Ack Ack - Slang for antiaircraft fire or an antiaircraft gun.

Afrika Korps - The German forces stationed in northern Africa, led by General Erwin Rommel.

Aft - Toward the stern (rear) of a ship.

Allied Powers - Great Britain, the British Empire, the USA, the USSR, France and China (in other words, the countries fighting against Nazi Germany and their allies in the Second World War).

Atlantic Charter - Signed on August 14, 1941 by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, this unofficial document laid out the vision for post-war Europe, still four years away at the time. The charter laid the foundation for the United Nations.

Auschwitz - The largest and most infamous of the Nazi death camps, located outside of Oswiecim, Poland. It is estimated that between 1,100,00 and 1,500,000 people died at Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945, most of them in gas chambers.

AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave

Axis Powers - The Axis powers originally included Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan who signed a pact in Berlin on September 27, 1940. They were later joined by Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, and Slovakia.

Axis Sally - Nickname of Mildred Gillars, who broadcast Nazi propaganda in English to Allied troops over the radio. Gillars was an American ex-patriot living in Berlin. After the war, she was arrested and convicted of treason against the United States. She spent 12 years in prison.

B-29 - Known as a Superfortress, the B-29 was designed as a high-altitude bomber, out of range of anti-aircraft fire. In practical use, however, it was used as a low-altitude fire bomber. The B-29 was the plane used to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Banzai Charge - A last ditch charge by Japanese soldiers, accompanied by their cry "banzai!" which can be translated as "long live." It generally was a suicide charge meant to avoid capture.

Basic Training - A period of physical training and basic military instruction upon initial induction into the armed forces.

Battalion - Army unit comprised of several smaller companies and forming part of a regiment; the basic combat unit of an army.

Battle Fatigue - Now known as post-traumatic stress, victims of battle fatigue experience an initial numbness, followed by depression, nervousness, nightmares, and flashbacks brought on by experiencing traumatic events.

Berchtesgaden - City in southern Germany near the Austrian border. Just outside the city in Obersalzburg, the Nazis owned land. Hitler often retreated there to his chalet, called Kehlsteinhaus.

Bivouac - An impromptu military encampment of tents or rudimentary shelters, usually without protection from enemy fire.

Blitz - German bombing raids over Britain from September 1940 to May 1941.

Blitzkrieg - German for "lightning war," it is a style of military offensive in which the Germans attacked with such overwhelming force and speed that its opponents had no time to properly react.

Blockbuster - Name given to a large aerial bomb used by the Royal Air Force and the United States. A heavy bomb (ranging from 4,000-12,000 pounds), most of its weight was in the explosives it contained. It had the capacity to destroy entire city blocks.

Boot Camp - A period of physical training and basic military instruction upon initial induction into the armed forces. Boot camp specifically refers to the Navy and the Marines.

Bow - The front of a boat or ship.

Brass - Slang for high ranking military officials.

Brig - Prison in the navy or marines.

Burma Road - After Japan ahd captured many supply lines into China, the Chinese people constructed the Burma Road to connect the Burmese railroad that ran from Rangoon to Lashio with an existing road at Kunming, China. This amazing feat was accomplished within 12 months without the use of modern tools.

Carole Lombard - A popular Hollywood actress of the 1930s and 1940s. She appeared in "My Man Godfrey" and "To Be or Not to Be," which spoofed the US's Nazi enemy. She died in a plane crash in 1942. A liberty ship, the USS Lombard, was named for her.

Churchill, Winston (1875-1965) - British Prime Minister, 1940-1945. He succeeded Chamberlain on May 10, 1940, at the height of Hitler's conquest of Western Europe. Churchill was one of the very few Western politicians who recognized the threat that Hitler posed to Europe. He strongly opposed Chamberlain's appeasement policies.

Company - Sub-unit of a Battalion.

Concentration Camps - Immediately upon their assumption of power on January 30, 1933, the Nazis established concentration camps for the imprisonment of all "enemies" of their regime: actual and potential political opponents (e.g. communists, socialists, monarchists), Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies, homosexuals, and other "asocials." Beginning in 1938, Jews were targeted for internment solely because they were Jews. Before then, only Jews who fit one of the earlier categories were interned in camps. The first three concentration camps established were Dachau (near Munich), Buchenwald (near Weimar) and Sachsenhausen (near Berlin).

Corps - A component of the army forming a tactical unit comprised of a number of divisions.

Corpsman - The navy and marine equivalent of a medic -- they provide first aid to wounded in combat.

Coventry - English city located about 100 miles northwest of London. Coventry was an industrial city and a center of Britain's war effort. Coventry was the target of a particularly strong German bombing raid on November 14, 1940. Its cathedral was destroyed and more than 550 people were killed.

D-Day - The first day of any military operation. June 6, 1944, the date of the assault on the Normandy beaches, is probably the most famous D-Day and the one with which we are concerned with in this project. The term, however, can refer to the first day of any other military operation.

