battle injury.
* Kanone – gun (as opposed to a howitzer).
* Kanonier – gunner
* Kapitän – naval rank of Captain (naval), captain; in full Kapitän zur See (KzS or Kpt.z.S.) ;literally, sea captain. Commanded any capital ship.
* Kapitänleutnant (Kptlt.) – naval rank of lieutenant commander or (literally) captain lieutenant. Officers of this rank generally command small vessels such as
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s and minesweepers. The rank is often shortened to "Kaleun", with junior officers addressing people of this rank as "Herr Kaleun".
* Kapitulation – Surrender (military), surrender.
* Kapo – overseer, NCO (sl). Esp. a prisoner who acted as an overseer of his fellow inmates in the Nazi concentration camps (see ''Konzentrationslager'').
* Karbol-Tränke – field dressing station
* Kartenstelle – mapping detachment, normally part of staff company of a division or higher
* Kaserne – barracks, casern.
* Kavallerie (Kav.) –
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
.
* KdE – abbreviation for the ''Kommandeur der Erprobungsstellen'', the commander of all German military aviation test facilities in World War II, an office held by Colonel ''(Oberst)'' Edgar Petersen late in the war.
* Kesselschlacht – lit. "cauldron battle"
encirclement
Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces. The situation is highly dangerous for the encircled force. At the strategic level, it cannot receive supplies or reinforceme ...
often shortened to Kessel e.g. "Kessel von Battle of Stalingrad, Stalingrad"
* Kette – chain, in the air force a sub-unit of 3—6 aircraft
* Ketten – chains, chain-drive, tracks (e.g. Panzerketten)
* Kettenantrieb – Caterpillar track, track, such as a tank track; tracked vehicle.
* Kettenhund – "chained dog", slang for a Feldgendarmerie, Military Policeman (derived from the metal gorget worn on a chain around the neck).
* Kettenkraftrad – a tracked motorcycle; also ''Sd.Kfz. 2, Kettenkrad''.
* Kindersärge – "children's coffins", slang term applied to small, wooden Land mine, antipersonnel box-mines.
* KLA: Kriegsschiffbaulehrabteilung – was a warship-construction training division that supervised a ''Baubelehrung''.
* Kleinkampfverband (K-Verband) – special naval operations unit, comprising a few frogman, frogmen.
* Kleinkrieg – Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war.
* Knickebein (navigation), Knickebein – "crooked leg", also "bent leg" (in the sense of "dogleg"); German navigational system using radio beams to guide bombers.
* Knochensammlung – gathering the bones of dead soldiers.
* Kochgeschirr – mess tin
* Koffer – in the Bundeswehr a derogatory term for a raw recruit
* Koffer, schwerer – large calibre shell, similar to the British coal box or the American trash can
* Kolonne – column, also supply units (e.g. leichte Infanterie-Kolonne)
* Kommandanten-Schießlehrgang – U-boat Commander's Torpedo Course.
* Kommando (Kdo.) – command; detachment; detail.
* Kommissarbefehl – the notorious 6 June 1941 "Commissar Order" to kill all political commissars in the Red Army and civil government.
* Kompanie (Kp.) – Company (military unit), company, unit.
** Kompaniechef – company commander
** Kompaniefeldwebel – company first sergeant
** Kompanieführer – substitute company commander in case of absence or if the ‘Kompaniechef ’ is only an honorary function (similar to a colonel-in-chief)
** Kompanietruppführer – company headquarters section leader
* Konteradmiral – naval rank of rear admiral.
* Konzentrationslager (KZL) – Internment, concentration camp.
* Korvettenkapitän (K.Kpt) – naval rank of (literally) "Corvette (ship), corvette captain". The grade senior to Kapitänleutnant; frequently translated as either lieutenant commander or commander. Typically commanded a destroyer.
* Krad (Kraft-Radfahrzeug) – motorcycle (dated in civil use, but still common in the Bundeswehr).
* Krad-Melder – motorcycle dispatch rider
* Kradschütze(n) – motorcycle unit or soldier.
* Kraft – strength.
* ''Kraftei'' – literally "power-egg", used both for the unitized aviation engine installation system that combined all major engine ancillary components (radiator, oil cooler, etc.) with the engine itself, into a single interchangeable unit for ease of field maintenance and rapid replacement, or as a slang term for the short-fuselaged Messerschmitt Me 163 ''Komet'' rocket fighter.
* Krankenstation – sick bay of a ship.
* Krankenträger – stretcher bearer
* Kraut – for ''sauerkraut''; slang term used by Americans to refer to Germans.
* Krieg or Krieg(s)- – "war" or "wartime-".
* Kriegserlebnis – (myth of the) war experience.
* Kriegsfischkutter (KFK) – patrol vessels constructed to a fishing-vessel design; (see ''Vorpostenboote'').
* Kriegsflagge – "war ensign"; military form of the national flag, quartered by a black cross with an Iron Cross in the canton.
* Kriegsgefangener – prisoner of war.
* Kriegsgericht – court-martial; slang for a war dish or poor meal. Also "Militärgericht".
* Kriegsmarine – German Navy, 1935–45.
* Kriegsneurose – Combat stress reaction, battle fatigue. Mod. post traumatic stress disorder.
* Kriegsstärkenachweisungen (KStN) – the German equivalent of the American table of organization and equipment (TO&E) or the British war establishment.
* Kriegstagebuch – war diary.
* Kriminalpolizei (Kripo) – "Criminal Police" – in Nazi Germany, it became the national Criminal (investigative) Police Department for the entire Reich in July 1936. It was merged, along with the Gestapo, into the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo). Later, in 1939, it was folded into the RSHA.
* Krupp (Kp) – famous German steel producer, manufactured most of the tanks, howitzers and heavy mortars, as well as armour plates for battleships (most famously the ''Bismarck'').
* Krupp-Daimler (KD) – see Krupp.
* Kübel – literally, "bucket" or "tub", short for ''Volkswagen Kübelwagen, Kübelwagen'', open-topped military utility cars.
* Kugel – "bullet" (also "ball").
* Kugelfest – bullet-proof.
* Kugelblitz – literally "ball lightning", fireball.
* KwK – abbreviation for "Kampfwagenkanone", the turret-mounted main (cannon) armament of a main battle tank.
L
* L/ – length of barrel in calibres (For example, an 8.8 cm L/71 gun would have a barrel of 71 x 8.8 cm = 624.8 cm long)
* Ladeschütze – loader
* Lager – Military camp, camp.
* Landekopf – beachhead.
* Lafette – literally "gun mount", used for many differing artillery carriages and for manned and remotely controlled gun turret installations on German military vehicles, especially on aircraft.
* Landratsamt – civil administration office.
* Landsturm – historically, infantry of non-professional soldiers; a kind of militia.
* Landser – historical term for a German infantryman; slang: "''Schütze Arsch''".
* Landwehr – Territorial Army, a type of militia.
* Lastensegler – cargo glider
* Latrinenparole – "latrine talk", rumor.
* laufende Nummer – serial number.
* Lebensraum – "living space", or in Hitler-speak the minimum space the German people needed to live in.
* Lehr – "demonstration"; usually part of the name of an elite formation used as or mobilized from instructional troops (e.g., ''Panzer-Lehr-Division'').
* Leibermuster – a camouflage pattern.
* leicht – "light", usually to refer a lighter type, such as light tank: ''leichter Panzer''. Several classes of divisions were also classified as "light".
