Glossary

AKA

cargo ship, attack

APA

transport ship, attack

BAR

Browning automatic rifle

Belgian Gates

antilanding obstacles

CCS

Combined Chiefs of Staff

CIC

Combat Information Center

CO

commanding officer

COSSAC

Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (Designate)

CP

command post

CTF

commander task force

DUKW

2 1/2 ton amphibious truck (Duck)

E-boat

German torpedo boat

ECB

engineer combat battalion

ESB

engineer special brigade

ETO

European Theater of Operations

FUSAG

First United States Army Group

GHQ

general headquarters

JCS

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff

LCA

landing craft, assault

LCC

primary control vessel

LCI

landing craft, infantry

LCM

landing craft, medium

LCT

landing craft, tank

LCT(R)

landing craft, tank (rocket)

LCVP

landing craft, vehicle and personnel (Higgins boat)

LST

landing ship, tank

MG-34

a tripod-mounted machine gun with a rate of fire of up to 800 rounds per minute

MG-42

a tripod-mounted machine gun with a rate of fire up to 1,300 rounds per minute

OB West

Oberbefehlshaber West (general HQ for the Western Front)

OKH

Oberkommando des Heeres (Army High Command)

OKW

Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Armed Forces High Command)

OP

observation post

OSS

Office of Strategic Services

OWI

Office of War Information

Rhino ferry

barge constructed of pontoon units

SAS

Special Air Service

SCR

Signal Corps Radio

SHAEF

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force

SOE

Special Operations Executive

SP

self-propelled guns

SS

Schutzstaffel

Sten gun

British 9mm automatic weapon, 30 inches long, weighing 7 pounds

TBS

talk between ships

Tetrahedra

pyramid-shaped steel obstacles

UDT

underwater demolition teams

Waffen-SS

combat arm of the SS

Widerstandsnest

resistance nest