S - Glossary of the First World War

S - Glossary of the First World War SAA: Small Arms Ammunition. Sablatnig SF-Types: Series of German reconnaissance floatplanes.Sac terre : Sandbag.St. Étienne Gun: French machine gun used when production of the standard Hotchkiss gun couldn’t meet demand. Originally used a thirty round magazine; withdrawn in 1916.Salient: Any ‘bulge’ or projection out from a battle line.Sallies / Salvoes: Salvation Army Officers; ran relief operations behind the lines.Salmson 2: French armed reconnaissance biplane used in 1918.SAML: Italian reconnaissance biplane.S ammunition: Spitz-Munition, the normal German bullet.Sammy: French slang for Americans.Sandbag: Bags filled with earth or sand and used in the construction of defences.San fairy ann: British expression of fatalism.Sangar: Wall to defend against small arms fire.Sap / Sapping: In trench warfare, the practice of digging small ‘sap’ trenches at roughly ninety degrees out from existing lines and then digging a new trench line at the front of the saps. A slow, but relat ively safe, way of moving forward.Sapper: Royal Engineer. Sarg: Slang for the Hansa-Brandenburg D1 airplane.Sausage: Captive barrage balloons.Sausage Hill: ‘To go to Sausage Hill’ was to be captured by Germans.SB: Stretcher Bearer.Scharnhorst: Class of German armoured cruiser.‘Schlanke Emma’: Skinny Emma, a 305mm howitzer built by Austria-Hungary and famously (and very effectively) used by Germany in 1914.Schusta: Schutzstaffeln (below).Schutzstaffeln: German unit protecting reconnaissance aircraft.Schà ¼tzen: German Rifle Corps.Schà ¼tzengrabenvernichtungaautomobil: Tank.Schà ¼tte-Lanz: A type of German airship.Schwarze Marie: German slang for a heavy naval gun.Schwarzlose: The standard machine gun of the Austro-Hungarian army; fired 8mm bullets.Scran: 1. Food, 2. Rubbish.SD: Sanitts-Departement, Medical Department of the German War Ministry.SE-5: British fighter biplane used after 1917.Sea Scouts: British observation airships.Seaplane Carriers: Ships which carried seaplanes; these could sometimes take off from the deck of the carrier, but couldn’t land; instead they used floats to land in the sea and where winched back on. Selective Service Act: Law requiring all US males between 21-30, later 18-45, to register for possible conscription.Sepoy: Indian private of infantry.Shashqa: Cossack Sabre.Shell dressing: A dressing larger than the field dressing.Shell Shock: Psychological damage/trauma caused by exposure to warfare.Shinel: Russian Greatcoat.Short 184: British floatplane torpedo bomber.Short 320: British floatplane torpedo bomber.Short 827: British reconnaissance floatplane.Shrapnel: Officially balls carried by certain artillery shells to cause maximum damage to infantry, but often used to describe all shards/damage causing pieces from artillery shells.SIA: Societ Italiana Aviazione, Italian manufacturer of aircraft.SIA-9B: Italian reconnaissance biplane of 1918.Siemens-Schuckert D-I: German fighter plane, a copy of the Nieuport 17.Siemens-Schuckert D-IV: German fighter plane of 1918.Siemens-Schuckert R-Type: Large German bombing plane.Sigarneo: Okay.Signalese: The phonetic alphabet.Sikorski IM: Rus sia heavy bomber. Silent Percy: Slang for a gun firing at such range it couldn’t be heard.Silent Susan: High velocity shells.Silladar: System where Indian cavalryman owned their own horse.Sister Susie: Women doing army work.SIW: Self Inflicted Wound.Skilly: Very watery stew.Skite: ANZAC slang for a boaster.Slack / Spoil: Debris caused by an explosion.SM: Company Sergeant Major.Smasher: Felt slouch hat.SmK: German armour piercing ammo.SMLE: Short Magazine Lee-Enfield.Snob: A soldier who repaired boots.Soldier’s Friend: Type of boot polish.Sopwoth Baby: British floatplane.Sopwith Camel: British fighter biplane used from July 1917 to the war’s end.Sopwith 5F-1 Dolphin: British fighter/ground attack biplane.Sopwith ‘Pup’ / Scout: Officially called the Sopwith Scout or Type 9901, the Pup was a single seat fighter.Sopwith TF-2 Salamander: British ground attack biplane.Sopwith Schneider: British floatplane.Sopwith 7F-1 Snipe: British fighter biplane.Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter: B ritish fighter biplane used by many of the Allies. Sopwith Tabloid: British scout and light bombing plane.Sopwith Triplane: British fighter plane with three wings.SOS: 1. The firing of colour coded rocket from the front line to call down supporting fire. 2. Service of Supply.Sotnia: Russian cavalry squad.Sotnik: Cossack lieutenant.Souvenir: To steal.South Carolina: American class of battleships.Sowar: Indian cavalry soldier.SP: Section de parc, French mechanical transport.SPAD: French manufacturer of aircraft originally called Socià ©tà © Provisoire des Aà «roplanes Deperdussin, but replaced in 1914 by Socià ©tà © pour l’Aviation et ses Dà ©rivà ©s.Spad A-2: French armed reconnaissance biplane, used mainly on the Eastern front.Spad S-VII: French fighter biplane.Spad S-XIII: French fighter biplane used by most allies after summer 1917.Spad S-XVII: French fighter released in 1918.‘Spandau’ Gun: Allied name for the German 7.92mm Maschinengewehr, derived from a confusion of official names (the Allies thought th e gun was called a Spandau, not produced by them). ‘Spider’s Web’: A system of floatplane patrols targeting submarines in the North Sea after May 1917.Splash: Either bullet fragments which pass through a tanks observation slits or splinters of metal knocked off the outside of a tank by bullet impacts.Springfield: Standard rifle of the US army.Spud: 1. Potatoes 2. Anyone called Murphy 3. Iron devices attached to tank tracks to improve grip. Squaddy: Soldier. SR: Scottish Rifles, the Cameronians. SRD: ‘Service Rum, Dilute’, label on rum jars. SS: Section sanitaire, French field ambulance. Stabsoffizier: German field officer. Stand down: The end of a stand-to (see below). Standschà ¼tzen: The reserve mountain troops of Tirolea. Stand To: Manning trenches to repel at attack, always done at least as dawn and dusk. Starshina: Lieutenant-Colonel of the Cossacks. Starski unteroffizier: Russian sergeant. Stavka: The central command of the Russian army. Stellenbosch: Being relieved of command and sent home. Stick-bomb: Hand grenade with a handle. Stinker: Winter goatskin jerkin. Stinks: Soldiers handling gas. Stomag: Stabsoffizier der Maschinengewehre, German staff officer of machine gun units. Stosstruppen: Storm troops. Stoverm: Stabsoffizier der Vermessungswesens, German staff officer of surveying. Strafe: 1. A bombardment/clump of fire. 2. To be told off. Straight: Truth. Stranbaus Horn: Gas alarm. Stunt: 1. An attack. 2. Something clever. Sturmpanzerkraftwagen: Tank. Sturmtruppen: Storm troops. Subedar: Indian lieutenant of infantry. Submarine: British nickname for the bloater fish. Suicide club: A bombing party. SVA: Savoia-Verduzio-Ansaldo, Italian manufacturer of aircraft. Swaddy: Private soldier. Swagger-stick: Cane carried by off duty soldiers. Systà ¨me D: French slang for confusion. : French slang for confusion.