Page:Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1914.djvu/26

xiv MILITARY HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR O.II.L. for German Oherste Heeresleitung (German Supreme Command). N .B. — "G.H.Q." in German means Grosses Haupt-Quartier, that is the Kaiser's Headquarters, pohtical, mihtary and naval, as distinguished from O.H.L.

Officers are described by the rank which they held at the period under consideration.

The accents in French and Belgian place names well known to British troops have been omitted. The meaning of Reserve, Ersatz, Landwehr as applied to German formations is explained on pp. 21, 22. Of other German terms used, Jäger and Schützen both signify riflemen formed in special battalions ; Abteilung means a group of three batteries of artillery ; a German artillery brigade consists of two regiments each of two or three Abteilungen.1

Pioniere : are the German field Engineers ; the word cannot well be translated by " Engineers " or " Pioneers," as the men in the Pioniere units, although they have a thorough training in field engineering, are not tradesmen of the class found in R.E. Companies, and are only employed on field duties : besides, in Germany there was an " In- genieur Korps," which had duties in the construction and maintenance of fortresses.

Time in German narratives and orders, which in the period dealt with was one hour earlier than British, has been corrected to our standard, unless it is specified " German time."

1 Abteilung also means a mounted machine-gun battery with cavalry, as opposed to the M.G. Kompagnie, which forms part of an infantry regiment or Jäger battalion.