* Leopard – the name originally used for the Porsche-produced Tiger I#Design history, VK 30.01(P) prototype tank hull design and the Planned VK 1602 Leopard, VK 16.02 Reconnaissance Vehicle, and later used by the Germany, Federal German Republic for the Leopard 1 and Leopard 2
Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
main battle tanks in service from the 1960s into the 21st century.
* Leuchtpistole – flare pistol
* Leuchtgeschoss/-granate – star shell
* Leutnant – army rank, equivalent to second lieutenant
* Leutnant zur See – naval rank, equivalent to lieutenant, junior grade
* Lichtenstein radar, Lichtenstein – German airborne radar used for Night fighter, nightfighting, in early UHF-band ''BC'' and ''C-1'' versions, and later VHF-band ''SN-2'' and ''SN-3'' versions.
* Lorenz cypher, Lorenz Schlüsselzusatz – German cipher machine.
* Lorenz (navigation) – pre-war blind-landing aid used at many airports. Most German bombers had the radio equipment needed to use it.
* "Los!" – "Go!" or "Away!" Also the U-boat command to fire a torpedo ("Fire!")
* Luchs – "lynx"; nickname given to the Model L version of the Panzer II#Panzer II Ausf. L (PzKpfw IIL) "Luchs", Panzer II.
* Leuchtkugel – Flare, signal flare.
* Luftangriff – air attack, air raid.
* Luftflotte – lit. air fleet. Largest sub-units within the Luftwaffe.
* Luftschutz – air raid protection
*
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
– "air force"; the German Air Force.
* Luftwaffenhelfer – "Luftwaffe assistant"; see FlaK-Helfer.
* Luftschutzpolizei – ''(Air Raid Protection Police)'' was the Civil defense, civil protection service in charge of air raid defence and rescue victims of bombings in connection with the Technische Nothilfe (Technical Emergency Service) and the Feuerschutzpolizei (professional fire departments). Created as the Security and Assistance Service (''Sicherheits und Hilfsdienst'') in 1935, it was renamed "Luftschutzpolizei" in April 1942, when transferred from the aegis of Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Ministry of Aviation to the
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...
.
* ''
Luftstreitkräfte
The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alth ...
'' – originally (October 1916) the name for the Imperial German Army Air Service of World War I, later part of the name for the East German dedicated air arm.
M
* Mannschaften – Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel
* MAN SE, Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (M.A.N.) – Augsburg-Nuremberg Machine Factory; a German engineering works and truck manufacturer. Now called MAN SE, MAN AG, and primary builder of the Panther tank.
* Marineausrüstungsstelle (Mast.) – naval equipment store
* Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hannover (MNH) – weapon (tank) development and production firm.
* Maschinengewehr (MG) – machine gun, as in the MG42.
* Maschinengewehrschütze – machine gunner
* Maschinenkanone (MK) – an autocannon used for aircraft armament, as with the MK 108 cannon, MK 108 30mm calibre weapon.
* Maschinenpistole (MP or MPi) – submachine gun, as in the MP40.
* Maschine – "machine". Commonly used as airplane or engine.
* Maskenball – German slang for fighting with NBC-protective gear, or at least with gas mask
* Maultier – Sd.Kfz. 4 half-track truck, German for mule
* Panzer VIII Maus, Maus – "mouse"; nickname for a large, Porsche-designed super-heavy tank, the heaviest tank ever actually built and tested, that never passed beyond prototype stage.
* Maybach (M) – a German automotive and engineering company.
* Melder – runner
* Meldereiter – horse despatch rider
* Metox – radar warning receiver (named for manufacturer) fitted to U-boats; superseded by Naxos radar detector, Naxos-U
* Milchkuh – "milk cow", nickname for the German Type XIV submarine, Type XIV resupply U-boat.
* Militär – military.
* Militärnachrichtendienst – military intelligence.
* Mine (pl. Minen) – an Land mine, anti-personnel, tank or Naval mine, ship mine.
* Mineneigenschutz (MES) – ship's degaussing, degaussing cable; literally "Mine (naval), mine self-protection".
* Minensuchboote (M-boats) – large Minesweeper (ship), minesweepers.
* Mißliebige – undesirables.
* Mitarbeiter – assistant clerk
* Motorkanone – engine-mounted autocannon armament firing through a hollow propeller shaft on inline-engined fighter aircraft.
* MP(i) – sub-machine gun
* Mörser – mortar
* Munitionskanonier – ammunition handler
* Munitionsschlepper – ammunition carrier.
* Munitionsschütze – ammunition handler
* Mütze – cap or small hat, such as the M43 field cap, also known as the ''Einheitsfeldmütze''.
N
* Nachricht(en) – Military communications, signals / news / communication, also intelligence.
* Nachrichtendienst – intelligence
* Nachrichtenoffizier – signals officer
* Nachrichtentruppen – Signal Corps (disambiguation), Signal Corps.
* Nachschub – supply
* Nachschubtruppen – Supply Corps, supply troops.
* Nacht und Nebel – "night and fog"; code for some prisoners that were to be disposed of, leaving no traces; ''bei Nacht und Nebel'' (idiom) – secretly and surprisingly, at dead of night.
* Nachtjagdgeschwader (NJG) – night-fighter Wing (air force unit), wing/group (air force unit), group.
* Nahkampfmesser – close-combat fighting knife.
* Nahverteidigungswaffe – "close defense weapon"; an attachment to Panzers to combat close-assaulting infantry.
* Nashorn – "rhinoceros", nickname for a type of tank destroyer.
* Nationalsozialistischer Führungsoffizier, Nationalsozialistische Führungsoffiziere (NSFO) – National Socialist Leadership Officers.
* Naxos radar detector – the FuG 350 radar detector set; "Naxos Z" was developed for night fighters, "Naxos U", was provided to
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s, to locate Allied H2S radar, H2S microwave-band radar transmissions, not able to detect American H2X radar gear.
* Nebelwerfer (Nb. W) – "fog thrower"; rocket artillery, multi-barrel rocket launchers that could be used for smoke or high-explosive projectiles.
* Neptun radar – Low-to-mid VHF band (125 to 187 MHz) airborne intercept radar for night fighter aircraft, to take the place of the Lichtenstein SN-2 unit, which had been compromised by July–August 1944.
* Niederlage – defeat.
* "Nicht Schiessen" – Don't shoot in German
* Norden – north.
* Notsignal – distress signal.
* National Socialist Motor Corps, NSKK – the ''Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrerkorps'', or National Socialist Motor Corps.
* Nummer (Nr.) – "number"; some divisional organizations with a unit number but no combat assets, often converted to ordinary divisions later on. (E.g., ''German Division Nr. 157, Division Nr. 157''.)
O
* Ober-* – higher; part of several military ranks and titles like ''Oberleutnant'' and "Oberkommando".
* Oberst – lit. "Uppermost" or "Seniormost," German equivalent of a Colonel.
* Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres (Ob.d.H.) – Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
* Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) – "High Command of the Army" and Army General Staff from 1936 to 1945.
* Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine (OKM) – "High Command of the (War) Navy".
* Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL) – "High Command of the Air Force".
* Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) – "High Command of the Armed Forces". The OKW replaced the War Ministry and was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany.
* Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL) – "Supreme Army Command", the OHL was the highest level of command of the World War I German Army (German Empire), ''Deutsches Heer''.
* Offizier im Generalstab – General Staff officer
* Offizier-Lager (Oflag) – "officer camp"; German Prisoner of war, prisoner-of-war camp for Allied officers.
*
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...
(Orpo) – "order police" – the regular uniformed police after their nationalization in 1936.
