Glossary of Terms
Airborne Radar: equipment mounted on an aircraft used for many purposes such as navigation, targeting and tracking.
Allies: The countries that fought against the Germany and the Axis countries during the Second World War.
ASV: Air-to-Surface-Vessel radar, a type of airborne radar used to detect ships at sea.
BCATP: The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was a military alliance between the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. As part of the alliance, air personnel, including air bombers and engineers were trained at bases internationally.
Battle of the Atlantic: The fight for the control for the Atlantic Ocean from 1939 to 1945 fought between Allied nations and Germany.
Billeting: Temporary lodging of a military member in a civilian house or other facility.
Catalina: The Consolidated PBY Catalina was a common seaplane during WWII. It was used by the RAF, RCAF, US Navy, and the United States Army Air Force. Also known as a “flying boat”.
CH: Chain Home; a series of radar stations along the coast of England used as a defensive tool to detect German bombers
CHL: Chain Home Low; a low-altitude radar system to detect enemy aircraft flying too low to be detected by Chain Home radar.
Corpus Christi: The location of a large American radar training school in Texas.
CSAD: Committee for the Scientific Study of Air Defense; a group formed in 1935 with the help of Dr. Watson-Watt to study defense systems using radio wave technology.
CWAAF: Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, an all female division of the Royal Canadian Air Force, these women worked as radar monitors, clerks, telephone operations and more. The group was established by the RCAF in 1941 and over 15,000 women served in it.
D-Day: Allied invasion of Nazi occupied France on June 6th 1944.
Desert Air Force: Allied tactical air force located in Northern Africa to support the British Eighth Army. It consisted of members of the RAF, South African Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and United States Air Force.
Dutch Resistance: Members of the Dutch public who resisted Nazi occupation of the Netherlands through a number of ways including sabotage and counterintelligence.
Eighth Army: British field army fighting in North Africa and Italy made up of units form England, Canada and other Commonwealth nations, Poland and Greece.
Flying Officer: Junior Commissioned Officer in the RAF
French Resistance: Collective name for variety of French groups and movements who fought against the German occupation of France, and the Vichy government during the Second World War.
GCI: Ground Control Interception; a type of defensive radar developed after Chain Home. It rotated on a vertical axis allowing for a 360° view.
GEE: A navigation system used by the RAF during the second world war that used the time delay between two radio signals to locate a target. First used in 1942.
Gestapo: Abbreviated name of the Geheime Staatspolizei, the secret police of Nazi Germany.
Ground-Controlled Approach (GCA): an early radar manoeuvre commanded by controller to establish a positive identity on radar.
HF/DF: High Frequency Detection Finding (nicknamed “Huff-Duff”), high frequency form of radar used to detect and intercept enemy radio communications.
IFF: Identification Friend or Foe, a system using specific radio frequencies to determine if an aircraft was friendly or hostile.
Invalided: Returned home due to illness or injury.
LAC: Leading Aircraftman, an RAF ranking below Corporal.
Legionnaires: Members of the French Foreign Legion
Liverpool Blitz: The periodic heavy bombing of the British city of Liverpool by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War from August 1940 to January 1942.
Lizard Point: Southernmost point of England
London Association for War Research (LAWR): A group of individuals in the London, Ontario region who raised money to fund research on war related technologies.
Max Planck: Famed German physicist of the late 19th century, namesake of Planck’s Constant.
NRC: Established during the First World War, The National Research Council was created to provide the Canadian government with advice on scientific matters.
Navy WRENs: Women’s Royal Navy Service, The Women’s branch of the British Navy.
Nissen Huts: Prefabricated shelter for military use, usually made of corrugated steel. Also known as Quonset huts.
NCO: Non-Commissioned Officer
Operational Training Unit: Units that prepared military members for work in various jobs on different types of aircraft and equipment.
Pilot Officer: The lowest commissioned rank in the RAF
POW: Prisoner of War; an individual who has been captured and imprisoned by the enemy during a time of war.
Queen Charlotte Islands: also known as Haida Gwai; island chain off the coast of British Columbia, Canada
Radar: Radio Detection And Ranging,
RAF: British Royal Air Force
RCAF: Royal Canadian Air Force; flying branch of the Canadian military
RCN: Royal Canadian Navy; nautical branch of the Canadian military
RDF: Radio Direction Finding; initial British term for radar
Scran: Royal Navy slang and (now) regionalism for “grub” from Northern England, Scotland, and Wales. Designated porridge-like food rations generally understood to be of lesser quality; the name derives from scran’s principal ingredients: Sultanas, Currants, Raisins And Nuts — a mixture designed to provide a degree of nutrition to the scurvy-ridden crew.
Sonobuoy: A buoy equipped with a sonar system and transmitter; used to find submarines underwater, and for scientific research.
Square Bashing: Basic training
U-Boats: English term for German submarines–Unterseeboot (literally, undersea boat)
WAAF: Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
West Coast Radar: A chain of 11 radar stations along the coast of British Columbia, Canada; built as an early warning system against potential Japanese attack.