BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädchen) — Association of German Girls
Division — Unit composed of 4,000–20,000 men
Elite Division — Division made up of soldiers with superior training and equipment
Feldmarschall — Field Marshal
Festung — A city which is defended to the end and becomes part of the war-zone
FLAK (Fliegerabwehrkanone) — Anti-aircraft gun
Gauleiter — High-ranking SS official, with wide-ranging powers, in charge of a province or zone
Gefreiter — Private, first class
Gun — Description of all types of canon, as against rifles or pistols
Generaloberst — Highest rank of a General
Hauptmann — Captain
Hauptwachtmeister — Staff sergeant in FLAK unit
Helper — Schoolboy drafted for service in an anti-aircraft battery
Herrenrasse — Master race
Hitler Jugend — Hitler Youth
Jungvolk — Junior section of the Hitler Youth
Kanonier — Private in a FLAK unit
Katjuscha — Russian multiple rocket launcher
Labour Service — Prescribed period in which young Germans had to do unskilled labouring work
Luftwaffen Helfer — Luftwaffe helper, or auxiliary
NCO — Non-commissioned officer
Oberst — Colonel
OC — Officer-in-charge
Panzer — Tank
RAD (Reichs Arbeits Dienst) — Labour Service
Realgymnasium — Grammar School
Sapper — Member of a special task force: building pontoon bridges, dynamiting and using flame throwers
Self-propelled gun — Gun mounted on tank-type tracked undercarriage
Skat — Popular card game for three players, similar to ‘Solo’
SS (Schutzstaffel) — Private army of elite guards
Sudetenland — German-speaking areas of Czechoslovakia
Volkssturm — Type of Home Guard Militia created in September 1944
Wachtmeister — Sergeant in FLAK unit
Waffen SS — Military arm of the political SS
Wehrmacht — German Land Forces
AVERAGE STRUCTURE OF GERMAN LAND FORCES
Each army-group has 2 to 4 armies of approx. 200,000 men
Each army has 2 to 4 army-corps of 40,000 to 80,000 men
Each army-corps has 2 to 4 divisions of 4,000 to 20,000 men
Each division has 4 to 6 regiments of 1,000 to 4,000 men
Each regiment has 2 battalions of 500 to 1,000 men
Note: Germany had a peak of 27 armies in action during the war, comprising over 6 million men.
FLAK guns: 216
Tanks: 190
Self-propelled artillery: 66
Anti-tank guns: 73
Mortars: 74
Rocket launchers: 206
Machine-guns: 1,270
Flame throwers: 18
Armoured reconnaissance vehicles: 36
Armoured personnel carriers: 56
Aeroplanes: 2
Added to this there were vehicles and equipment associated with: sappers, supplies, communications, medical services, workshops and repair units, catering, military police and administration staff.
20-millimetre single-barrel guns: 82
20-millimetre four-barrel guns: 12
37-millimetre guns: 44
88-millimetre guns: 78
Total manpower of Panzer-Corps was 12,000 men.
WEAPONRY DATA
20-millimetre self-propelled FLAK-gun
Theoretical firing rate 180 – 200 rounds per minute. Range 4,800 metres. Ceiling 1,070 metres. Muzzle velocity 800 – 900 metres per second. Eight shells per magazine. Net weight of shell 115 – 148 grams. Gun mounted on half-tracked modified Panzer 4 tank propulsion system.
37-millimetre self-propelled FLAK-gun
Theoretical firing rate 150 rounds per minute. Range 6,500 metres. Ceiling 1,525 metres. Muzzle velocity 840 metres per second. Eight shells per magazine. Net weight of shell 635 -700 grams. Gun mounting same as above.
88-millimetre FLAK-gun
Firing rate twenty rounds per minute. Range 19,700 metres. Ceiling 14,930 metres. Muzzle velocity 1,020 metres per second. Net weight of shell 9 – 9.5 kilograms.
105-millimetre FLAK-gun
Firing rate ten to fifteen rounds per minute. Range 17,300 metres. Ceiling 10,500 metres. Muzzle velocity 900 metres per second. Net weight of shell 15.9 kilograms.
T-34
Medium Russian tank. Crew of four. 500 horse-power engine. Weight 26.3 tons. Armour plating 75 millimetres. Max. speed 53 km/hour. Range 400 km. One 76.2 millimetre gun and two 7.6 millimetre machine-guns. Most commonly used Russian medium tank. Excellent in difficult terrain such as sand, swamps and snow. Very reliable.
T-75 “Joseph Stalin”
Heavy Russian tank. Crew of four. 513 horse-power engine. Weight 45 tons. Armour plating maximum 120 millimetres. Max. speed 37 km/hour. Range 240 km. One 122 millimetre gun and three 7.6 millimetre machine-guns. Heavy Russian tank. Good manoeuvrability for its size.
“Tiger”
Heavy German tank. Crew of five. 700 horse-power engine. Weight 50 tons. Armour plating 110 millimetres. Max. speed 38 km/hour. Range 100 km. One 88-millimetre gun and two 7.92-millimetre machine-guns. Superior to all opposition, but lacked manoeuvrability. 1,350 tanks built.
“Königstiger”
German “super tank.” Crew of five. 700 horse-power engine. Weight 68.6 tons. Armour plating maximum 150 millimetres. Max. speed 38 km/hour. Range 110 km. One 88-millimetre gun and two 7.92-millimetre machine-guns. Most powerful of any tank in 1944. Exceptionally heavy armour. Mechanically unreliable. 485 tanks built.
“Panther”
Heavy German tank. Crew of five. 700 horse-power engine. Weight 44.1 tons. Armour plating 80 – 120 millimetres. Max. speed 45 km/hour. Range 176 km. One 75-millimetre gun and two 7.92-millimetre machine-guns. Overall one of the best tanks built in World War Two.
Ilyuschin Il-2 “Stormovik” or “Black Death”
Russian two-seater fighter-bomber. Single 1,600 horse power engine. Max. speed 411 km/hour. Range 600 km. Ceiling 4,160 metres. Two 37-millimetre cannons, three 7.6-millimetre machine-guns and eight 25-kilogramme rockets or 600 kilogrammes of bombs. Special feature was its armour plating, up to 81 millimetres thick. 42,330 planes built.
Junkers Ju-87 “Stuka”
German two-seater dive-bomber. Single 1,210 horse-power engine. Max. Speed 400 km/hour. Range 800 km. Ceiling 6,730 metres. Three 7.92 machine-guns and 690 kilogrammes of bombs. 4,880 planes were built. The ‘Stukas’ dived at an angle of 70 to 80 degrees whereby air-brakes were used to limit the speed to 710 km/hour. A screaming siren operated during diving.
Bazooka “Panzerfaust” (Tank fist)
German hand-held rocket-launcher used against tanks. Weight 6.1 kilogrammes. Length one metre. Diameter five centimetres. Range 80 metres. Able to penetrate 200 millimetres of steel.
MG-42
Highly successful German 7.92-millimetre machine-gun. Weight 11.6 kilogrammes. Length 1.22 metres. 1,500 rounds per minute. Range 3,500 metres.
V-1
German long-range rocket. Weight 2.14 tons. Length twenty-five feet. Speed 660 km/hour. Range 370 kilometres. Carried 0.82 tons of explosives. 10,500 rockets were built. Rocket flew on a pre-determined course. Descent was activated by a propeller-driven timing device.