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Allgemeines — General
██so gekennzeichnete Einträge sind in den jeweils angegebenen Tagebuchartikeln nachzuarbeiten██
██Mit Anhang/Abkürzungen zusammenfassen, Einleitung einfach mit einbauen██
The majority of the foreign language texts is based on automatic translation, in parts reworked by the editor.
Older parts have been translated using Google translate, newer ones with DeepL. Dict.cc, Wikipedia and sprachgefühl (instinctive feel for the language) are used during reworking.
From 22 Nov 2020 onward the English dialect used is expressedly British English.
Phil Price and Richard Hargreaves kindly translated several pages pertaining to the early stages of "Barbarossa" in June and July 1941, Jason Mark gave lots of further hints.
Ortsnamen — Place names
Place names are mostly left in their German spelling because this is how they can be found on contemporary military maps. As the translation software tried to translate or transliterate some place names, this principle is not always followed. This may be reworked at some later time.
Terms and Expressions (Military and Non-Military)
Below you find a list of terms together with my source-based or sometimes tentative translations and a description. Bold face denotes German terms left untranslated in most instances because they are difficult to translate. The editor believes that they are well-known to military historians, anyway. May they give the text a special atmosphere. Many list items (most marked +) are only notes to the editor's self to ease translation work and insure standardised translation, they may be deleted later.
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A |
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| Abstellung | secondment | + Hauptbedeutung Abordnung | |
| abschießen (Flugzeug, Panzer) | shoot down, knock out/destroy[1] | ||
| Abschnitt | sector ██alles prüfen██ | ||
| Adjutant[2] | adjutant, aide (-de-camp) (ADC?) | personnel officer in a staff, then IIa, today S-1, G-1, A-1 or J-1; the term aide (-de-camp) rather pertains to Ordonnanzoffizier (O.O., O.O.1...) ██bis Frankreich prüfen██; besides the IIa and O.O., there seems to have been a third type of orderly officers serving higher commanders as a butler ██3. Begriff suchen, Gordon fragen?██; | |
| Alte, der ~ | old man, greybeard | familiar nickname for the commander | |
| Arbeitsanzug (Drillich) | fatigue dress/uniform | + | |
| Ari | arty | ██alle Seiten ändern██ | |
| dann auch (Das tropfenweise Geklecker hört dann auch bald auf.) | then... anyway | + | |
B |
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| B-Stelle, VB | (forward/artillery) observation post | + cf. Abbr. | |
| Batailloner (Batl.-Kommandeur) | + battalioner (acc. to DeepL.com) | ||
| Befehlsübernahme | + Transfer of authority | ||
| Berliner | Jelly Donut | + | |
| bodenständig | immovable | ||
| Bunker | dugout, bunker | (mostly used) | |
D |
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| dann auch (Das tropfenweise Geklecker hört dann auch bald auf.) | then... anyway | + | |
| das konnten sie nicht gut übersehen | they could not very well overlook it | + | |
| dieser X | that fellow X | + | |
| Do-Werfer, Nebelwerfer | rocket launcher | The Nebelwerfer was colloquially named Do-Werfer, acc. to LdW after Walter Dornberger who was responsible for the army's rocket development from 1932 | |
| doch | after all | + | |
| Drillich (Arbeitsanzug) | fatigue dress/uniform | + | |
E |
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| E-Werk | power station, electricity plant | + | |
| ein für alle Mal | for good | + | |
| ein gewisser X | one X | + | |
| einweisen (örtlich/Lage) | marshal (into positions)/brief (into situation) | ||
| Erdloch | burrow | + ██alle Seiten prüfen██ | |
| erster Stock, 1. OG | first floor | ambiguous, simply mention ground floor, too | |
| Etappe | rear area | ||
| Etappenhengst | base wallah, rear-echelon Joe | ||
F |
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| Fertigmachen! | Listen Up! Heads Up! Look Sharp! Stand To! On Your Feet! Prepare (to move out)! informal[3] (Fertigwerden!): Get ready! |
+ | |
| Feuerüberfall | surprise fire, fire concentration | + | |
| filzen | frisking (and nicking) | + (body and luggage) search for forbidden items; wrong: filching or felting | |
| Flak | anti-aircraft gun/cannon | + (cf. Abbr.) [4] | |
| Fliegermarschtiefe | dispersed (air raid) formation | ██alle Seiten prüfen██ | |