* Ordonnanzoffizier – aide-de-camp
* Ortskampf – combat in towns, urban warfare.
* Osten – east.
* Ostfront – eastern front (Russian Front)
* Ostjuden – eastern Jews in Poland.
* Ostmark – lit. Eastern march, post-''Anschluss'' Austria.
* Ostpreußen – province of East Prussia.
P
* Panjewagen – one-horse carriage.
* Panzer – "armour"; German word is derived from Old French ''pancier'', meaning "armour for the belly". It can refer to a tank (see ''Panzerkampfwagen'' below) or to an armoured formation. (''Panzer Division'' is literally "Tank Division"; the adjective for "armoured" is ''gepanzert''.)
* Panzerabwehrkanone (PaK) – Anti-tank warfare#Anti-tank guns, anti-tank gun; literally, "tank defence cannon", also used for the main armament for a typical
casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...
style turretless German tank destroyer.
* Panzerbefehlswagen (Pz. Bef.Wg) – the commanding tank of any panzer detachment; also used of purpose-built command tanks with extra radio gear.
* Panzerbüchse – anti-tank rifle
* Panzerbüchsenschütze – anti-tank rifleman
* Panzerfaust – literally "armour fist"; a light disposable infantry anti-tank weapon, a small recoilless gun firing a fin-stabilized shaped charge grenade, and a forerunner of the Soviet RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) although the ''Panzerfaust'' was more of a grenade launcher.
* Panzerführer – tank commander, literally "tank leader".
* Panzerkommandant – tank commander
* Panzerschreck – literally "armour terror," officially ''Raketenpanzerbüchse'' "rocket armour rifle;" a heavy re-usable infantry anti-tank weapon firing a rocket-propelled 88mm shaped charge grenade. Also called ''Ofenrohr'' ("stovepipe") for its appearance.
* Panzergrenadier – mechanized infantry; a soldier belonging to a mechanized infantry unit.
*
Panzerjäger
''Panzerjäger'' (German language, German "armour-hunters" or "tank-hunters", abbreviated to ''Pz.Jg.'' in German) was a branch of service of the Nazi Germany, German Wehrmacht during the World War II, Second World War. It was an Anti-tank war ...
– "tank hunter(s)", anti-tank troops; also used by extension for their self-propelled tank destroyers (e.g., the ''
Elefant
The ''Elefant'' (German for "elephant") was a heavy tank destroyer used by German Wehrmacht Panzerjäger during World War II. Ninety-one units were built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand, after its designer Ferdinand Porsche, using VK 45.01 ...
'') until superseded by the ''Jagdpanzer'' ("hunting tank") term.
* Panzerkampfwagen (Pzkpfw.) – "armoured fighting vehicle"; usually a reference to a type of tank with a 360° fully rotating turret for the main armament.
* Panzerschiffe – "armoured ships"; i.e., "Deutschland class cruiser, pocket battleships".
* Panzertruppen – tank forces.
* Papier – paper. Often used as identity document, paper of identification.
* Papierkrieg – paper war. The struggle to keep up with reports and record keeping
* Partei – political party.
* Pauke Pauke – code word for fighter pilots when engaging enemy aircraft (lit. 'Kettledrums')
* Pionier (pl. Pioniere) – Combat engineering, combat engineer.
* Plattenpanzer – plate armour.
* Planoffizier – Triangulation officer
* Porsche (P) – company that designed and produced tanks and other military vehicles. They now produce cars.
* Protze – limber, a horse-drawn two-wheel chariot that was hitched before a gun and usually transported munitions and crew. The term derives from the Italian "birazzo", a two-wheeled cart.
* Putsch – coup d'état; the sudden overthrow of a government by a small group, usually the military.
* Pyrrhussieg – Pyrrhic victory.
Q
* Quartiermeister – quartermaster
* Quist – one of several manufacturers of German helmets both during and after World War II.
R
* Radikale Niederwerfung – ruthless suppression.
* R boat, Räumboot (R-boot) – small motor Minesweeper (ship), minesweeper.
* Rasputitsa – semi-annual mud-season in Eastern Europe
* Regierung – government.
* Regimentsadjutant – regiment adjutant
* Regimentsarzt – Regimental Medical Officer
* Regimentschef – colonel of the regiment
* Regimentsführer – substitute for the colonel of the regiment
* Regimentskommandeur – commander of the regiment
* Regimentsveterinär – regimental veterinarian officer
* Reich – realm, empire.
* Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) – compulsory labor service in Nazi Germany.
* Deutsche Reichsbahn, Reichsbahn – railway system.
* Reichsführer-SS – Reich Leader of the SS, an office held by Heinrich Himmler.
* Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) – "Reich Security Main Office or Reich Security Head Office"; created by Himmler in September 1939 to combine all German security and plainclothes police departments, including the Gestapo, Kripo and Sicherheitsdienst, SD (''Sicherheitsdienst der SS'') into one umbrella organization with seven departments.
* Reichswehr – name for the German Armed Forces under the Weimar Republic, from 1919 to 1935.
* Reiter – cavalryman. See also Ritter.
* Rekrut – coll. rookie, Army recruit, recruit, member of the military in the basic training
* Rettungsboot – Lifeboat (shipboard), lifeboat.
* Richtkreisunteroffizier – Gun Director (NCO)
* Richtschütze – aiming gunner.
* Ringkanone (Rk) – built-up gun
* Ritter – knight, cavalier.
* Ritterkreuz – "knight's cross", usual abbreviated name for the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (see next entry)
* Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes – Knight's Cross (of the Iron Cross); award for valorous service for those who had already received the Iron Cross. Highest award class for bravery under fire or military leadership. 7318 of these were awarded during the war. Previous recipients of the Ritterkreuz would be awarded a higher degree of the same award, and then successively higher ones. The higher degrees are, in ascending order:
** Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub – "knight's cross with oak leaves". 890 recipients during the war.
** Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwerten – "knight's cross with oak leaves and swords". 159 recipients total, plus one honorary recipient (Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto)
** Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, Schwerten und Brillanten – "knight's cross with oak leaves, swords, and diamonds": 27 recipients total.
** Ritterkreuz mit Goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten: "knight's cross with golden oak leaves, swords, and diamonds": only one recipient.
* Ritterkreuzauftrag, "Knight's Cross job" – soldiers' slang for a suicidal mission.
* Ritterkreuzträger – a holder of the Knight's Cross.
* Rittmeister – Captain, used instead of ''Hauptmann'' in the cavalry, reconnaissance, and horse-transport ''waffen''.
* Rollkommando – small motorized (rolling) task force (nonmilitary: band for hit-and-run crime)
* Rommelspargel – "Rommel's asparagus"; slanted and barb-wired poles placed in key places behind the Atlantic Wall with the intention of preventing paratroop and glider landings.
* Rotes Kreuz – Red Cross.
* Organization of the Luftwaffe (1933–45)#Schwarm, Rotte and Kette, Rotte – two of a kind, especially ships, boats or aircraft. Also the 'file' in Enlisted rank, rank and file
* Rottenführer – leader of a 'rotte', also a Nazi rank
* Rottenknecht – subordinate in a 'rotte'
* Rottenmann – see 'Rottenknecht'
* Rottmeister – first in a file of soldiers. Originally, soldiers would file 10 – 25 deep, but in the 19th century two files were standard, thus a 'rotte' described two of a kind. Also a (non-commissioned) officer in charge of a detachment of 50 cavalry.
* RSO – the Raupenschlepper, Ost, Raupenschlepper Ost fully tracked artillery towing vehicle.