Dachau - Established in 1933, Dachau was the first of Nazi Germany's concentration camps. Dachau is located in southern Germany, outside of Munich. Between 1940 and 1945, over 28,000 people died at Dachau. The US Army liberted Dachau on April 29, 1945.

Discharge - An official document certifying release from the performance of an office or duty, especially in military service.

Division - Largest tactical unit of the British Army (beneath Corps).

Dresden - City in eastern Germany which was a joint US-British air strike target in February, 1945. Although the area surrounding Dresden was a major industrial area, many of the targets were not strategic military targets, but rather cultural areas with large civilian populations, including the old city center. This prompted many to conclude that the strike was not so much a military campaign as it was revenge for the Coventry bombing.

Eagle's Nest - The English-speaking name given to Hitler's chalet (Kehlsteinhaus) in Berchtesgaden, Germany.

El Alamein - A city in northern Egypt on the Mediterranean coast where 2 major battle were fought between the Germans and Italians and the British. At the first battle (July 1942), the Axis powers were stopped in their advance. In the second battle (October and November 1942), the Allies pushed the Axis back to Tunisia. It was a major turning point in the war. About the battle, Winston Churchill remarked that before Alamein "we had no victory and after it we had no defeats."

Fat Man - The codename of the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the 2nd of the two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare and was the third man-made nuclear explosion of all time. The name also refers more generically to the early nuclear weapon designs of U.S. weapons based on the "Fat Man" model. It was an implosion-type weapon with a plutonium core.

Final Solution - The cover name for the plan to destroy the Jews of Europe - the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." Beginning in December 1941, Jews were rounded up and sent to extermination camps in the East. The program was deceptively disguised as "resettlement in the East."

Flying Fortress - Nickname of the B-17 Bomber. Called so because of its defensinve capabilities and its ability to stay in the sky after taking a beating.

Front - The line of contact of two opposing forces.

FUBAR - An acronym of 'Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition'.

Gestapo - Nazi secret police. Shortened form of "Geheime Staatspolizei" (Secret State Police).

GI - Government issue; slang for a soldier.

Gremlin - A mischievous imaginary creature. Airplane crew in World War II would "blame" them for engine trouble and mechanical malfunctions.

Hara Kiri - From the samurai tradition, ceremonial suicide brought on by disgrace. The method of choice is stabbing oneself in the abdomen with a dagger.

Head - A toilet or lavatory on a boat or ship.

Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945) - Fuhrer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Reich Chancellor). Although born in Austria, he settled in Germany in 1913. At the outbreak of World War I, Hitler enlisted in the Bavarian Army, became a corporal and received the Iron Cross First Class for bravery. Returning to Munich after the war, he joined the newly formed German Workers Party which was soon reorganized, under his leadership, as the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP). In November 1923, he unsuccessfully attempted to forcibly bring Germany under nationalist control. When his coup, known as the "Beer-Hall Putsch," failed, Hitler was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison. It was during this time that he wrote Mein Kampf. Serving only 9 months of his sentence, Hitler quickly reentered German politics and soon outpolled his political rivals in national elections. In January 1933, Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor of a coalition cabinet. Hitler, who took office on January 30, 1933, immediately set up a dictatorship. In 1934, the chancellorship and presidency were united in the person of the Fuhrer. Soon, all other parties were outlawed and opposition was brutally suppressed. By 1938, Hitler implemented his dream of a "Greater Germany," first annexing Austria; then, (with the acquiescence of the western democracies), the Sudetenland (Czech province with ethnic German concentration); and, finally, Czechoslovakia itself. On September 1, 1939, Hitler's armies invaded Poland. By this time the western democracies realized that no agreement with Hitler could be honored and World War II had begun. Although initially victorious on all fronts, Hitler's armies began suffering setbacks shortly after the United States joined the war in December 1941. Although the war was obviously lost by early 1945, Hitler insisted that Germany fight to the death. On April 30, 1945, Hitler committed suicide rather than be captured alive.

Holocaust - The destruction of some 6 million Jews by the Nazis and their followers in Europe between the years 1933-1945. Other individuals and groups were persecuted and suffered grievously during this period, but only the Jews were marked for complete and utter annihilation. The term "Holocaust" - literally meaning "a completely burned sacrifice" - tends to suggest a sacrificial connotation to what occurred. The word Shoah, originally a Biblical term meaning widespread disaster, is the modern Hebrew equivalent.

Home Front - The civilian population or the civilian activities of a country at war. Click here to read more about the Home Front Experience.

Incendiary Bomb - A bomb designed to start fires. It is generally aimed at flammable targets, such as petroleum.

Intelligence - Information gathered about an enemy through spy activity.

