Military Terms and Abbreviations

AB64 – a soldier’s pay book: ‘showing his level of indebtedness to the Government’.

ACV – armoured command vehicle.

ADC – aide-de-camp: to a general.

ADS – advanced dressing station.

APR – awaiting passage return: to New Zealand.

ASC – Army Service Corps. Motto: ‘To the troops, arms.’

ATS – Auxiliary Territorial Service.

AWL, AWOL – absent without leave.

B Echelon – reserve section of a unit: ‘lotus eaters’.

Bgd – brigade.

Bn – battalion.

Brassard – Red Cross armband worn by stretcher bearers and medics.

BSM – artillery battery sergeant major: WOI, warrant officer class 1.

CB – confined to barracks: punishment.

CCS – casualty clearing station.

CO – commanding officer: usually of a battalion.

CRA – Commander Royal Artillery.

CRE – Commander Royal Engineers.

CSM – company sergeant-major: WOII, warrant officer class 2.

DCM – Distinguished Conduct Medal: for courage and leadership in action – warrant officers and other ranks.

Demob – release from military service.

Div. Cav. – New Zealand Divisional Cavalry: black berets in light armoured vehicles and tanks.

DR, Don-R, Don Arc – despatch rider.

DSO – Distinguished Service Order: for courage and leadership in action – officers only.

ED – Efficiency Decoration or excused duties: usually the latter.

Enfilade – an attack from the flank on the front of an advance.

ENSA – Entertainment National Service Association – British: ‘every night something awful’.

EPIP – large tent: ‘Desert Igloo’, ‘Egyptian Patent Indian-Pattern’ or, earliest probable intercept point.

ERS – Education Rehabilitation Service.

FDL – forward (or foremost) defended locality.

Field Security – the organisation that controlled civilian and military security behind Allied lines.

Fire-step – defence position in a deep trench.

FPC – Field Punishment Centre: ‘rock college’ or ‘budgie cage’.

G1, GSO 1 – general staff officer, Grade 1, normally at division HQ.

GMC – Heavy American truck.

GOC – general officer commanding: as in General Freyberg.

IC – in charge: 2IC ‘nearly in charge’.

IO – Intelligence Officer

K Rations – standard ration for United States troops.

KD – khaki drill.

King’s Regs – the standard reference book on military law and discipline.

LAD – light aid detachment: vehicle repair and recovery unit – ‘military AA’.

LCV – light carrying vehicle: unarmoured.

LO – liaison officer.

LOB – left out of battle: ‘footslogger’s prayer’.

LRDG – Long Range Desert Group: the bearded, Arabian-headdress-wearing, behind-the-desert-line navigators, route-finders and insurgents.

M&V – British rations: tinned meat and vegetables. ‘Good.’

MAC – motor ambulance convoy.

MC – Military Cross: for courage and leadership under fire – officers.

MDS – main dressing station.

MG – machine gun: 27 (MG) Battalion.

mid – mentioned in despatches to the high command for gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy. As with the VC, it could be awarded posthumously.

MM – Military Medal: for courage and leadership in action – warrant officers, sergeants and other ranks.

MO – medical officer.

Mr – honorific for a lieutenant; other officers are addressed by their military title.

NAAFI – Navy Army and Air Force Institute: British military canteen service.

Nebelwerfer – German multi-barrelled rocket launcher – ‘eight-barrelled monster’: its projectiles made a hideous screaming noise. Hence, ‘Moaning Minnie’ or ‘The Andrews Sisters’.

OCTU – Officer Cadet Training Unit.

OP, O-Pip – observation post.

Panzer – German armoured corps: tanks.

POW, PW – prisoner of war.

Portee or porté – a truck carrying an unfixed gun (usually an anti-tank weapon) that can be quickly unloaded and also fired from the portee.

Provost – military police and traffic control.

Pte – private soldier.

QM – quartermaster or ‘quarter bloke’.

RAP – regimental aid post. This was usually at battalion HQ and the first stop for wounded from the line; then MDS, then CCS.

RSM – regimental sergeant major: WOI; warrant officer class 1.

RTU – returned to unit.

S mine – ‘Bouncing Betty’: when triggered it lifted 0.9m into the air, then exploded and propelled lethal shrapnel in all directions.

Sangar – rock or sandbag defence above ground.

Schmeisser – German light machine gun: Sten gun equivalent.

Slit trench, slittie – small trench.

Spandau – German medium machine gun.

Stonk – concentrated artillery barrage on a specific target.

Tracer – illuminated bullet to show the line of fire, also used to show advancing infantry the boundary of an advance.

TSM – artillery troop sergeant major: WOII: warrant officer class 2.

Tuis – members of the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service who staffed the New Zealand clubs from Cairo to Venice to London.

WD – War Department: issue, property.