General Terms

E

Erkundungsergebnisse: literally “reconnaissance results,” usually used as an
intelligence summary of enemy dispositions and intentions

Ersatz Reserve (supplementary reserve): term applied to military service for
Prussian males fit for active service but excused for family or economic reasons, or
because of minor physical disabilities; during the war this category supplied many
replacements to frontline units, and the designation “Ersatz” also denoted a number
of field units (up to divisions in strength) formed from this category.

Etappen-Inspektion “Area of Communications” (or “Lines of Communication”):
Inspectorate, designation for the rear-area command attached to every numbered or
named army, responsible for the smooth flow of supplies and men to the front, the
evacuation of wounded and furloughed personnel, and civil administration.

F

Fahndungen: “in pursuit of,” term used to identify military personnel considered
“absent without leave” and subject to military discipline.

Feldartillerie: (field artillery): term used to denote artillery organic to infantry and
cavalry formations, generally of lighter calibers (see also Fussartillerie).
 

Feldlazarette (Field Hospital): these were about 15 km behind the Front; surgical procedures were performed at these hospitals, and they had stationary patient care. They were designed to treat 200 patients. At the beginning of the war each corps had 12 feldlazarette, and later on the number was reduced to six. As they were part of the mobile warfare, they often used existing infrastructure.

Feldstärke (field strength): term applied in 1918 as a category for reckoning the
combat strength of field units, no longer in use by World War II.

Feuerwalze: rolling (artillery) barrage.

F.K. Feldkanone: field gun (artillery).

Flügelmine: This was a type of trench mortar bomb with fins (or “vanes”). It was fired from a Flügelminenwerfer.

Fussartillerie (foot artillery): artillery intended for attachment to a corps- or army-
level headquarters, generally of a heavier caliber and with a greater concentration of
howitzers than for field artillery.

G

Garde: Guard formations, elite units in the Prussian Army originally charged with
the protection of the King, and a designation applied to specific divisions and corps
during World War I.

Gardist: Term used for soldiers that are Guards Men of the Garde Corps, 'the finest soldiers of christiandom' according to the media of the time.

Gelbkreuz: (Yellow Cross): codename derived from the symbol used on gas
artillery shells to indicate dichlorethylsulphide (“mustard gas”), and later for the use
of ethyldichloroarsine (“Yellow Cross I,” later redesignated “Green Cross III”) (see
also Blaukreuz and Grünkreuz).

Gefechtstand: Command Post.

Generalintendant des Feldheeres: the General Staff position for overseeing
administrative and supply services in the field army.

Generalkommando(General Command): designation used for the headquarters
of a corps, and which over the course of World War I assumed greater significance
with the erosion of the traditional corps structure

Generalquartiermeister (Quartermaster General (officially “First Quartermaster-
General”)): the title of the position created for General Erich Ludendorff, who served
as Deputy to Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg as Chief of the General Staff after
August 1916.

Gouvernement: term applied to German military government in an occupied area
(e.g., the General-Gouvernement in Belgien, literally “Government-General in
Belgium”).
 

Grabenscheißer: Another slang term for German Soldiers which means 'Trench shitter'.

Grabenstärke (trench strength): a category for measuring the strength of frontline
units in terms of combat soldiers present for duty in companies and platoons
(excluding headquarters staff, runners, cooks, etc.).

Grenadiers: originally armed with the forerunner of today's hand grenade , and an elite of the line infantry . Since the troop designation "grenadiers" was only used for elite troops with selected personnel replacements, there were only a few regiments in the armies of the German Empire (1871-1918) that had this in their name.

Großes Hauptquartier (Great Headquarters): collective term for the Kaiser and his
senior commanders and chiefs-of-staff, situated at different locations during the war
(e.g., at Bad Kreuznach, September 1917–March 1918, and at Spa, Belgium,
March–November 1918).

Gruppenführer: Squad Leader.

Grünkreuz (Green Cross): codename derived from the symbol used on gas artillery
shells to indicate diphosgene, and later for other phosgene variants (see also
Blaukreuz and Gelbkreuz).

H

Heeresberichte: Army Communiqués, generally issued on a daily basis.

Heeresgruppe: a group of army-level commands combined under a single
operational headquarters.

I

Instandsetzungswerkstätte: designation as of March 1917 for specialized repair
workshops for the frontline repair and restoration of weapons and equipment.

Intendant (or Militär-Intendant): Intendant, usually a civilian official appointed to
temporary military rank as a staff officer responsible for administrative, supply,
and/or financial matters.

J

Jäger: Light infantrymen whose civilian occupations (mostly hunters and foresters) made them well-suited to patrolling and skirmishing.

Jahrgang: for periodical issuances, the year of issue, generally used to denote one
numbered volume.