World War Two Jargon Buster
2ic
Second in Command
AA
Anti-aircraft. Sometimes called ack-ack.
AES
Admiralty Experimental Station – outposts of the Admiralty Research Laboratory where the navy carried out research into new technology.
ARP
Air Raid Precautions
ASDIC
Anti-Submarine Detection – It was a British version of sonar to detect submarines underwater.
AWOL
Absent Without Leave
CA
Coast Artillery
ATS
Auxiliary Territorial Service. Formed in September 1938, women were barred from combat duties but as the war progressed became part of AA Gun Battery crews operating radar and cinetheodolites.
BEF
British Expeditionary Force – the British army sent to France and Belgium in 1939 and evacuated in 1940 in Operation Dynamo from Dunkirk and Operations Ariel and Cycle from the ports of Normandy and Brittany.
CASL
Coast Artillery Search Light
CH
Chain Home Radar Station
CHL
Chain Home Low Radar Station
CiC
Commander in Chief
CO
Commanding Officer
DCLI
The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry – Cornwall’s county regiment with its depot at the Victoria Barracks in Bodmin.
GOR
Gun Operations Room
GPO
General Post Office
HMS
His Majesty’s Ship
HRO
A shortwave wireless receiver manufactured by the National Radio Company of Massachusetts, USA. Its workers claimed HRO stood for Helluva Rush Order.
IO
Intelligence Officer
MI5
Military Intelligence Section 5 – responsible for security within the UK. Sometimes referred to as SS – Security Service.
MI6
Military Intelligence Section 6 – responsible for intelligence gathering abroad. Sometimes referred to as SIS – Secret Intelligence Service.
POW
Prisoner of War
RAF
Royal Air Force
RSS
Radio Security Service – originally set up to monitor illegal wireless traffic within the UK. Was then used to eavesdrop on German signals.
WAAF
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force – established in June 1939, the women performed a wide range of duties except for aircrew.
WLA
Women’s Land Army – Reformed in June 1939 after being disbanded at the end of World War One, the Land Girls worked on farms to release men for the fighting forces.
WRNS
Women’s Royal Naval Service. Sometimes called Wrens. Revived in 1939 having been disbanded in 1919, the women performed a wide range of shore-based activities.
Z Battery
A short-range rocket launcher that was used as an anti-aircraft weapon.
World War Two Money
Farthing
¼ penny, a bronze coin.
Halfpenny
½ penny, a bronze coin.
Penny
Written as 1d, a bronze coin.
Sixpence
6d, a small silver coin.
Threepence
3d, a small silver coin until 1945, or a nickel-brass 12 sided coin introduced in 1937.
Shilling
1/s There were 12 pennies in a shilling, a small silver coin.
Florin
2/s, a large silver coin.
Half crown
2/s6d, a large silver coin
Crown
5/s, a large silver coin. This was nicknamed the dollar by US troops as that was its worth in the exchange rate in the 1940s.
Ten Shillings
10/s, this was a paper note.
Pound
£1. There were 20 shillings in a pound which was a paper note.
Five Pounds
£5. This was a white paper note.
Notes then went in various denominations up to £1000 such as £5, £10, £20, £50, £100, £500.