| Führerreserve | Leader reserve | a unit (e.g., within the field reserve batallion of a division) consisting of officers and NCOs for quick replacement of wounded or fallen leaders, in the meantime they were employed for special duties[5]; there have been Führerreserven on all command levels[6] | |
G |
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| Garbe | burst (of fire), sheaf/sheaves (!) | + | |
| Gefechtsschreiber | combat clerk | clerk at a command post | |
H |
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| Heimkehrer | repatriate, returnee | + | |
| hungern (Hungerstreik) | to starve oneself | + (definitely not "to hunger" acc. to Phil) | |
I |
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| IG | infantry gun | + (cf. Abbr.) [4] | |
| Impressum | Imprint | + | |
| in den nächsten Tagen | any day now | + | |
K |
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| kann nur ... sein | cannot but be ... | + | |
| Karzer | karzer | + | |
| Kiellinie | Line ahead | ██bis 25. Nov 44 prüfen██ | |
| Kochgeschirr | Mess kit | ||
| Kolonne | Column (as transport unit) | ||
| Kommandant | Commandant (!) | ██bis Jan 43 prüfen██ | |
| Kommandeur | General Officer Commanding (GOC) | Is that perhaps the correct designation for an Oberbefehlshaber of an Armee or Heeresgruppe? | |
| Kommandeur | Commanding General | Gereral who commands a unit | |
| Kommandeur | Commander (Cdr), Commandig Officer (CO) | Officer who commands a unit | |
| Kommando | detachment | + | |
| Kompaniechef | company chief | closer to the German term than company commander ██alle Seiten prüfen██ | |
| Kriegslazarett | war hospital | + | |
L |
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| Lage | salvo | + | |
| Lazarett | military hospital | + | |
| LFH | light field howitzer | + (cf. Abbr.) [4] | |
| Lkw | lorry | + preferred over truck which is more of an AE term ██alle Seiten prüfen██ | |
M |
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| m.d.F.b. | acting commander | + (cf. Abbr.) | |
| Marketender | sutler | + | |
| MG | machine gun | + MG will be replaced (cf. Abbr.)[4] | |
| Mücke | + gnat (gem. dict.cc), nicht moskito ██alle Seiten ändern██ | ||
N |
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| Natschalnik | nachalnik | + | |
| nicht mehr und nicht weniger | no more nor less | + | |
| Niederwald | coppice | + | |
| NN | N.N. (nomen nescio), N.U. (name unknown) | + cf. Abbr. | |
| Norm (Arbeitsnorm) | work norm, average work rate, quota, job norm | ||
O |
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| OA | officer candidate, officer aspirant, aspirant officer | + cf. Abbr. | |
| Oberfeldwebel | (Technical, First) Sergeant | + rarely assigned third NCO grade, suitable, e. g., for Sergeant Major duties[5] cf. Ranks ██alle ändern██ | |
| Oberbefehlshaber (see also Kommandeur) | commander | better, in general, than C-in-C which rather means Oberster Befehlshaber or Oberbefehlshaber of a whole component (cf. Ranks) | |
| Ordonnanzoffizier[2] (O.O.) | special-missions staff officer, orderly officer, aide-de-camp (ADC) | see Adjutant | |
P |
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| Panzerabwehr-..., Panzerjäger-... | antitank ... | + "tank hunter" korrigieren! | |
| Pak | anti-tank gun/cannon | + (cf. Abbr.) [4] | |
| Panjepferd | Panje horse, Konik | the typical horse used by the local farmers | |
| Panjewagen | farmer's cart | the typical cart used by the local farmers | |
| Pionier... | combat engineer(ing) ... | ||
| Pritsche | cot | + ██alle Seiten prüfen: bunk ist nicht treffend ██ | |
R |
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| Reservelazarett | military reserve hospital | + | |
S |
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| Sani, Sanitäter | Medic | wrong: Paramedic ██alle Seiten ändern██ | |
| Spieß | Sergeant Major, First Sergeant | cf. Ranks | |
| Sprung! Auf, marsch-marsch! (a. „Sprung auf, marsch, marsch!“ etc.) | jump to it!, at the double! | + collinsdictionary.com | |
| Staffel (as a company sub-unit) | echelon | air force „Staffel“ remains squadron | |
| Stomarsch (Stabsoffizier für Marschüberwachung) | Field officer for traffic control | a unit for traffic control (not a military police unit) reinforced by Führerreserve personnel | |
| Störungsfeuer | harassing fire | + | |
T |
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| Teileinheitsführer | platoon ... leader | + | |
| Tross | train | + | |
U |