* Rückzug – Withdrawal (military), retreat.
S
* S-mine – a common type of anti-personnel land mine, landmine.
* SA – see ''Sturmabteilung''.
* Sachbearbeiter – clerk
* die Sahnefront – (the cream front) Occupation of Denmark, occupied Denmark during World War II, a lot of food, minuscule fighting.
* Sanitäter ('Sani') – combat medic
* Sanitätsoffizier – Medical officer
* Sanitätsunteroffizier – Medical NCO
* Sanka – acronym for ''Sanitätskraftfahrtzeug'', a term for German field ambulances.
* Saukopf – "pig's head", used to refer to the shape of a gun mantlet or mount, alternatively called ''Topfblende'' in German military documents.
* Schanzzeug – entrenching tool; slang term for fork and knife.
* Schachtellaufwerk – name for the system of overlapped and interleaved road wheels used on German military half-track and armored fighting vehicles before and during World War II.
* Scharfschütze – "sharpshooter"; sniper, marksman.
* Schatten – "shadow"; division headquarters that controlled just a few combat assets, usually for the purpose of misleading enemy intelligence.
* Scheisskommando – latrine detail as referred to by survivors of the Konzentrationslager.
* ''Scheuch-schlepper'' – the adapted three-wheel agricultural tractor (named from the maker of the original agri-version) used to tow the Luftwaffe's ''Messerschmitt Me 163, Komet'' rocket fighter on the ground.
* Schiffchen – side cap
* Schirmmütze – officer's and senior NCO's peaked cap
* Schirrmeister – Harness keeper
* Schlacht – battle. "Von" is used for a general location and "um" is used for what exactly was being fought over; for example, the Battle of Midway is referred to as the "Schlacht um Midway" while the Battle of Trafalgar is called the "Schlacht von Trafalgar".
* Schlachtschiff – battleship.
* Schleichfahrt – silent running (submarine), silent running.
* schnell – ''fast''.
* Schnellboot (S-Boot) – motor torpedo boat (British term: "E-boat", for "enemy").
* Schnelle Truppen – lit. "fast troops" mechanized troops (whether armour or infantry).
* Schräge Musik – "slanted music", obliquely upward/forward-firing offensive German night fighter armament.
* Schutzpolizei (Nazi Germany), Schutzpolizei – "protection police", the urban police; largest component of the uniformed police or ''
Ordnungspolizei
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...
''.
* ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) – "Protection Squadron", a major Nazi organization that grew from a small paramilitary unit that served as Hitler's personal body guard into an all-encompassing security, police and combat force. "SS" is formed from (S)chutz(s)taffel. Had a tri-force structure: ''Allgemeine-SS'' or "General SS", general main body of the Schutzstaffel; ''SS-Totenkopfverbände'' responsible for the concentration camps; ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' made up of military "dispositional" troops which, in 1940, officially became part of the Waffen-SS.
* Schürze – "skirting", armour skirting added to tanks to give additional protection.
* Schussline – Field of fire (weaponry), line of fire.
* Schütze – lit. shooter; member of the infantry. From 1920 to 1945 also the lowest military rank. see also ''Scharfschütze''.
* Schützenpanzerwagen (SPW) – armoured half-track or self-propelled weapon.
* Schutzhaft – "protective custody"; a euphemism for the power to imprison people without judicial proceedings, typically in concentration camps.
* Schutzhaftbefehl – "protective custody order"; document declaring that a detained person desired to be imprisoned; normally this signature was forced by torture.
* Schwadron (plural: Schwadrone) – "Squadron (army), squadron"; used in the
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
, a squadron was basically company-sized.
** Schwadronführer – company commander in the cavalry
** Schwadrontruppführer – company HQ section leader
* Schwarm – Flight (military unit)
* Schwarze Kapelle – "Black Orchestra"; a group of conspirators within the German Army who plotted to overthrow Hitler and came near to successfully Assassination, assassinating him on 20 July 1944.
* Schweinereien – "scandalous acts" (lit.: "acts of a pig"); (in a military context) crimes against civilians.
* schwer – (1) adjective meaning "heavy", the word "''gross''" (large) can mean the same; (2) hard/difficult.
* Schwerer Kreuzer – heavy cruiser.
* Schwerpunkt – main axis of attack
* Schwert – sword.
* Schwimmpanzer – amphibious or "swimming" tank.
* SD – see ''Sicherheitsdienst''.
* Sd.Kfz. – ''Sonderkraftfahrzeug''
* Seekriegsleitung (SKL) – directorate of the Naval War.
* Sehrohr – periscope; literally "looking tube".
* Sehrohrtiefe – periscope depth.
* Seitengewehr – bayonet.
* Selbstfahrlafette – self-propelled gun carriage.
* Selbstschutz – lit. "self protection"; ethnic German civilian militia.
* Sicherheitsdienst (SD) – "security service"; the SS and Nazi Party security service. Later, the main intelligence-gathering, and counter-espionage sections of the RSHA; originally headed by
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust.
He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...
.
* Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo) – "security police", the combined forces of the Gestapo and KriPo, made up of the Reich's criminal investigators and secret state police.
* "sichern und laden" – "lock and load".
* Sicherungsflottillen – (1) escort ships, (2) paramilitary organization of unemployed ex-soldiers, who were recruited to protect Nazi speakers, and because of their clothing were called "Brown Shirts".
* Sieg – victory.
* Sig Rune, Sigrunen – the name of the double "S" runes used by the SS.
* SiPo – see ''Sicherheitspolizei''.
* Sippenhaftung – the practice of arresting members of a person's family for political crimes or treason committed by that person.
* SMS – abbreviation for ''Seiner Majestät Schiff'', the German Empire's equivalent of the British Royal Navy's "HMS" (His/Her Majesty's Ship) naval vessel naming prefix before 1918.
* Soldat – soldier/enlisted man.
* Soldbuch – pay book carried by every member of the German armed forces. Unit information, a record of all equipment issued, and other details were entered into this book.
* Sollstärke – authorized strength
* Sonderbehandlung – "special treatment"; a Nazi euphemism meaning torture or killing of people in detention.
* Sonderfahndungslisten – wanted-persons list.
* Sonderkommando – "special unit"; during WWII, an official term that applied to certain German and foreign SS units that operated in German-occupied areas, who were responsible for the liquidation of persons not desirable to the Nazi government; ALSO: Jewish inmates of extermination camps, assigned to clear gas chambers of corpses, etc. During WWI, the term was used to refer to special fleet groups, i.e. the coastal defense force tasked with maintaining control over Dardanelles.
* Sonderkraftfahrzeug (Sd. Kfz.) – "special-purpose motor vehicle", usually abbreviated and referring to an Ordnance Inventory Number.
* Sonderreferat – special administrative section.
* Späher – Reconnaissance, scout.
* Spähtrupp – combat patrol
* Spähwagen – armoured car, scout/reconnaissance vehicle.
* Sperrfeuer – protective fire, curtain fire. Artillery barrage to stop advancing troops
* Störfeuer – harassing fire
* Sperrlinie – blocking line.
* Sperrschule – Mine Warfare School at Kiel-Wik.
* Spieß – "Pike (weapon), pike"; colloquial name for the mustering and administrative non-commissioned officer of a company, the ''Hauptfeldwebel''. Typically held the rank of ''Oberfeldwebel'' or ''Stabsfeldwebel.'' He exercised more authority than his American counterpart (First Sergeant), but his duties did not ordinarily include combat leadership.
