Opening Moves

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Operation Anvil: August 1944 landing in Southern France.

Operation Apple Pie: US project to capture German officers with specific knowledge about the Soviet Union’s industry and economy.

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 Paperclip: OSS project to recruit German Scientist to the Allied cause post May 1945.

Operation Sumerechny: Soviet plan to remove German leadership elements from their prisoners.

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

Panther Tank: German heavy-medium tank carrying a high-powered 75mm gun and 2-3 machine-guns, considered by many to be the finest all-round tank of World War 2.

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

Panzertruppen: The German tank crews.

Panzer VIb: 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.

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 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.

P.O.L.: Petrol, oil and lubricants.

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.

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.