Administration – Administration was defined as that function of command which deals with the maintenance of the forces in the field divided into general administration – controlled by the headquarters of the forces in the field; and local administration – controlled by the local commander.
AFV – Armoured Fighting Vehicle.
AGRA – Army Group, Royal Artillery.
ARG – Armoured replacement group.
Armd – Armoured.
Army Group – Several field armies under a designated commander.
Army roadhead – An advanced depot area under control of an army to give it the necessary administrative flexibility and to provide the source of supplies for FMCs.
Arty – Artillery.
ASHOF C – Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada.
ATI – Army Training Instruction.
ATP – Army Training Pamphlet.
Axis of Advance – A line of advance assigned for purposes of control: often a road or a group of roads or a designated series of locations, extending in the direction of the enemy.
Bailey Bridge – British-designed portable pre-fabricated truss bridge, designed for use by military engineering units to bridge gaps up to 200 feet wide. The design was unique in that: Construction required no tools or heavy equipment; Bridge components were small enough to be carried in trucks and even man-portable over short distances; The bridge was strong enough to bear the weight of vehicles up to 70 tons (Bridge Classification 70) (www.canadiansoldiers.com/equipment/engineerequipment/baileybridge.htm).
BCR – British Columbia Regiment.
BGS – Brigadier General Staff.
Bound – Single movement, usually from cover to cover, made by troops often under artillery fire or small arms fire.
Boundary – An artificial division to define the limits of responsibility or manouevre of a formation or unit.
Brigade Group Administrative area – The area in which unit rear echelons and service units of a brigade group, whose functions do not require them to be elsewhere, are located.
Centre Line – The route along which a formation, unit or sub-unit headquarters will move.
CGG – Canadian Grenadier Guards.
Chain of Command – The succession of commanding officers from superior to a subordinate through which command is exercised.
CIGS – Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
CO – Commanding Officer.
Corps – An organization larger than a division and smaller than a field army, usually consisting of two or more divisions together with supporting arms and services.
CRA – Commander Royal Artillery.
CRO – Current Reports form Overseas.
Delivery Point – A point where the logistic vehicles of a formation issue maintenance items to a consumer unit.
Distribution Point – A point at which supplies and/or ammunition obtained from supporting supply points by a division or other units are broken down for distribution to subordinate units. Distribution points usually carry no stock; items are issued as soon as possible.
Division – A major administrative and tactical unit/formation which combines in itself the necessary arms and services required for sustained combat, larger than a regiment/brigade and smaller than a corps.
Dump – A temporary storage area, usually in the open, for bombs, ammunition, equipment or supplies.
Engr – Engineer.
fascine – A bundle of sticks bound together, used to fill ditches, strengthen the sides of trenches, the banks of streams etc. (www.yourdictionary.com/fascine).
Fd – Field.
First Line Holdings – The quantity of maintenance items held by units on a scale determined by the formation commander.
First Line Transport – Unit transport, the administrative echelons of which take over ammunition, POL, supplies and other stores from second line transport at delivery points.
Flak units – Anti-aircraft units.
FOO – Forward Observer Officer.
GOC – General Officer Commanding.
GGFG – Governor General’s Foot Guards.
GOC-in-C – General Officer Commander-in-Chief.
GSO – General Staff Officer.
Harbour – Any area occupied by a unit or battle group when halted. The main purpose of a harbour is to permit the dispersal and concealment of vehicles and troops against attack. Also allows for the maintenance of the unit or battle group.
HE – High explosive.
HQ – Headquarters.
HV – High velocity.
Hy – Heavy.
Inf – Infantry.
L of C – Lines of Communications. All routes, land, water and air, which connect an operational military force with support areas and along which men and material move.
LAA – Light anti-aircraft.
LAC – Library and Archives Canada.
LCMSD – Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies.
LMG – Light machine gun.
LOB – Left out of battle.
Logistics – Unlike the US Army or Navy the Canadian and British military did not officially use the term logistics or understand it in its modern sense. In Commonwealth forces the terms administration and maintenance were used.
