The Liri Valley
Page 52
Sergeant (Sgt.)
Company Sergeant Major (CSM)
Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM)
Lieutenant (Lt. or Lieut.)
Captain (Capt.)
Major (Maj.)
Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.)
Colonel (Col.)
Brigadier (Brig.)
Major General (Maj. Gen.)
Lieutenant General (Lt. Gen.)
General (Gen.)
APPENDIX E
GERMAN MILITARY ORDER OF RANK
Because the German army and the Luftwaffe ground forces had a ranking system where rank also usually indicated the specific type of unit in which one served, only basic ranks are given here. The translations are roughly based on the Canadian ranking system, although there is no Canadian equivalent for many German ranks.
Schütze
Private, infantry
Grenadier
Private, infantry
Kanonier
Gunner
Panzerschütze
Tank crew member
Pionier
Sapper
Funker
Signaller
Gefreiter
Lance Corporal
Obergefreiter
Corporal
Unteroffizier
Lance Sergeant
Unterfeldwebel
Sergeant
Feldwebel
Company Sergeant Major
Oberfeldwebel
Battalion Sergeant Major
Leutnant
Second Lieutenant
Oberleutnant
Lieutenant
Hauptmann
Captain
Major
Major
Oberstleutnant
Lieutenant Colonel
Oberst
Colonel
Generalleutnant
Lieutenant General
Generalmajor
Major General
General der Artillerie
General of Artillery
General der Infanterie
General of Infantry
General der Kavallerie
General of Cavalry
General der Pioniere
General of Engineers
General der Panzertruppen
General of Armoured Troops
Generaloberst
Colonel General
Generalfeldmarschall
General Field Marshal
Oberbefehshaber Süd
Commander-in-Chief South
APPENDIX F
THE DECORATIONS
Many military decorations were won by soldiers in the Liri Valley Battle. The decoration system that Canada used in World War II, like most other aspects of its military organization and tradition, derived from Britain. A class-based system, most military decorations can be awarded either to officers or to “other ranks,” but not both. The exception is the highest award, the Victoria Cross, which can be won by a soldier of any rank.
The decorations and qualifying ranks are:
VICTORIA CROSS (VC)
Awarded for gallantry in the presence of the enemy. Instituted in 1856. Open to all ranks. The only award that can be granted for action in which the recipient was killed, other than Mentioned in Despatches — a less formal honour whereby an act of bravery was given specific credit in a formal report.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER (DSO)
Officers of all ranks, but more commonly awarded to officers with ranks of major or higher.
MILITARY CROSS (MC)
Officers with a rank below major and, rarely, warrant officers.
DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL
Warrant officers and all lower ranks.
MILITARY MEDAL
Warrant officers and all lower ranks.
GLOSSARY OF COMMON CANADIAN
MILITARY TERMS AND WEAPONRY
ANTITANK GUNS
Canadian forces used two antitank guns. The six-pounder was the main anti-tank gun attached directly to infantry battalions. Each battalion had its own antitank platoon. This gun had a range of 1,000 yards and fired a six-pound shell. Also available were the seventeen-pounder antitank guns of the antitank regiments. This was basically an up-gunned version of the six-pounder. It had greater range and greater hitting power because of the seventeen-pound shell.
ARMOURED CARS
The Fox mounted a .50-calibre machine gun in the turret that the commander handled and a .30-calibre co-axial machine gun operated by the wireless man. Originally, the Otter had been fitted with only a .303 Bren gun on an anti-aircraft mount in the turret, but soon after landing in Italy the Guardsmen had replaced most of the Brens with .50-calibre Brownings. Both the Fox and Otter were lightly armoured, with the thickest armour not exceeding 15 millimetres. In favourable conditions, the drivers could coax a top speed of 45 miles per hour out of either model’s six-cylinder gas engine. Each troop in a squadron had five armoured cars, manned by three men apiece.
BREN CARRIER
Also known as the universal carrier. A lightly armoured tracked vehicle capable of carrying four to six soldiers and their weapons. Provided no overhead protection, but was walled on all sides by armour. Top speed of thirty-five miles an hour. The Commonwealth forces battlefield workhorse, its open design enabled it to be used for carrying just about any kind of military gear used by infantry. Some were converted into weapons carriers and played a combat role by being fitted with Vickers .303 medium machine guns, Bren light machine guns, or two-inch mortars, or were used as the towing vehicle for six-pounder antitank guns.
BREN GUN
Standard light machine gun of Commonwealth forces. Fired .303 rifle ammunition held in thirty-round magazines. An excellent, although slow-firing, weapon. It had a range of about 500 yards and weighed twenty-two pounds.
BROWNING 9-MILLIMETRE AUTOMATIC
The standard pistol used by Canadian forces. Officers in the line rifle companies generally kept their pistols hidden or even threw them away to avoid being easily identified as officers by German snipers.