* Spion – espionage, spy.
* Sprengstoff – explosive material.
* Sprung – an advance movement for infantry: jump up from cover, run a few steps, take cover again. Repeat.
* "Sprung auf, marsch, marsch!" – command to initiate a Sprung
* SS – see ''Schutzstaffel''.
* SS-TV – Totenkopfverbände, SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS Death's Head Units).
* SS-Verfügungstruppen – "units available" or military formations of the SS; became the core of the ''Waffen-SS'' formed in August 1940.
* Stab (pl. Stäbe) – "staff", sometimes HQ.
* Stabschef – chief of staff.
* Stabsfeldwebel – lit. "Staff Sergeant", but roughly equivalent to Sergeant Major: the highest NCO rank in the Wehrmacht, the second highest NCO rank in the Bundeswehr.
* Stacheldraht – barbed wire.
* Stadtkommandant – military commander of a city.
* Staffel – Squadron (aviation), squadron; the smallest operational air unit, and the primary operational unit of the World War I era
Luftstreitkräfte
The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alth ...
.
** Staffelführer
** Staffelkapitän
* Stahlhelm – (1) literally "steel helmet"; (2) inter-war nationalist organization.
* Stalag – acronym for ''Stammlager'', German prisoner-of-war camp for ranks other than officers.
* Stalinorgel – "Stalin's Organ"; nickname for the Katyusha rocket launcher.
* Stammkennzeichen – four-letter radio identification code applied to factory-fresh Luftwaffe aircraft, also used for prototype identification, not used on non-day-fighter aircraft assigned to a particular ''Luftwaffe'' wing, where a ''Geschwaderkennung'' code would be used instead.
* Standarte – SS unit equivalent to a regiment
* Standort – garrison
* Standortältester – garrison commander
* Stellung – position
* Stellungskrieg – static warfare, contrary to Blitzkrieg, if neither of the conflict parties is able to overcome the defense with offensive operations, the result is an attrition warfare, Abnützungskrieg.
* Stellungsunteroffizier – gun position NCO
* Steuerbord (Stb) – port and starboard, starboard side of a ship.
* Stielhandgranate – stick hand grenade: the "potato masher" Model 24 grenade.
* "stopfen" – a command to stop firing, probably derived from "stop your vents"
* Stoßtrupp – small unit as shock or attack troops.
* Stoß-[unit] – Stoßbataillon, Stoßregiment, Stoßdivision, a temporary designation for units, battalions, regiments or divisions that were held as mobile reserve and thus could be used to push (stoßen) an attacking force back in a counterattack. This term was first used in trench warfare in WWI, when in 1917 the defensive tactic of the German Army changed to in depth defense. The rationale was that frontline units in the trenches suffered so many casualties and material losses as not to be able to mount an effective counterstroke.
* Strategischer Sieg – strategic victory.
* Stube – room in the barracks, quarters
* Stuka – acronym for ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', literally: "downfall combat aircraft" figuratively: *dive-bombing aircraft". Particularly associated with the German Junkers Ju 87, Ju 87 dive bomber, although the German term refers to any dive bomber.
* Stukageschwader – a dive bomberWing (air force unit), wing/group (air force unit), group, later ''Schlachtgeschwader'' in a ground support role (SG).
* Stupa – a Brummbär, Sturmpanzer IV assault gun.
* Sturm – assault.
* Sturmabteilung (SA) – "assault detachment," party militia, not part of the army. In the beginning the Nazi Party's "Brown Shirt" bully-boys and street brawlers that grew by 1934 into a paramilitary force of nearly a half-million men; after the purge of its leadership by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) and Gestapo during the Night of the Long Knives rapidly decreased in numbers and influence.
* Sturmbann [plural: Sturmbanne] – lit. "storm band," a battalion; used by SA and SS units until 1940.
* Sturmgeschütz (StuG) – self-propelled assault gun, such as the Sturmgeschütz III.
* Sturmgewehr 44, Sturmgewehr – assault rifle.
* Sturmtrupp – assault troop, a specially drilled group of soldiers, usually a squad or a platoon, that was used for assaults on fixed positions in trenchwarfare. Later usage in WWII was for combat patrols with orders to infiltrate
* Sturmbattaillon – assault battalion, specially trained and equipped battalions of the German Army in WWI, specifically created in 1917 and 1918 from the experience in trench warfare.
* StuK – ''Sturmkanone'', prefix for the main armament of any German self-propelled artillery, also "StuH" for ''Sturmhaubitze'', when a howitzer was used instead on a tracked chassis.
* Stützpunkt – military base.
* Süden – south.
* Swastika – English term for the German ''Hakenkreuz''.
* sWS – Schwere Wehrmachtschlepper, late World War II "replacement" half-track vehicle.
T
* Tonne (t) – tonne (metric, 1000 kg)
* Tonne (ts) – long ton
* Tagesbefehl – order of the day
* tauchen – dive; submerge.
* Tauchpanzer – submersible tank.
* Teilkommando – a small,
section
Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sig ...
-sized command group.
* Testflug – flight test, shakedown cruise
* Tiger – name given to the Panzerkampfwagen, PzKW ''Panzer VI'' "Tiger I" and "Tiger II" series of tanks, as well as the ''Jagdtiger'' tank destroyer, based on the Tiger II, and ''Sturmtiger'', built on the Tiger I's chassis.
* Todesmärsche – "Death marches (Holocaust), Death marches" – at the end of the war when it became obvious that the German army was trapped between the Soviet Union, Soviets to the east and the advancing Allies of World War II, Allied troops from the west, the Nazis, in an attempt to prevent the liberation of concentration camp inmates, forced them to march westward toward Germany proper. Thousands died in these marches.
* Tommy – German slang for a British soldier (similar to "Jerry" or "Kraut", the British and American slang terms for Germans).
* Totenkopf – "death's head", skull and crossbones, also the nickname for the Kampfgeschwader 54 bomber wing of the World War II era Luftwaffe.
* Tornister – Back pack
* Totenkopfverbände – "Death's Head units", employed as guards in Nazi concentration camps, many later became the members of units of the Waffen-SS, such as the ''SS Division Totenkopf''.
* Totaler Krieg – "Total war" – In a total war, there is less differentiation between combatants and civilians than in other conflicts, and sometimes no such differentiation at all, as nearly every human resource, civilians and soldiers alike, can be considered to be part of the belligerent effort
* Totenkopfwachsturmbanne – Death's Head Guard battalions; units of the SS that guarded concentration camps during the war.
* Treffer – hit. Mostly in past tense. "Torpedo getroffen!" = "Torpedo hit!" or "Torpedo impact!"
*Trommelfeuer - High frequency artillery fire (Barage) causing sound of shell-explosions to merge into a rumble.
* Tropenhelm – pith helmet; a wide-rimmed fabric-covered cork helmet used in tropical areas, most notably by the
Afrika Korps
The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...
.
* Trupp (pl. Trupps) – Smallest tactical unit of 2 to 8 men, best comparing to Fireteam but also used in non-combat tasks as logistics.
* Truppe (pl. Truppen) – summarising term for armed forces, in some context it stands for the enlisted personnel.
* Truppenamt – "Troop Office", the disguised Army
General Staff
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
after the Versailles Treaty abolished the German Army General Staff.
* Truppenarzt – physician in units and sub-units with organic medical sections, e.g. Regimentsarzt, Bataillonsarzt
* Truppführer – team leader
U
* Ubootausbildungsabteilung (UAA) – see ''U-Fahrausbildungslehrgang''.
