Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (98 page)

Hohenzollern

Noble house of
Germany
,
Prussia
, and
Romania
.

Horsch 108

German transport that served throughout WW2 in a variety of roles from officer's car to ambulance.

IL-4, Ilyushin.

Soviet twin-engined medium bomber.

Infected Fleas

Factual Japanese weapon. A load of infected fleas were dropped on Quzhou in 1940, resulting n the deaths of over 2000 people.

IR

Infra-red, a technology that the Germans pursued late in the war.

IS-II

Soviet heavy tank with a 122mm gun and 1-3 mg's

IS-III

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

IS-III

Iosef Stalin tank, armed with the fearsome 122mm gun.

Jeep

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

Job tvoyu mat

With apologies, this is translated in a number of ways, and can mean anything of the same ilk from 'Gosh' through to 'Fuck your mother."

Kalibr

Codename of David Greengrass, US Army Sergeant who was a Soviet Spy.

Kangaroo

Allied infantry carrier, either converted from a tank, mainly M4 Shermans and M7 Priest SP's, or purpose built from the Canadian RAM tank.

Kar98K

German standard issue bolt action rifle.

Katana

The main sword of a samurai or Japanese officer.

Katorga

Soviet penal system, also accepted as a noun for a place of hard servitude.

Katyn

1940 Massacre of roughly 22,000 Polish Army officers, Police officers and intelligentsia perpetrated by the NKVD, Site was discovered by the German Army and much propaganda value was made, although in reality there was no sanction against the
USSR
for this coldblooded murder.

Katyusha

Soviet rocket artillery weapon capable of bringing down area fire with either 16, 32 or 64 rockets of different types.

Kavellerie

German translation of Cavalry.

K-Class Blimp

US Airship [dirigible] used in reconnaissance and anti-submarine roles

Kerch
 

Soviet peninsular that juts out into the Black Sea, known in English as the
Crimea
.

Ki-84

Japanese single-engined fighter aircraft, considered to be the finest fighter in the Japanese inventory.

King Tiger tank

German heavy tank carrying a high-velocity 88m gun and 2-3 machine guns.

Kingdom 39

The
Fairytale
Kingdom
in Russian Folklore.

Kradschutzen

Motorcycle infantry, term also applied to reconnaissance troops.

Kreigie

US slang for a German prisoner of war.

Kreigsmarine

German Navy

Kriegsspiels

Wargames

LA-7

Single-engine Lavochkin fighter aircraft, highly thought of despite poor maintenance history.

Lavochkin-5

Soviet single-engined fighter aircraft.

Leutnant

German Army rank equivalent to 2nd Lieutenant.

Liebfraumilch [Liebfrauenmilch]

German semi-sweet white wine.

Lightning, Lockheed, P38

US
twin-engined fighter, most successfully used in the Pacific Theatre.

Lisunov Li-2

Soviet licenced copy of the DC-3 twin-engine transport aircraft,

Little Boy

Uranium based fission bomb.

Luftwaffe

German Air Force

Lysander,
Westland
.

British single engine monoplane designed for Liaison activities, but best known for its use in ferrying agents into Occupied Europe.

M-10

Known as the Wolverine, this
US
tank destroyer carried a 3" gun with modest performance. It was subsequently upgunned in British service, and the more potent 17-pdr equipped vehicles became known as Achilles.

M13/40

Italian light tank with a 47mm gun and 3-4 machine-guns.

M-16 half-track

US
half-track mounting 4 x .50cal machine-guns in a Maxon mount. For defence against aircraft at low level it was particularly effective against infantry.

M1Carbine

Semi-automatic carbine that fired a .30 cal round, notorious as being underpowered.

M20

US 6x6 Armoured utility car, which was basically an M8 without the turret.

M21

M3 halftrack with an 81mm mortar mount, providing mobile fire support.

M24 Chafee

US light tank fitted with a 75mm gun and 2-3 machine-guns.