CIB
Canadian Infantry Brigade.
FAUSTPATRONE
A hand-held, disposable German antitank rocket launcher that proved quite effective against Western Allied armour. The first model Faustpatrone 1 (Fist-Cartridge) fired a 5.5-pound projectile capable of penetrating armour 140 millimetres thick at a range of less than thirty yards. Faustpatrone 2 was heavier and had a stronger punch against armour. The 6.39-pound charge fired by the new weapon could slice through armour 200 millimetres thick. The biggest flaw in both weapons was their effective range of only about 100 feet, which brought the soldier employing it perilously close to the target and any infantry that might be screening it. However, the Faustpatrone was simpler to use, lighter, and more powerful than the PIAT or the American bazooka, both of which were more cumbersome, non-disposable weapons. The Faustpatrone was soon nicknamed Panzerfaust (Tank Fist) by the soldiers using them and later, even more powerful models were officially designated as such.
FORWARD OBSERVATION OFFICER (FOO)
Artillery batteries had two officers, usually captains. During a battle, one officer remained with the guns to oversee their operation. The other, the FOO, accompanied the infantry regiment that was being supported. He was usually part of a three-man team that included the FOO, a radio signaller, and a Bren carrier driver. The FOO was in charge of calling for artillery support and directing the fire toward enemy targets that were threatening or holding up the infantry.
GUNNER
The artillery regiment equivalent to a private.
HE
High explosive.
HQ
Any form of headquarters.
JERRY
Common term for Germans. Also spelled Gerry. Canadians seldom if ever used the harsher term Kraut, favoured by American soldiers. Tedeschi, the Italian word for German, was also popular, and Canadians occasionally used the terms Hun or Boche.
LEE ENFIELD RIFLE, NO. 4, MARK 1
&n
bsp; Standard rifle of Commonwealth forces. The Mark 1 was made in Canada for Canadian personnel. It fired .303 ammunition contained in five-round clips. Effective range was 900 yards, but most accurate when fired at ranges under 600 yards. A highly reliable, rugged weapon. Capable of being mounted with an 8-inch spike bayonet.
MG
Machine gun.
MO
Medical Officer.
MORTARS
The Canadians had three weights of mortars: 2-inch, 3-inch, and 4.2-inch. The latter was a heavy mortar operated by the Saskatoon Light Infantry in support of the infantry regiments. The 3-inch was operated by a mortar platoon attached to each battalion, while 2-inch mortars were carried directly into battle by a section attached to each company. A mortar lobs a bomb on what is usually a high trajectory toward a target. The bombs can be high-explosive, shrapnel, or phosphorous (smoke). Range and firepower varied according to the size of the gun. The bigger the mortar, the greater its range and firepower. The 3-inch could engage targets as close as 125 yards and as far away as 2,800 yards. Its bomb weighed ten pounds. The 4.2-inch fired bombs of twenty pounds and had a much greater range. The small 2-inch put out only a 2.5-pound bomb, but was extremely useful for laying smokescreens.
NBH
8th Princess Louise New Brunswick Hussars.
NCO
Non-Commissioned Officer. All Warrant Officers, sergeants, and corporals are considered non-commissioned officers. NCOs provide the leadership backbone of infantry platoons and armoured troops.
NEBELWERFER
A launcher system that fired either 15-centimetre or 21-centimetre rockets in a rapid, 10-second sequence. The most common launch carriage used in Italy resembled a two-wheeled artillery gun carriage, but was mounted with six tubes rather than a single gun. A Nebelwerfer crew could routinely load and fire a volley every 90 seconds, but to avoid injury from the significant exhaust backblast had to take shelter in a trench at least 15 feet from the weapon before firing. Maximum Nebelwerfer range varied according to launcher size. The 15-centimetre Nebelwerfer 41 had a maximum range of 6,900 metres, while the 21-centimetre Nebelwerfer 42 could reach 7,850 metres. Known as “Moaning Minnies” because of the loud howling noise the rockets emanated during flight, Nebelwerfers were quite inaccurate. But when a stonk landed near or on target, casualties were almost inevitable because of the concentration of explosive and large chunks of shrapnel created when the rocket casing shattered.
OPS ORDERS
Operational orders.
ORDERS GROUP (O GROUP)
A session at which the orders setting out the tactics to be used in a forthcoming action are given to participating commanders. Most actions entail multiple O Groups, starting at the highest level and descending downward. A brigade planning an attack, for example, will have its first O Group called by the brigadier. He and brigade HQ staff will brief regimental commanders and the commanders of included supporting arms (artillery, heavy mortars, etc.). Regimental commanders then brief the company commanders, who in turn brief platoon commanders, who pass the information down to individual sections. What will start as a broad-stroke tactical plan at the brigade level will, by the time it hits platoon and section stages, become a set of intensely specific tasks that must be accomplished for the overall attack to succeed. A process of filtering out nonessential detail occurs all down the line until the section leader will have little idea of the purpose of the tasks his section must achieve.