* Uboot-Abnahme-Kommission (UAK) – submarine acceptance commission
* Ubootabwehrschule (UAS) – anti-submarine school
* U-Bootjäger (UJ-boats) – steam Naval trawler, trawlers equipped for anti-submarine warfare, anti-submarine operations.
* U-Fahrausbildungslehrgang – where submarine personnel learned to operate U-boats.
* U-Lehrdivision (ULD) – U-boat Training Division (see ''Kommandanten-Schießlehrgang'').
* unabkömmlich (uk) – not available for military service
* Uk (Schnellladekanone in Uboot-Lafette) – quick-firing gun with submarine mounting
* Untermenschen – those peoples the Nazis derided as "subhuman" (see ''Entmenscht'').
* Unteroffizier – (1) a non-commissioned officer; (2) the lowest NCO rank, typical for e.g. infantry squad leaders and functionally equivalent to US Sergeant or UK Corporal.
* Unteroffiziere mit Portepee – senior NCO; lit. "underofficer with sword-knot."
* Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee – junior NCO; lit. "underofficer without sword-knot."
* Unterführer – summarized term for all non-commissioned officers; literally: "subleaders".
* U-boat, Unterseeboot (U-Boot) – literally, "undersea boat"; submarine. In the English-speaking world, there is a distinction between "U-boat" and "submarine": "U-boat" refers to a German submarine, particularly the ones used during the world wars. In German, there is no distinction as "U-boat" is used for any submarine, such as "Deutsches U-Boot" or "Amerikanisches U-Boot".
* Ural bomber – Luftwaffe General Walther Wever (general), Walter Wever's initiative to build Germany's first four engined strategic bomber at the dawn of the Third Reich, with prototypes coming from Dornier Do 19, Dornier and Junkers Ju 89, Junkers. After Wever's death in 1936, the program was shelved.
* Urlaub – furlough; also: vacation.
* Utof (Uboots-Torpedoboots-Fliegerabwehr-Lafette) – quick-firing gun in submarine-torpedo boat-anti-aircraft mounting
* UvD – Unteroffizier vom Dienst – Sergeant in charge of CQ (call), CQ
V
* V-1 flying bomb, V1 – the first of the operational German "weapons of vengeance", or ''Vergeltungswaffen'', the V-1 flying bomb, V1 was a pilotless, pioneering cruise missile powered by a Pulse jet engine, pulse-jet engine and carried an 850 kg (1875 lb) high-explosive warhead. They had a range of up to 200 km. Nicknamed "buzz bombs" by Allied troops ("doodlebug" by Australians) due to the sound they made.
* V-2 rocket, V2 Rocket – Also known as the A4, the successor to the V1 was the pioneering supersonic SRBM powered by liquid oxygen and alcohol, it had a 975 kg (2150 lb) high-explosive warhead and a range of 320 km.
* V-3 cannon, V3 – long-range, smooth-bore multiple-chamber large-calibre artillery, large-calibre gun nicknamed the ''Hochdruckpumpe'' (high-pressure pump), designed to fire shells carrying up to a 10 kg (22 lb) high-explosive warhead at a range of 93 km. It was never very successful as most installations were destroyed by bombing before they could be used.
* Verband – formation (from a battalion to a brigade).
* Verbindungsoffizier – liaison officer
* verdächtige Elemente/Personen – suspicious elements/persons.
* Verfügungstruppen – "[Special] Disposal Troops"; SS combat units, became the Waffen-SS in 1940.
* Vergeltungsmaßnahmen – reprisals; retaliatory punitive measures.
* Vernichtungskrieg – (1) "war of annihilation" against USSR civilians; (2) dogmatic offensive.
* Vernichtungslager – extermination camp.
* Verpflegung – food supplies
* Verräter – Treason, traitor.
* "Verstanden" – procedure word; "understood", "Roger (procedure word), roger".
* Verstärkung – reinforcement.
* Versuchs – experimental. Hence the "V" designation for any military aircraft prototype for the World War II era Luftwaffe. Originated by the Fokker Flugzeugbau in 1916, solely for its own experimental designs.
* Versuchskonstruktion – prototype.
* Verwendung – duty position
* Veterinäroffizier – veterinarian officer
* Vichy France – French regime set up in the city of Vichy under Philippe Pétain, Marshal Philippe Petain in collaboration with the Germans following the fall of France in 1940. It governed the southern half of France until its dissolution in 1944.
* Vierling – German for "quadruple", referring to any weapons mount that used four machine guns or autocannon of the same make and model, in a single traversable and elevatible mount, used as part of the name for the ''2 cm FlaK 30#2 cm Flakvierling 38, Flakvierling'' quadmount 20mm anti-aircraft cannon system, and the experimental HL 131V (''Hecklafette 131-Vierling'') tail turret, mounting four MG 131 12.7mm machine guns in an enclosed, powered defensive position for advanced German late-war bomber aircraft designs.
* Vizeadmiral – naval rank of vice admiral
* völkisch – popular, in the sense of "of the (German) populace." An adjective derived from "Volk" meaning "people," coming from the racist, nationalist ideology that divided people into "pure" Aryan race, Aryans and inferior ''Untermenschen''.
* Volksdeutsche – ethnic Germans.
* Volksgemeinschaft – national community or civilian population; public support (see ''Kameradschaft'').
* Volksgrenadier – "People's Infantryman", a morale-building honorific given to low-grade infantry divisions raised or reconstituted in the last months of the war.
* Volkskrieg – "People's War".
* Volkssturm – people's semi-military defense force, made up mostly of boys and older men.
* Volkstumskampf – ethnic struggle.
* Vorausabteilung – advance detachment
* Vorgeschobener Beobachter – forward observer
* Vorpostenboote (VP-boot) – coastal escort vessels and motor launches with Anti-submarine weapon, anti-submarine and Minesweeper (ship), minesweeping gear. Also called ''Küstenfischkutter'' (KFK), as they were patrol vessels constructed to a fishing-vessel design.
W
* Wasserbombe (WaBo) —
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
.
* Wach- – guard (in conjunction).
* Wachsamkeit – Vigilance (psychology), vigilance.
* Wachtmeister – senior NCO (equivalent to Feldwebel) in cavalry and artillery units.
* Waffe (plural: Waffen) – "weapon", or can be an adjective meaning "armed".
* Waffenamt – "weapons office" – arms inspection stamp or mark.
* Waffenfarbe – arm of service colour
* Waffen-SS – "Armed SS". The military combat branch of the SS that was created in August 1940 with the amalgamation of the Verfügungstruppe, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) and the combat Standarten of the Totenkopfverbände.
* Wagen – vehicle, car.
* Wehrkraftzersetzung – undermining the fighting spirit of the troops.
* Wehrkreis – Military district (Germany), German military district centered on an important city.
*
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
– German armed forces under the Nazi Germany, Third Reich consisting of three branches: the ''German Army (Wehrmacht), Heer'' (Army), the ''
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
'' (Air Force), and the ''Kriegsmarine'' (Navy). The Waffen-SS was a separate organization, although SS combat units were usually placed under the operational control of Army High Command (OKH) or Wehrmacht High Command (OKW).
* Wehrmachtbericht – a daily radio broadcast that described the military situation on all fronts during World War II.
* Wehrmachtführungsstab – Armed Forces Operations Staff.
* Wehrmachtsadler – the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
's eagle insignia.