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| Urräää | Oorraaa(y) | ||
V |
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| vernichten | to annihilate | ██alle Seiten ändern██; to destroy ist zu schwach | |
| verschieben | to traffick | + to steal and sell illegally | |
| vor nichts zurückschrecken | shrink at nothing | + | |
W |
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| Wattejacke | telogreika[7] | + | |
| Weißt Du was, ... | You know something, ... | + | |
| Widerworte geben | talk back to sb. | + there are variants to this | |
Z |
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| z.b.V. | special purpose | + cf. Abbr. | |
| Zeltbahn | shelter half | ||
| Zwölfender | ? | cf. diary texts | |
Lautmalerei — OnomatopoeiaThe author often tried to convey an impression of battle sounds by using certain expressions based on their German pronounciation. The editor as a translator tried to paint the sound the German expressions convey, based on his understanding of English pronounciation, not translate them as terms even if standard translations are proposed. | |||
| Blupp | Bloupp | mortar firing sound | |
| Brruch | Brroukh or Smmash | Jason's proposal: Crrack. Sometimes "crash" is too high a pitch. Over and above this, the German "ach" sound[8] (shown as "kh") paints the ensuing spray of splinters, debris etc. after an explosion. | |
| Brum-zäng-zinnng | Broum-tsang-tsinnng | ||
| Rum-bruch-zäng | Roum-broukh-tsang | ||
| Rumm-rumm-wumm-bupp---bruuuchch. Brach-brumm | Roumm-roumm-voumm-boupp---brooookhkh. Brakh-broumm | ||
| Rums | Boom, boum | In one place "Rums" is translated to "Boom", which is not too bad; in German, "bums" is more of a harmless sounding children's expression. | |
| Sssiiu-Bruch | Ssseeou-brookh | ||
| Urräää | Oorraaa(y) | ||
| Ziu | Tseeou | ||
| more to be added | |||
| Pronunciation respelling key | |||
Glossary Of Abbreviations And Foreign TermsAppendix to Guide to Foreign Military Studies 1945-54, Catalog & Index[9] | |||
| a. D. (außer Dienst) | Retired (from service) | ||
| Armeeabteilung | A reinforced corps, under a corps commander with a corps staff | ||
| Armeegruppe | A weak improvised army under an army commander with an improvised army staff | ||
| Caserne | Barracks | ||
| Diplomingenieur | Graduate engineer | ||
| Divisionsgruppe | A weak improvised division with an improvised division staff | ||
| Feldkommandantur | Administrative Area Hq (Regt level) in occupied territory | ||
| FFI | French Forces af the Interior | ||
| Freiherr (Frhr.) | Baron (title of nobility) | ||
| Fregattenkapitän | Commander (Navy) | ||
| Gauleiter | Official in charge of a Nazi party administrative area (Gau) | ||
| Generaladmiral | Fleet Admiral | ||
| Generalarbeitsführer | Senior official of the Reich Labor Service (RAD) | ||
| Generalarzt | Brigadier General (Medical) | ||
| General der Artillerie | Lieutenant General (Artillery) | ||
| General der Fallschirmtruppen | Lieutenant General (Paratroops) | ||
| General der Flakartillerie | Lieutenant General (Antiaircraft Artillery) | ||
| General der Flieger | Lieutenant General (Air Force) | ||
| General der Gebirgstruppen | Lieutenant General (Mountain Troops) | ||
| General der Infanterie | Lieutenant General (Infantry) | ||
| General der Kavallerie | Lieutenant Generel (Cavalry) | ||
| General der Nachrichtentruppen | Lieutenant General (Signal) | ||
| General der Panzertruppen | Lieutenant General (Armor) | ||
| General der Pioniere | Lieutenant General (Engineers) | ||
| General der Waffen-SS | Lieutenant General (Schutz-Staffel) | ||
| Generalfeldmarschall | Field Marshal | ||
| Generalintendant | Civilian official (QMC) with equivalent rank of a Brigadier General | ||
| Generalleutnant | Major General | ||
| Generalmajor | Brigadier General | ||
| Generaloberst | Four star General | ||
| Generalstabsrichter | Major General (JAG) | ||
| Graf | Count (title of nobility) | ||
| Grenadier (Gren.) | Honorary designation of all infantry regiments after 1942 | ||
| Großadmiral | Fleet Admiral | ||
| Hauptmann | Captain (Army) | ||
| i. G. (im Generalstab) | GSC | ||
| Jäger | Light infantry | ||
| Kampfgruppe | Battle Group; a term loosely assigned to improvised combat units of various sizes, named usually after their commanders | ||
| Konteradmiral | Rear Admiral | ||
| Korpsgruppe | A weak improvised corps with an improvised corps staff | ||
| Korvettenkapitaen | Lieutenant Commander (Navy) | ||
| KTB (Kriegstagebuch) | Unit war diary | ||