PIAT
Projector Infantry Antitank. The hand-held antitank weapon of Commonwealth forces, weighing thirty-two pounds and firing a two-and-a-half pound hollow-charge explosive bomb. Difficult to load, prone to mechanical failure, and complicated to operate, the PIAT was an unpopular weapon. Effective against German tanks only if fired against the thinner side and rear armour plate, or against the tracks.
PIONEERS
Engineering personnel who were members of an infantry battalion’s pioneer company. Pioneers had a higher level of expertise with regard to handling explosives, laying charges, carrying out demolitions, and defusing enemy mines and booby traps than the average soldier.
RECCE
Abbreviation of reconnaissance. Recce units are reconnaissance units, such as the Princess Louise Dragoon Guards or Governor General’s Horse Guards.
SAPPER
Explosive and engineering personnel in the Royal Canadian Engineers, equivalent to private in the infantry.
SHERMAN TANK
The standard tank used by Canadian forces was the Sherman M-4A2, usually called the M-4. It weighed just under thirty-five tons. The Sherman had a five-man crew, consisting of commander, gunner, loader, driver, and assistant driver. Its main armament was a 75-millimetre gun. Fixed into the front of the tank was also a .30-calibre machine gun, and a .50-calibre machine gun could quickly be mounted on top of the turret for use as an anti-aircraft weapon. The Sherman had a top speed of about 29 miles per hour and a maximum range without refuelling of 150 miles. Although the Sherman would undergo only slight modifications over the course of the war, it was generally considered inferior to most German tanks in firepower and armour. It also had a higher profile, which made it harder to get into a hull-down (protected) stance than German tanks.
SLI
Saskatoon Light Infantry Regiment. The more official, but less commonly used, abbreviation was Sask LI.
SPG
Self-Propelled Gun. A standard artillery piece mounted on a tracked body. Lacking a turret, it could only fire directly at targets by wheeling the entire vehicle to face it. They also had no overhead cover to protect the crew and so were more vulnerable than tanks. The Allies generally used SPGs as mobile artillery that operated close to, but behind, the front lines. In many cases, the tank-deficient Germans attempted to deploy SPGs in a tank role, but their open-top design and inability to turn quickly to face a new threat left them highly vulnerable to both tank and infantry attack.
START POINT (SP)
Also called the Start Line (SL) or Jumping Off Point, the spot where a unit of any size forms up immediately before going into an attack.
THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUN
Fondly referred to as the Tommy Gun by those who carried it, the Thompson was a .45-calibre submachine gun. The favoured submachine gun of Canadian forces and the only American weapon they respected. The Thompson could fit either a box or drum-shaped magazine. The use of .45-calibre ammunition gave the gun tremendous stopping power.
TROOPER
The armoured corps equivalent to a private. Trooper harks back to the armour’s cavalry heritage.
TWENTY-FIVE POUNDER
The workhorse artillery gun of Commonwealth forces. Incredibly durable and reliable, the twenty-five pounder was manned by a crew of six. It was generally used as a howitzer — firing high-explosive shells at a high angle — but could also fire armour-piercing shot at flat trajectories. Effective range of 12,500 yards. Weighed four tons.
TYPE 36 GRENADE
Standard grenade of Commonwealth forces. Its metal case was ribbed, leading to its being called the “pineapple.” Each of the eighty ribs broke into a separate shrapnel piece upon exploding. This type of grenade was usually thrown overhand in a lobbing manner.
VICKERS .303 MACHINE GUN, MARK 1
Remarkably, the medium machine gun that the Canadians used throughout World War II was essentially the same gun Canadian forces had used in World War I. With a simple gas-assisted recoil system, the gun was water-cooled and fired belts of .303 ammunition. Its accurate range was 1,100 yards, but it could fling bursts much farther. At full automatic, the Vickers put out bursts of 10 to 20 rounds. Rate of fire varied from 60 rounds a minute to 250 rounds, depending on whether the gunner was using slow or rapid fire. The Vickers weighed in at 40 pounds. It had amazing endurance, seldom failing to operate in even the most adverse conditions.
Although an adequate weapon, the Vickers was outclassed in performance by its German counterpart. The MG42 was rated the best gun of its
type in the world for years after the war. Introduced in 1942, it had a remarkable firing rate of 1,200 rounds a minute. The MG42 had another advantage over the Vickers. It was actually a light–machine gun, weighing only 25.35 pounds. When fired using a bipod, the gun had a light machine gun range of about 600 yards. On a tripod, the range more than doubled and the weapon proved effective as an anti-aircraft gun.