M26 Pershing

US
Heavy tank with a 90mm gun and 2-3 machine-guns. Underpowered initially, it had little chance to prove itself against the German arsenal.

M3 Halftrack

US
standard half-track normally armed with 1 x .50cal machine-gun and capable of carrying up to 13 troops

M3A1 sub-machine gun

Often known as the Grease Gun, issued in .45 or the rarer 9mm calibres with a 30 round magazine.

M4A4

US medium tank, last of a number of developments, Armament ranged from 75mm through 76mm to 105mm Howitzer.

M5 HST

US
fully-tracked high-speed artillery prime mover.

M5 Stuart

US light tank equipped with a 37mm gun, and capable of high speed.

M8 Greyhound

6x6 Armoured car with 37mm main gun and 1-2 machine-guns.

Maior

German Army rank equivalent to Major.

Manhattan
Project

Research and development project aimed at producing the first atomic bomb.

Market-Garden

Montgomery
's failed plan to drop paratroopers and secure river crossings into
Northern Germany
, thus ending the war by Christmas.

Maskirova

Soviets have a fondness for deception and misdirection and Maskirova is an essential of any undertaking.

Matrose

German naval term for a common sailor.

Mauthausen

More properly known as Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp, the camp grew to oversee a complex of Labour camps throughout the area. The high estimate of persons dying within the Mauthausen camp system is 320,000.

Maxon mount

A single machine gun mounting which could be installed on a half-track of a trailer, by which means 4 x .50cal were aimed and fired by one man.

Merville
Battery

German gun battery assaulted by the British 9th Para Battalion on D-Day.

Meteor F3, Gloster

British twin-engined jet fighter, which first flew in 1943.

Metgethen

Scene of a successful German counter-attack in 1945, where evidence of Soviet atrocities against the civilian population was uncovered.

MG.08

German WW1 machine gun. Many survivors were employed during WW2.

MG34

German standard MG often referred to as a
Spandau
.

MG42

Superb German machine gun, capable of 1200rpm, designed to defeat the Soviet human wave attacks. Still in use to this day.

Mills Bomb

British fragmentation hand grenade.

Minox

Gained notoriety as the first 'miniature' spy camera.

Mitsubishi Ki-46

Japanese
twin-engined reconnaissance aircraft.

Mlad

Codename of Theodore Hall, Nuclear Physicist, and Soviet Agent.

Molotov Cocktail

Simple anti-tank/vehicle weapon, consisting of a bottle, a filling of petrol, and a flaming rag. Thrown at its target the bottle shattered on impact and the rag did the rest.

Moscow
Crystal Vodka

Highest quality triple distilled vodka.

Moselle

Mainly white wine originating from areas around the River of the same name.

Mosin-Nagant

Russian
bolt-action
infantry rifle.

Mosquito

DH98 De Havilland Mosquito was a multi-purpose wooden aircraft, much envied by the Luftwaffe.

Mosquito Mk NF30, De Havilland

British twin-engined night fighter.

Mosquito Mk VI

British twin-engined fighter-bomber.

Mosquito Mk XXV, De Havilland

British twin-engined light bomber.

MP-40

German standard issue submachine-gun.

Mustang, North American

P51 Mustang, US single seat long-range fighter armed with 6 x .50cal machine-guns.

Nagant pistol

Standard Soviet revolver, very rugged and powerful using long case 7.62mm ammunition.

Natzwiller-Struhof

Concentration camp in
Alsace
.

Nebelwerfer

German six-barrelled mortar weapon, literally translated as 'Smoke Thrower' and known to the Allies as the Moaning Minnie, ranging up to 32cms in diameter.

NKGB

Narodny Komissariat Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti, the Soviet Secret Police, separated from the NKVD in 1942 and absorbed once more in 1946.

NKVD

Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh
Del
, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs.

Normandie Squadron [Normandie-Niemen Regiment]

French Air force group that grew to three squadrons and served on the Russian Front throughout WW2.

OFLAG XVIIa

Offizierslager or OfLag No 17A, prisoner of war camp run by the Germans for officer detainees.