* Wehrmachtgefolge – Armed Forces Auxiliaries. These include those organizations that were not a part of the armed forces but that served such an important support role that they were given protection under the Geneva Convention and/or militarized. The armed forces auxiliaries consisted in part of the ''Reichsarbeitsdienst'', National Socialist Motor Corps, NSKK, ''Organisation Todt'', and the ''Volkssturm''.
* Wehrmachtskanister – Robust tank used to carry fuel. Called a "Jerrycan" by the Allies.
* Wehrpass – German military individual service record booklet.
* Wehrpflichtiger - “Draftee”. A conscript soldier.
* Werkschutz – industrial plant protection service and security police.
* Werwolf – German Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla fighters dedicated to harass Allied rear areas. Initially conceived as an adjunct to the ''Jagd-Kommando'' units and placed under the command of Otto Skorzeny, the idea was later appropriated by Joseph Goebbels to represent the general rising up of the German people to defend against foreign invasion. It was not well organized or widely effective, and there were only a few known instances of involvement, mainly after the war ended and mostly in the eastern regions.
* Wespe – "wasp", a self-propelled 105mm howitzer on Panzer II, PzKpfw II chassis.
* Westen – west.
* Wetterbeobachtungsschiff (WBS) – weather ship
* Widerstandskräfte – insurgents (see ''Freischärler'').
* Wolf – the military designation name for a Mercedes-Benz G-Class in the German Bundeswehr.
* Wolfsrudel – wolf pack (submarines), wolf pack, an anti-convoy tactic developed by Admiral Dönitz prior to the war.
* Wolfsschanze "Wolf's lair" lit. "Wolf's entrenchment" – Hitler's first World War II Eastern Front military headquarters, one of several Führer Headquarters or FHQs located in various parts of Europe. The complex, built for
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
(the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union) was located in the Masurian woods, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Rastenburg, East Prussia (N/K/A Ketrzyn, Kętrzyn, Poland).
* Battle of the Beams, Wotan – alternative name for the Y-Gerät radio navigation system.
* Würzburg radar – German Anti-aircraft warfare, air defense radar that went into service in 1940; over 3,000 of all variants were built.
X
* X-Gerät (navigation), X-Gerät – "X-device" or "X-equipment"; radio navigation equipment used on German aircraft.
Y
* Y-Beam (navigation), Y-Beam – German aircraft navigational system that utilized a single station that radiated a directional beam plus a ranging signal that the
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
picked up and re-transmitted to enable the ground controllers to compute the range and know when to order the bombs to be dropped.
* Y-Gerät (navigation), Y-Gerät – "Y-device" or "Y-equipment"; radio navigation equipment used on German aircraft.
Z
* Plan Z, Z-Plan (or Plan-Z) was the name given to the re-equipment and expansion of the Kriegsmarine (Nazi German Navy) as ordered by Adolf Hitler on 27 January 1939. The plan called for 10 battleships, four aircraft carriers, three battlecruisers, eight heavy cruisers, 44 light cruisers, 68 destroyers and 249 U-boats by 1944 that was meant to challenge the naval power of the United Kingdom. The outbreak of World War II in September 1939 came far too early to implement the plan.
* Z3 (computer), Z3 – pioneering computer developed by Konrad Zuse in 1941, it was destroyed by bombardment in 1944.
* z.b.V. – see ''ZbV, zur besonderen Verwendung''.
* Zeit – time.
* Zeitplan – timetable, schedule.
* Zeltbahn – a triangular or square Tent, shelter quarter made of closely woven, water-repellent cotton duck. It could be used on its own as a poncho or put together with others to create shelters and tents. Also called ''Zeltplane''.
* Zentralstelle II P – Central Office II P (Poland).
* Zerstörer – destroyer, also the designation for a ''Luftwaffe'' Heavy fighter#Germany, heavy fighter combat aircraft.
* Ziel – target, objective.
* Zimmerit – an anti-magnetic mine paste applied on the armour of German tanks to prevent magnetic Anti-tank mine, mines from being attached. It was similar to cement, and was applied on the tanks with a rake, giving the vehicle a rough appearance. From the summer of the 1943 to mid-1944 ''Zimmerit'' became a standard characteristic on many German panzers.
* Zossen – The underground bunker complex that was headquarters for both the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
(OKW) and (German Army (Wehrmacht), Heer) Army High Command (OKH) located approximately 20 miles west of Berlin in Zossen, Germany.
* Zug – platoon or train.
* Zugführer – platoon leader
* Zugtruppführer – platoon HQ section leader
* Zur besonderen Verwendung (z.b.V.) – for special employment. Sometimes a killing squad/unit, but also used for divisions raised for special reasons (e.g., the ''German Division zbV Afrika, Division zbV Afrika'').
* Zyklon-B – commercial name for the prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid) gas used in German extermination camps.
List of German military ranks
Approximate ranks relative to US ranks:
* Reichsmarschall – "Marshal of the Empire", the highest rank in the German armed forces during World War II (specifically created for
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
to distinguish him from the other field marshals). Equivalent to General of the Armies of the United States
* Generalfeldmarschall – General of the Army during World War II.
* Colonel-General, Generaloberst – General, literally "highest" or "supreme general", usually translated "Colonel-general"; not used in the Bundeswehr
* General der Infanterie, Kavallerie, etc. – General (before 1956 equivalent to US Lieutenant General)
* Generalleutnant – Lieutenant-General (before 1956 equivalent to US Major General)
* Generalmajor – Major-General (before 1956 equivalent to US Brigadier General)
* Brigadegeneral – Brigadier General; not used prior to the Bundeswehr
* Colonel, Oberst – Colonel, literally "highest"
* Oberstleutnant – Lieutenant Colonel
* Major – Major
* Hauptmann/Rittmeister – Captain
* Oberleutnant – First Lieutenant
* Leutnant – (Second) Lieutenant
* Oberstabsfeldwebel/Oberstabsbootsmann – (Senior non-commissioned officer, NCO)
* Stabsfeldwebel/Hauptbootsmann – master sergeant (senior NCO)
* Oberfeldwebel/Bootsmannsmaat – technical sergeant (senior NCO)
* Fähnrich/Oberfähnrich – no perfect equivalent. Senior officer cadet with something like warrant officer status, used in functions like Ensign (rank), ensign, passed midshipman or 2nd lieutenant but not commissioned.
* Fahnenjunker – no perfect equivalent. Most junior officer cadet with sergeant (US) or corporal (UK) status.
*
Feldwebel
''Feldwebel '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupi ...
/Wachtmeister/Bootsmann – staff sergeant (senior NCO)
* Unterfeldwebel – sergeant; formerly called ''Sergeant'' prior to 1921 (not in use in the Bundeswehr
)
* Stabsunteroffizer/Obermaat (junior NCO)
* Unteroffizier/Maat – corporal (junior NCO) (since the
Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
more comparable to petty officer)
* Oberstabsgefreiter – (enlisted personnel); not used prior to the Bundeswehr.
* Stabsgefreiter – (enlisted personnel)
* Hauptgefreiter – (enlisted personnel); not used prior to the Bundeswehr.
* Obergefreiter – Lance Corporal (enlisted personnel). Historically, and up until 1945, the rank of ''Obergefreiter'' was considered in English the equivalent to a British Army Lance Corporal with seniority, therefore named "Senior Lance Corporal", or rather Second Corporal in the Artillery.
* Gefreiter – Private First Class (enlisted personnel). Historically, and up until 1945, the rank of ''Gefreiter'' was considered in English the equivalent to a British Army Lance Corporal rank.