Internment Camps - Camps administered by the Justice Department for the detention of enemy aliens (not U.S. citizens) deemed dangerous during World War II. Most of the several thousand people in these camps were issei and kibei who had been rounded up after the attack on Pearl Harbor because they were perceived as "dangerous." Japanese Latin Americans were also placed in these camps. "Internment camp" is used by some to describe the "incarceration camps." The term "internment" is problematic when applied to U.S. citizens. Technically, internment refers to the detention of enemy aliens during time of war, and two-thirds of the Japanese Americans incarcerated were U.S. citizens. Although it is a recognized and generally used term even today, we prefer "incarceration" as more accurate, except in the specific case of aliens.

Kamikaze - Japanese for "devine wind," a kamikaze was a Japanese pilot trained to fly his plane, laden with explosives, into American targets in the Pacific. To fly this suicide mission was considered by the Japanese to be a great honor.

Ledo Road - After the Japanese cut off the Burma Road, China's only supply road from its western allies, the Chinese and their allies (especially the British and the Americans) built a new road from Ledo, India that connected to the Chinese controlled portion of the Burma Road. Ledo Road was also referred to as Pick's Pike and the Stilwell Road.

Little Boy - the codename of the atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima, on August 6, 1945 by the 12-man crew of the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the United States Army Air Forces. It was the first atomic bomb ever used as a weapon and was dropped three days before the "Fat Man" bomb was used against Nagasaki.

Magic Carpet Runs - Operation Magic Carpet was the post-WWII naval effort to bring home the 80 million plus American troops home from Europe, the Pacific, and China.

Manhattan Project - An intensive, top-secret research project begun by the United States in 1942 with the goal of developing an atomic weapon.

Mayday - A broadcast distress signal, used on ships and aircraft.

Medic - A soldier trained in basic medicine who provides first aid to wounded in combat. He also is responsible for basic medical care in the absence of a physician. Also called a combat medic.

MIA - Missing in action.

Mount Suribachi - Dormant volcano located at the southern tip of Iwo Jima where a group of marines planted the American flag. A photo of this event has become an enduring image of World War II.

NMI - No Middle Initial

Oak Ridge, Tennessee - Town in East Tennessee establishes as a site for developing uranium and plutonium materials for the Manhatten Project. It was chosen for its low population and because of its proximity to Tennessee Valley Authority electric energy.

Operational Theatre - See Theatre of War.

Pillbox - A small concrete bunker with several holes in the walls so machine gunners can fire out of it. A pillbox is often camouflaged to provide an element of surprise.

Regiment - A large body of troops, organized under the command of a superior officer, and forming a definite unit of an army or military force; the specific name of the largest permanent unit of the cavalry, infantry, and foot-guards of the British Army since the 17th century.

Rhine River - A major river in western Europe that forms part of the border between Germany and France.

Rhineland - the area on both sides of the Rhine River in western Europe, which includes lands in Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

Ribbon - A ribbon or strip of cloth showing the award of a decoration or medal.

Rosie the Riveter - Term given to the many women who went to work in factories to support the war effort and to replace the male workers who went into the military.

Seabees - The construction battalion of the US Navy.

Shrapnel - The fragments produced when certain explosive devices such mines and shells are detonated.

SNAFU - An acronym for "Situation Normal: All Fouled Up" -- this slang term originated in WWII.

Squadron - A basic air force tactical unit.

Stilwell, Joseph (1883 – 1946) - United States Army four-star General who headed both the U.S. and Chinese Nationalist resistance to the Japanese advance in the China-Burma-India Theater. He was nicknamed "Uncle Joe" and "Vinegar Joe--the former for his concern for the average G.I., and the latter for his frank matter-of-fact way of speaking his mind.

Theatre of War - Geographic area in which military operations are carried out.
WWII had two major Theaters, the European and the Pacific.

U-Boat - German submarine. Short for "Unterseeboot" (under sea boat)

Unit - Any grouping or component comprising part of the organizational structure of an army.

USO - United Services Organization. President Roosevelt founded the USO to entertain the troops with shows and dances designed to boost morale. Famous personalities at the time (most notably Bob Hope)participated in these shows to demonstrate their support. The USO is still in operation.

V-E Day - Victory in Europe Day. May 8, 1945, which marked Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies.

V-J day - Victory in Japan Day. August 14, 1945, the day which marked Japan's unconditional surrender to the Allies, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

V-Mail - Victory-Mail. To reduced the bulk of mail, letters were photographed and put on microfilm for shipping. When it reached its destination, the microfilm was printed onto reduced-sized photo paper and sent to the recipient.

V1 Bomb - First dropped on London in June of 1944, the V-1 bomb resembled a small unmanned glider and was powered by a pulse jet. The drone of its jet often alerted the English of an impeding strike. It was known as a "buzz bomb" or "doodlebug."

V2 Rocket - The follow-up to the V1, the V2 had a guidance system. It was the world's first ballistic missile. It carried a 1000 kilo warhead and hit its targets at a speed of 3000 mph. Developed by German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, the V2 laid the groundwork for the space race.

WAAC - Women's Army Auxiliary Corps

WAC - Women's Army Corps

Wolf Pack - Large concentration of German U-Boats that targeted Allied convoys in the Atlantic.