| Lehr | prefix indicating a demonstration unit | ||
| Luftgau | Air Force administrative command; a territorial subdivision of the administrative and supply organization of the Luftwaffe | ||
| Lw | Luftwaffe | ||
| Luftwaffenfeld (LwFd) | (prefix) Field (infantry combat) units of tho Luftwaffe | ||
| Marine | (prefix) Naval | ||
| Ministerialrat | Ministerial Counselor (senior civil servant) | ||
| OB (Oberbefehlshaber) | Normally a Theater Headquarters; sometimes the Theater Commander | ||
| Oberleutnant | 1st Lieutenant | ||
| Oberst | Colonel | ||
| Oberstleutnant | Lieutenant Colonel | ||
| OKH (Oberkommando des Heeres) | Army High Command | ||
| OKL (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | Luftwaffe High Command | ||
| OKM (Oberkommando der Marine) | Navy High Command | ||
| OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) | Armed Forces (Joint) High Command | ||
| Panzer (Pz) | (prefix) Armored | ||
| Panzergrenadier (Pz Gren) | usuaily motorized, occasionally mechanized, infantry | ||
| Panzergruppe | armored fdrce, the size of an army but operating in conjunction with an army | ||
| RAD (Reichsarbeitsdienst) | Reich Labor Service; roughly equivalent to the CCC, but Nazi-dominated and continued active in wartime | ||
| Regierungsbaumeister | Civilian construction official with equivalent rank of u colonel | ||
| Ritter | Knight (title of nobility) | ||
| Rittmeister | Captain (Cavalry) | ||
| SS (Schutz-Staffei) | The Nazi Party Elite Corps; however, in military titles SS usually implies Waffen-SS (see explanation below) | ||
| SS-Gruppenführer | Major General (SS) | ||
| SS-Obergruppenführer | Lieutenant General (SS) | ||
| SS-Oberstgruppenführer | Full General (SS) | ||
| Vizeadmiral | Vice Admiral | ||
| Volks | (prefix) Unit organized or reorganized after the total mobilization late in 1944 | ||
| Volksgrenadier (VG) | A term first applied in autumn 1944 to reorganized infantry divisions with reduced T/O and increased ratio of automatic weapons | ||
| Volkssturm | People’s militia - somewhat resembles wartime State Guard in the US | ||
| Waffen-SS | Combat arm of the SS - in effect a partial duplication of the German Army | ||
| Wehrkreis | Military district; the basic military area of Germany, resembling somewhat the prewar U.S. Corps Area; had the additional functions of administering conscription and furnishing replacements to specific units (divisions and corps) whose home station is in the Wehrkreis | ||
| Wehrmacht | The Armed Forces | ||
| WFSt (Wehrmachtführungsstab) | Armed Forces Operations Staff (Operations Division of the Armed Forces High Command) | ||
| z. b. V. (zur besonderen Verwendung) | for special employment | ||
Further Information
Further help with terms and translation is available here:
- List of Abbreviations
- Link List – Dictionaries
- Link List – Rank Comparison
- German rank and unit designations
- Russische Begriffe — Russian terms
- ↑ Frederick Clemens
- ↑ 2,0 2,1 In modern Bundeswehr the term Adjutant denotes a function similar to the former Ordonnanzoffizier.
- ↑ Jack Gibbons
- ↑ 4,0 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 still unsure wether to always use the abbreviation and put the long form into the list of abbreviations only, or always right away use the long form
- ↑ 5,0 5,1 Facebook group prefers to leave this term untranslated
- ↑ A common but incomplete interpretation is that the term only refers to the Wehrmacht top brass reserve in the sense of “the Führer's reserve”; however, the diary itself mentions the Führerreserve of 257.Inf.Div. and that of Heeresgruppe Süd.
- ↑ a jacket padded with cotton wool
- ↑ pronounced like Scottish "loch", see Voiceless velar fricative, Voiceless uvular fricative and ach-Laut
- ↑
Historical Division, Headquarters, United States Army, Europe, 1954, p. 252 f. (Source: WW2 Digital Archives - download link)
Excerpt from the preface: Certain translation difficulties are reflected in this guide. German military terms do not always have exact American equivalents and cannot be expressed briefly in precise military language. Untranslated terms appearing in this guide are explained in the Glossary, page 252. This difficulty in arriving at standardized and generally accepted translation’s of German military terms has been a persistent problem in preparing the manuscripts; the researcher may even feel the need for an expansion and revision of U. S. military terminology. (p. iv)