Impasse (The Red Gambit Series) (88 page)

Maskirovka

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

Matrose

German naval term for a common sailor.

Maxon mount

A single machine gun mounting which could be installed on a half-track [such as the deadly M16 halftrack], or a trailer, by which means 4 x .50cal were aimed and fired by one man.

Maybach

German vehicle and parts manufacturer who produced the huge Maybach engines inserted in the Tiger I tank.

Meteor F3, Gloster

British twin-engine 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.

Midori Takushi

Green taxi [Japanese]

Mikoyan-9

The first turbojet fighter developed by the USSR. [It
’s first flight was in 1946 but I have brought that forward in the belief that the war would have spurred the Soviets on.]

Mills Bomb

British fragmentation hand grenade.

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 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-engine night fighter.

Mosquito Mk VI, De Havilland

British twin-engine fighter-bomber.

Mosquito Mk XXV, De Havilland

British twin-engine light bomber.

MP18

A WW1 design submachine gun, often known as the Bergmann.

MP40

German submachine gun.

MP-40

German standard issue submachine gun.

MTB

Motor Torpedo Boat, armed with 2 or 4 torpedoes, plus machine-guns and Oerlikons.

Mugalev

Soviet heavy mine roller gear, normally attached to T34 tanks.

Mustang

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.

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.

Oerlikon

A 20mm cannon, originally German in design and still in use today. Used by all participants, the Oerlikon could be found in aircraft and ships from both sides.

OFLAG XVIIa

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

Opel Blitz

German medium transport lorry.

Operation Kurgan

Soviet joint-operation to employ paratroopers, Naval Marines, NKVD agents and collaborators to attack and neutralise airfields, radar, communications and logistic bases throughout Europe. Subsequently enlarged to include assassinations of Allied senior officers.

Operation Sumerechny

Soviet plan to remove German leadership elements from their prisoners. All officer ranks from captain upwards were to be executed.

Operation Unthinkable

Study ordered by Churchill to examine the feasibility of an Allied assault on Soviet held Northern Germany.

Operation Varsity

The largest single airborne operation of WW2, undertaken in in March 1945, Varsity involved dropping over 16,000 paratroopers to the east of the Rhine.

OSS

US Intelligence agency formed during 2, The Office of Strategic Services was the predecessor of the CIA, and was set up to coordinate espionage activities in occupied areas.

P.O.L.

Petrol, oil and lubricants.

Panther

German medium tank, considered by many to be the finest tank design of WW2. Armed with a high-velocity 75mm, it could stand its ground against anything in the Allied arsenal.

Pantomine

Operation Pantomine was part of the Spectrum original planning but was allocated its own codename when the scope of the operation expanded.

Panzer IV

German tank, which served throughout the war in many guises, mainly with a 75mm gun.

Panzer V

See Panther Tank

Panzer VI

See Tiger Tank

Panzerfaust

German single use anti-tank weapon. Highly effective but short ranged.

Panzerjager

Antitank troop[s] [German]

Panzerkanonier

Tank gunner

Panzertruppen

The German tank crews.

PanzerVIb

See King Tiger Tank

PE-2

The Soviet Petlyakov PE-2 was a twin-engine multi-purpose aircraft considered by the Luftwaffe to be a fine opponent.

PEM scope

Soviet sniper scope for Mosin and SVT rifles.

PIAT

Acronym for Projector, Infantry, Anti-tank, the PIAT used a large spring to hurl its hollow charge shell at an enemy.

Plan Chelyabinsk

Soviet assault plan utilising lend-lease equipment in Western Allies markings.

Plan Diaspora

Soviet overall plan for assaulting in the East and for supporting the new Japanese Allies.

Plan Kathleen

IRA plan for the German invasion of Ireland combined with an Irish uprising. Sometimes referred to as the Artus Plan, Stephen Hayes, the IRA Chief of Staff, arranged for it to be drawn up in 1940. It was military unfeasible.

Plan Kurgan

Soviet joint-operation to employ paratroopers, Naval Marines, NKVD agents and collaborators to attack and neutralise airfields, radar, communications and logistic bases throughout Europe. Subsequently enlarged to include assassinations of Allied senior officers.

Plan Zilant

The Soviet paratrooper operations against the four symposiums, detailed as Zilant-1 through Zilant-4.

PLUTO

Acronym for ‘Pipeline-under-the-ocean’, which was a fuel supply pipe that ran from Britain to France, laid for D-Day operations and still in use at the end of the war.

PPD

Soviet submachine gun capable of phenomenal rate of fire. Mostly equipped with a 72 round drum magazine but 65 rounds were normally fitted to avoid jamming. It was too complicated and was replaced by the PPSH.

PPS

Simple Soviet submachine gun with a 35 round magazine.

PPSH

Soviet submachine gun capable of phenomenal rate of fire. Mostly equipped with a 72 round drum magazine but 65 rounds were normally fitted to avoid jamming.

Pravda

Leading newspaper of the Soviet Union, Pravda is translated as ‘Truth’.

PS84

Passenger Aircraft built at factory 84, the initial designation of the Li-2 transport aircraft.

PT-34

Soviet T34/76 with mine clearing Mugalev attachment.

PTAB

Each Shturmovik could carry four pods containing 48 bomblets, or up to 280 internally. Each bomblet could penetrate up to 70mm of armour, enough for the main battle tanks at the time.

PTRD

Protivo Tankovoye Ruzhyo Degtyaryova, or simply put, the Degtyaryov anti-tank rifle, which fired a 14.5mm AP bullet. Amazingly, they were still being produced in 1945.

PU scope

Soviet sniper scope for Mosin and SVT rifles.

Puma

German eight-wheel armoured car with a 50mm and enclosed turret.

Pumpkin Bomb

Replica of the Fat Man bomb, produced with the same handling and ballistic characteristics, to permit aircrews and ground crews to practice without using actual atomic devices. They were produced in both inert and HE versions.

Pyat

In Russian, the number five.

RAC

Royal Armoured Corps

RAG

Rumanian Armoured Group

RAMC

Royal Army Medical Corps

RCT

Regimental Combat Team. US formation which normally consisted of elements drawn from all combatant units within the parent division, making it a smaller but reasonably self-sufficient unit. RCT’s tended to be numbered according the Infantry regiment that supplied its fighting core.[See CC for US Armored force equivalent.]

Red Devils

Nickname for the British Airborne troops, the Red berets.

Red Star

Standard issue Soviet military cigarettes.

Rodina

The Soviet Motherland.

RPG-6

Soviet anti-tank grenade with a HEAT warhead, a shaped explosive charge. Could penetrate 100mm of armour

SAAF

South African Air Force

Schmuck

A Jewish insult meaning a fool of one who is stupid. It also can literally mean the foreskin that is removed during circumcision.

Schnorkel

Equipment on a submarine that enables it to ‘breathe’ underwater, performing things like battery charging without exposing itself to danger.

Schürzen

Side armour, most often solid sheet metal but occasionally mesh, designed to prevent HEAT shells from striking the main tank, instead making them detonate against the stand-off barrier.

Schutzstaffel

The SS.