Air Force (Cette
définition en français)
Used generically to
mean the military air resources of a nation. Also a very
large air formation made up of two or more groups, as in the
British 2nd Tactical Air Force that supported the Allied armies
that liberated north-west Europe in 1944-5. Canada contributed
some fifteen fighter squadrons under six Canadian 'wing'
headquarters that made up over a third of the combat strength
of the 2nd Tactical Air Force.
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Airborne (Cette
définition en français)
In the Second World War
airborne army forces were either parachutists or glider-landed
troops.
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Allies (Cette
définition en français)
The nations allied
againsts the Axis powers during the Second World War. Britain,
the Soviet Union, the United States, France, China, Canada and
Australia were the principal Allies.
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Army (Cette définition
en français)
Used generically to mean a nation's
land forces. Also a very large formation made up of two or
more army corps, as in 1st Canadian Army, which at its peak
strength in 1944-5 included about 160,000 personnel.
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Axis (Cette définition
en français)
The alliance of Germany and Italy
in 1936, later including Japan and the other nations which
opposed the Allies in the Second World War.
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Battalion (Cette
définition en français)
Basic combat unit of
the army. A Canadian infantry battalion included four rifle
companies and a support company, which was equipped with
heavier weapons; the total strength was approximately 850
personnel.
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Battery (Cette
définition en français)
A company-sized sub-unit
of artillery, whose major equipment was usually eight
artillery pieces. The most common artillery weapon was the
25-pounder, which fired an explosive eleven-kilogramme shell
to a range of about ten kilometres. Two or more batteries
made up an artillery regiment.
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BCATP (Cette définition
en français)
British Commonwealth Air Training
Plan
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Blitzkrieg or Blitz (Cette définition
en français)
A German expression, borrowed by the
English-speaking Allied nations, whose translation is
"Lightning War." The term characterized rapid thrusts by
tank and truck-carried infantry forces closely supported by
bomber and fighter aircraft that gained Hitler his early
victories. Shortened to "blitz" it came to mean the German
day and night bomber attacks against London in 1940 and after.
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Brigade (Cette
définition en français)
An army formation of two
or more battalions (or regiments in the case of armoured
brigades), of up to five thousand men. The Canadian Army had
both infantry and armoured (ie., tank) brigades.
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Commandos (Cette
définition en français)
Specially-trained
British and Canadian shock troops who were landed from the
sea on the enemy coast.
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Company (Cette
définition en français)
An army sub-unit.
Canadian Army infantry companies had about one hundred and
twenty soldiers.
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Corps (Cette définition
en français)
An army formation made up of two or
more divisions. Also the collective name for units of a
similar type, as in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps,
whose many units provided transport, catering and other basic
support services to the army.
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D-Day (Cette définition
en français)
The Allied landings on the beaches of
Normandy in France on 6 June 1944. Also, the code name for the secret date
for the launching of a military operation.
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Demobilization (Cette
définition en français)
To disband military
units, dispose of their equipment and return their personnel
to civilian life, most notably after the end of a war.
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Division (Cette
définition en français)
An army formation made
up of two or more brigades, usually fifteen thousand or more
men. The Canadian Army had both infantry and armoured
(ie, tank) divisions.
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Gestapo (Cette
définition en français)
The internal security
police of Nazi Germany.
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Group (Cette définition
en français)
A large air force formation usually
composed of four or more squadrons and the bases from which
they operated. The largest Canadian group was Number 6 (RCAF)
Group, of the British Bomber Command. By 1945 Number 6 (RCAF)
Group included fourteen squadrons that operated nearly
three-hundred heavy four-engine bombers from ten bases in
northern England.
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NRMA (Cette définition
en français)
National Resources
Mobilization Act. The Canadian legislation, passed by
Parliament in 1940, that enabled the government to call up
men for compulsory military service.
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RAF (Cette
définition en français)
Royal Air Force
(Great Britain)
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RCAF (Cette
définition en français)
Royal Canadian
Air Force
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RCN (Cette définition
en français)
Royal Canadian Navy
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Repatriation (Cette
définition en français)
Returning someone to
his or her country of origin, such as the return of Canadian
military personnel from Europe to Canada.
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SS (Cette définition
en français)
Schutzstaffel, a German expression
that literally means "defence echelon." It was the military
wing of the Nazi party, which served as Hitler's personal
bodyguard and provided guards for concentration camps. The SS
also raised élite combat formations for the field armies.
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Squadron (Cette
définition en français)
The basic unit of the
air force, usually of ten to eighteen aircraft.
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Theatre (Cette
définition en français)
A large geographic area
in which military operations were coordinated, eg. - the North
American theatre
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Tickertape (Cette
définition en français)
The long paper strip
produced by a telegraph machine. This material was customarily
thrown from windows to greet celebrities.
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U-Boat (Cette
définition en français)
Short for Unterseeboot,
a German submarine.
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Luftwaffe (Cette définition
en français)
German Air Force
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VE Day (Cette définition
en français)
Victory in Europe Day,
celebrated on 8 May 1945, which marked the capitulation of
Germany to the Allied powers.
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Vichy (Cette
définition en français)
A city in central
France, the capital of unoccupied France, 1940-1942, and, by
extension, the political regime led by Marshal Pétain,
which ruled France from Vichy after the French defeat in 1940.
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Wing (Cette définition
en français)
An air force formation made up of
two or more squadrons.
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