RFA Abbreviations, help with decodes please!

[markyB]

Hi all,

Whilst I'm in the military and used to TLAs, these ones are new to me. I've taken an educated guess at a few, but would like expert confirmation or correction if poossible!

DAG, GHQ (eg: DAG, GHQ 3rd Echelon...) DAG relates to some sort of administrative tasks, GHQ; Group HQ?

FOO (eg red and green lights reported at our front line by FOO at signal stn); Forward Observation Officer?

OPS (eg visited OPS in X1d- A/240, A/242 these being Batteries of Brigades in 48 Divn)

GOC; someone of high importance; General Officer Commanding?

PS, SK, PB, HE; relates to types of artillery round, ie HE= High Explosive. No idea about the rest

I appreciate you help, folks. It's frustrating reading these abbreviations again and again and not being sure what they mean!!

Yours in hope, MarkyB

[Rockdoc]

DAG, GHQ (eg: DAG, GHQ 3rd Echelon...) DAG relates to some sort of administrative tasks, GHQ; Group HQ?

OPS (eg visited OPS in X1d- A/240, A/242 these being Batteries of Brigades in 48 Divn)

It's Deputy Adjutant General. You also find DAAG, which is the Deputy Assistant AG.

The Brigades would set up operational HQs when they were going into a battle situation. I suspect this is what's meant by this but I'm not sure.

GHQ and GOC are correct.

PS, SK, PB, HE; relates to types of artillery round, ie HE= High Explosive. No idea about the rest

The AA Diaries I have record Shrapnel as a capital S so the other three might be types of gas shell.

Keith

[Bardess]

Does Wiki come to the rescue? [Haven't had time to digest it all - going to work now]

[pjjobson]

GHQ I would suggest is in fact General Headquarters, although within a Heavy Artillery Group it may have been used for Group HQ, although it isn't one I have come across.

FOO is indeed Forward Observation Officer

I would suggest OPS in tyhis context is Observation Post. Normally given as OP but obviously plural in this sentence.

PS - Chloropicrin, A WW1 British gas shell filling, also known as Red Star, the name was derived from Port Sunlight, where Lever Brothers first investigated it in there laboratory located there.

SK - A WW1 British gas shell filling consisting of Ethyl Iodoacetate. The name being derived from South Kensington, where it was developed at the Imperial College of Science.

Only reference I can find to PB is Polybutadiene and I beleive that usage is post WW1.

All the above is from the book Royal Artillery Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations.

Phil

[pjjobson]

Just had a thought, could PB be in fact BB as this abbreviation was used for Mustard Gas. The abbreviation is derived from the chemical name “beta,beta-Dichloroethylsulphide”

Just a thought, but it wouldn't be the first time handwriting (or indeed typing) had been misread. I've done it myself.

Phil

[ianjonesncl]

DAG, GHQ (eg: DAG, GHQ 3rd Echelon...) DAG relates to some sort of administrative tasks, GHQ; Group HQ?

Deputy Adjutant General, General Headquarters 3rd Echelon

The DAG was responsible for personnel, discipline and manning. What would be now termed as G1

OPS (eg visited OPS in X1d- A/240, A/242 these being Batteries of Brigades in 48 Divn)

I would read this as visiting the Observation Posts at map reference X1d belonging to A Battery 240th Brigade and A Battery 242 Brigade

[Ron Clifton]

Deputy Adjutant General, General Headquarters 3rd Echelon

The DAG was responsible for personnel, discipline and manning. What would be now termed as G1

This officer was in charge of the record-keeping, especially casualties and other administrative metters, at the base at Rouen. There was another DAG who assisted the AG at General Headquarters 1st Echelon, i.e. with Haig.

In August 1914 the DAG at GHQ 3rd echelon was Major-General E R C Graham. He was still doing this in Nov 1918, still as a major-general but he picked up a knighthood on the way.

Ron

[markyB]

Gents (and Lady),

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it

Mark