* Oberschütze – Senior Rifleman. Historical rank used up until 1945, not in use in the Bundeswehr.
[
* Gemeiner – Private (rank), Private (enlisted personnel). Historically, and up until 1918, the rank of ''Gemeiner'' was ordinarily used for an enlisted soldier of Private rank.
* Grenadier/Schütze/Soldat/Matrose/Flieger/Sanitäter – Private (enlisted personnel)
For additional comparisons, see Comparative military ranks of World War II.
]
List of military operations
The German term for "Operation" is ''Unternehmen'', literally "undertaking".
* ''Operation Eagle Attack, Adlerangriffe'' (''Eagle Attack'') series of raids against Royal Air Force (RAF).
* ''Adlertag'' – ''Eagle Day''; day one of intense raiding against RAF 13 August 1940 known as Operation Eagle Attack (postponed from 10 August).
* ''Anton'' – occupation of Vichy France, November 1942; later known as ''Atilla''.
* ''Atilla'' – occupation of Vichy France, November 1942 (previously, ''Anton'').
* ''Aufbau Ost'' – ''Eastern Buildup''; build-up of arms prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union.
* ''Operation Barbarossa, Barbarossa'' – invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, Barbarossa, or "Red Beard" was the nickname for Emperor Frederick I, who attempted to unify Germanic states in the 12th century.
* ''Operation Bernhard, Bernhard'' – scheme to counterfeit British bank notes and put them into circulation; begun in 1942.
* Unternehmen Bodenplatte, ''Bodenplatte'' – ''Base Plate''; air offensive against Allied airfields in north-western Europe, New Year's Day 1945.
* Gran Sasso raid, ''Eiche'' – ''Oak''; mission to rescue Benito Mussolini by Fallschirmjäger led by Otto Skorzeny, Skorzeny.
* ''Operation Eisenhammer, Eisenhammer'' – ''Iron Hammer'', planned strategic bombing raid on Soviet electric power generation water turbines, potentially knocking out three-quarters of all western Soviet electrical generation capacity, never carried out
* ''Fall Blau'' – ''Case Blue''; summer offensive in Southern Russia.
* ''Fall Gelb'' – ''Case Yellow''; invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
* ''Fall Grün (Czechoslovakia), Fall Grün'' – ''Case Green''; intended invasion of Czechoslovakia.
* ''Fall Rot'' – ''Case Red''; counterstrike against France in the event of an attack from the West.
* ''Fall Weiss (1939), Fall Weiß'' – ''Case White''; invasion of Poland.
* ''Operation Felix, Felix'' – plan to capture Gibraltar in 1941. It never took place.
* ''Fischfang'' – ''Fish Trap''; counterattack on the Allied beachhead at Anzio in February 1944.
* ''Operation Greif, Greif'' – ''Griffin''; dropping of English-speaking troops wearing American uniforms behind the Allied lines in the Ardennes, prior to the Battle of the Bulge.
* ''Operation Herbstnebel, Herbstnebel'' – ''Autumn Mist''; offensive in the Ardennes, December 1944. Better known as the Battle of the Ardennes.
* ''Operation Herkules, Herkules'' – projected invasion of Malta by ''Fallschirmjäger'' and the navy. Never executed.
* ''Kathrin'' – plan to help the Irish Republican Army to commit terrorism and disrupt British internal security.
* Battle of Crete, ''Merkur'' – ''Mercury'' (the Mercury (planet), planet or the Mercury (mythology), Roman god, not the Mercury (element), metal); airborne invasion of Crete 1941.
* ''Operation Nordlicht (1942), Nordlicht'' – ''Northern Lights''; attack on Saint Petersburg, Leningrad in 1942.
* ''Operation Nordwind, Nordwind'' – ''North Wind''; counteroffensive in Alsace and Lorraine in January 1945.
* ''Operation Panzerfaust, Panzerfaust'' – ''Armored Fist''; the October 1944 mission to kidnap Miklós Horthy Jr, son of Hungarian Regent Admiral Miklós Horthy.
* ''Second Happy Time, Paukenschlag'' – ''Drumroll'' or ''Drumbeat''; offensive against Allied shipping in US and Caribbean waters in the first half of 1942.
* ''Operation Pastorius, Pastorius'' – U-boat operation involving U-202 and U-548 setting 8 agents ashore in the US in June 1942.
* ''Operation Reinhard, Reinhard'' – covername for the entire process of building extermination camps, deportation of Jews first to ghettos, then to the concentration camps for extermination and incineration. Named for SD chief Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust.
He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...
.
* ''Operation Sea Lion, Seelöwe'' – ''Sea Lion''; projected amphibious assault on Great Britain in 1940/41. It never took place.
* Operation Steinbock, ''Steinbock'' – the German ''Luftwaffe'' bomber offensive against England from late January through the end of May 1944
* ''Operation Stösser, Stösser'' – parachute drop on evening of 16 December 1944; purpose was to seize a crossroads for Kampfgruppe Peiper during the Germans' Ardennes Offensive.
* ''Operation Punishment, Strafgericht'' – "punishment" air attacks on Belgrade, April 1941.
* ''Battle of Moscow, Taifun'' – ''Typhoon''; push towards Moscow in September 1941.
* ''Operation Tannenbaum, Tannenbaum'' – "fir-tree"; projected invasion of Switzerland in 1940. Never carried out.
* ''Operation Tiger (1940), Tiger'' – advance through the Maginot Line on the French border in June 1940.
* Ardennes Offensive, ''Wacht am Rhein'' – "Guard on the Rhine"; the December 1944 Ardennes offensive, known by Americans as the Battle of the Bulge.
* Operation Walküre, ''Walküre'' – ''Valkyrie'' Officially a Reserve Army contingency plan to restore law and order in the event a disruption caused by the Allied bombing of German cities caused a breakdown in law and order, or a rising by the millions of forced laborers German factories. Was, in fact, a major part of the failed July 20 Plot to arrest SS and other Nazi officials and seize control of the German government.
* ''Operation Weserübung, Weserübung'' – ''Weser Exercise'' (commonly, ''Water Exercise''); invasion of Denmark and Norway, 9 April 1940
* ''Operation Winter Storm, Wintergewitter'' – ''Winter Gale''; unsuccessful attempt to relieve the 6th Army at Stalingrad in December 1942.
* ''Battle of Kursk, Zitadelle'' – ''Citadel''; attack on Soviet salient at Kursk, July 1943.
See also
* Glossary of Nazi Germany
* Weimar paramilitary groups
* Ranks and Insignia of the German Army in World War II
* Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel
* Comparative military ranks of World War II
* List of SS personnel
Notes
General references
* Andrew, Stephen; Thomas, Nigel; ''The German Army 1939-45: Blitzkrieg''. Osprey Publishing Lt., 1999.
* Bidermann, Gottlob Herbert. ''In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front''. Kansas, University Press of Kansas. (2001): .
*
* Rottman, Gordon L. "FUBAR: Soldier Slang of World War II". London, Osprey Publishing. (2007): . (Contains German slang chapter.)
* Shirer, William; ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich''. Simon & Schuster. (1990): .
* Snyder, Louis L. ''Encyclopedia of the Third Reich''. London: Robert Hale, 1976.
* Zentner, Christian and Friedemann Bedürftig (1991). ''The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich''. Macmillan, New York.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glossary Of German Military Terms
Military slang and jargon, Germany
Glossaries of the military, German military terms
German words and phrases, Military
Military history of Germany during World War II
German military-related lists
Lists of government and military acronyms, German