LSR – Lake Superior Regiment.
Maintenance – Maintenance was the process of keeping the forces in the field complete in personnel, animals and material.
MTP – Military Training Pamphlet.
Mutual Support – The ability on one post, locality, or area to bring fire to bear upon enemy attacking a neighbouring post, locality or area, having regard to the weapons within it.
NCO – Non-Commissioned Officer.
NTW – Notes from Theatres of War.
O Group – Orders Group.
One day’s Supply – A unit or quantity of supplies adopted as a standard of measurement, used in estimating the average daily expenditure under stated conditions. It may be expressed in terms of a factor, such as rounds of ammunition per weapon per day.
OR – Other Rank.
Order of Battle – The identification, strength, command structure and disposition of the personnel, units and equipment of a military force.
POL – Petroleum, Oils and Lubricants. A broad term which includes all petroleum and associated products used by the armed forces.
PWs – Prisoners of war.
RAF – Royal Air Force.
RASC – Royal Army Service Corps (British).
RCASC – Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. The role of the RCASC in the field is the provision of supplies, the operation of transport for the carriage of personnel and matériel of all kinds, and the delivery of requirements to the field units at a time and place convenient to them.
RE – Royal Engineers.
Recce – Reconnaissance.
Report line – Lines on which units or formations report but do not halt. They have no tactical significance but should follow clearly defined features such as lateral roads, rivers or railways.
RHQs – Regimental headquarters.
RMA – Rear Maintenance Area.
Second Line Reserves – Stocks of maintenance items held by supporting service units within a formation on a scale determined by the formation commander for the immediate replenishment of the first line holdings.
Second Line Transport – Basic RCASC transport allotted for the maintenance of brigade groups, AGRAs, corps and army group troops.
Shadow divisions – Bodies of troops organized like divisions but without supply troops and used to reform badly shattered formations.
Standing Operating Procedure – A set of instructions covering those features of operations which lend themselves to a definite or standardized procedure without loss of effectiveness.
Start Line – The line from which, at a specified time, assaulting troops advance to attack. It should follow a clearly defined feature and be nearly at right angles to the direction of attack.
Start Point – The point along a route where control of movement becomes the responsibility of the commander ordering the movement.
Sustainment – Sustainment is the ability of a force to maintain the necessary level of combat power for the duration required to achieve its objectives.
Tac HQ – Tactical headquarters.
Tactical Movement – Any movement that is influenced by battle conditions so that the tactical order of march, deployment, grouping and dispersion must be taken into account.
TCV – Troop carrying vehicle.
TEWT – Tactical Exercise Without Troops.
Warning Order – A preliminary notice of an order or action which is to follow. It is designed to give subordinates time to make necessary plans and preparations.
Abteilung – Battalion, detachment.
Flak – Anti-aircraft gun.
Heer – Army.
Jagdpanzer – Tank destroyer.
Kampfgruppe – Task force, or battlegroup.
Kompanie – Company.
OKH – Oberkommando des Heeres (Army High Command).
Panzer Grenadier Division – Motorized Infantry division.
Panzerabteilung – Tank battalion.
Panzercorps – Tank or armoured corps.
Panzerdivision – Tank or armoured division.
Panzerjaeger – Tank destroyer.
Panzerkampfwagen – Tank.
Panzerregiment – Tank regiment, armoured regiment.
Schwere – Heavy.
Sturmgeschütz (StuG) – A self-propelled gun. Sturmgeschütze were a series of assault guns and tank destroyers produced by the Germans during the war. Sturmgeschütze were typically large caliber guns mounted on a tank chassis. They were easier, cheaper and less time consuming to produce than turreted tanks and were produced in large numbers form German factories.
Tigerkompanie – Company of Tiger tanks.
Wehrmacht – Correct name for German Armed Forces as a whole – Heer, Kreigsmarine and Luftwaffe – but often in Allied terminology as meaning the German Army.
Zimmerit – An anti-magnetic cement applied to tanks to prevent the adhesion of magnetic mines.