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'C' is the codename for the head of the British secret service, MI6.
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Originally a cadet was a gentleman who carried arms in a regiment, as a volunteer, with a view of acquiring military skill and obtaining a commission. Now, the term describes a young person in training for military or naval service.
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In the Second World War, the Caesar Line was the last German line of defence in Italy before Rome, extending from the west coast near Ostia, over the Alban Hills south of Rome, via Valmontone to Avezzano - about half-way across the country. When it was breached by the US 5th Army on the 30th of May 1944 the road to Rome was finally opened.
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A caisson is a chest used to hold ammunition. The term became applied to a four-wheeled carriage for conveying ammunition, consisting of two parts, a body and a limber around the beginning of the 20th century. The name caisson was applied to a form of early landmine consisting of a chest filled with explosive materials, to be laid in the way of an enemy and exploded on his approach.
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Calibre is the nominal diameter of a projectile of a rifled firearm or the diameter between lands in a rifled barrel. In the USA it is usually expressed in hundreds of an inch; in Great Britain in thousandths; in Europe and elsewhere in millimetres.
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Caltrops (also known as caltrap, galtrap or chevaltrap) were small iron balls with projecting spikes used in medieval warfare. The ground over which an enemy was expected to advance was thickly strewn with caltrops with the effect that advancing horses or bare-footed infantry were quickly disabled by the spikes penetrating their feet. Caltrops were also used by the colonists of New England who placed them around their villages as a precaution against Indian attack.
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The Cameronians or Cameronian Regiment were a British army unit raised in 1668 among the Covenanters by Richard Cameron to support William III. In 1826 the regiment was renamed the 26th Regiment of Foot. In 1881 they were joined by the 90th Light Infantry are renamed the Scottish Rifles.
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The Camillus Boot Knife is an American boot knife available in two blade lengths: 3 1/8 inch and 4.5 inch. The blade is a symmetrical, convex, dagger shape, double edged, spear-pointed and made of stainless steel with a parkerized matt finish.
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The Camillus Pilot Survival Knife is an American knife carried by USAF aircrew for survival use. The Camillus Pilot Survival Knife is based on the Marine Combat fighting knife (Kabar) but is smaller and lighter for easier carrying. The blade is a 5 1/8 inch long Bowie type with a saw back, made of carbon steel protected with a black phosphate finish. The blade edge is bevel-ground with a false clip edge.
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A camisade was a shirt worn by soldiers over their uniform, in order to be able to recognize one another in a night attack.
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A camonflet was a type of booby-trap consisting of a small mine, sometimes formed in the wall or side of an enemy's gallery, to blow in the earth and cut off the retreat of the miners.
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Camp X was a secret British SOE base for training then neutral America in the art of sabotage and terrorism during the Second World War. The base was established in Canada on the shore of Lake Ontario, without the knowledge of the Canadian government. From Camp X developed the American CIA.
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A campaign is a connected series of military operations forming a distinct stage in a war, being the series of operations of an army during the time it keeps the field in one season or accomplishes a determinate object. Formerly campaigns lasted only during the warmer months, and were terminated by the troops retiring into winter quarters.
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A cannelure is a groove machined or pressed around the body of a bullet to allow the neck of a cartridge case to grip the bullet.
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Cantonments were the places in which troops were quartered when they were detached and distributed over a number of towns and villages, with facilities for concentration. In India the permanent military stations erected in the neighbourhood of the principal cities were so called.
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CAP is an abbreviation for Chlor-aceto-phenone, a tear gas used during the Second World War. It had a smell faintly of floor polish. It caused pain in the eyes, a copious flow of tears, spasms of the eyelids and irritation of shaved skin.
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In fortifications, a capital is an imaginary line dividing a bastion, ravelin, or other work, into two equal parts.
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In fortifications a caponiere is a work made across or in a ditch, to protect it from the enemy, or to serve as a covered passageway. When there is a parapet on one side only it is called a demi-caponiere.
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Carabiniers was once the name for all British regiments of light horse. In France the name was given to soldiers armed with carbines and formed into special cavalry companies. The name was abolished in France in 1870.
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Carbo-Dynamite is a powerful explosive of the nitro-glycerine class, invented by Reid and Borland in 1888.
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A carcass was an iron case, with several apertures, filled with combustible materials, which was fired from a mortar or howitzer and intended to set fire to defences or ships, an early form of incendiary round.
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Carpet was the codename for a British air-borne radio jamming device intended to interfere with enemy ground radar installations operating on the 300 Mhz to 600 Mhz band. Carpet was used by the RAF during the Second World War.
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A carroccio was a large chariot or van on which, in the middle ages, the banner of an Italian town was carried into battle. It was painted red and had a red pole in the middle with a golden apple at the top into which the flag was fixed.
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Carry arms is a command of the Manual of Arms directing the soldier to hold his piece in the right hand, the barrel resting against the hollow of the shoulder in a nearly perpendicular position. In this position the soldier is said to stand, and the rifle (or formerly musket) to be held, at carry.
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A cartel is an agreement between belligerents for the exchange of prisoners.
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A cartouch was formerly a roll or case of paper, etc., holding a charge for a firearm, an early form of cartridge.
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Cartridge is a term applied to compact ammunition consisting of two main portions; the case and the projectile.
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In firearms, a cartridge case is the part of the cartridge containing the propellant. They are made of brass or steel, and the base of the cartridge case contains the primer for igniting the propellant. The base of the cartridge case has some form of groove or lip for allowing the gun's extractor to hook on to.
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A cartridge trap is a form of anti-personnel booby trap consisting of a live cartridge mounted vertically in a close-fitting tube with a stout pin beneath it's percussion cap and the top protruding through the ground or floor. The pressure of a hurried step onto the cartridge forces the percussion cap against the pin resulting in the cartridge discharging into the victim.
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Case-shot was an early form of shrapnel shell. Small iron balls were put into a cylindrical box (called a canister) that just fits the bore of the gun. The shell was then fired like any other projectile.
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In firearms, caseless refers to ammunition with a solid mass of propellant attached directly to the bullet, rather than being contained in a cartridge case.
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A casemate is a vaulted chamber within a fortress wall with embrasures for defence, and more recently it describes the armoured enclosure in which warship guns are mounted with embrasures through which they fire.
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The Catalan Grand Company was a troop of soldiers raised by Roger di Flor around 1303. They numbered 8000 men of different nationalities and fought with Emperor Andronicus II against the Turks. They fought well and did good service, but their habits of plunder and rapine made them as formidable to their friends as their foes. The company was broken up in 1315, some twelve years after its formation.
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The catamaran was an experimental British torpedo created in 1804 in an attempt to destroy the French shipping at Boulogne. It consisted of a lead- lined wooden chest, having a flat top and bottom and wedge-shaped ends. It contained barrels of gunpowder and clockwork machinery, and was so weighted s to float with its surface flush with that of the water. It had to be towed to its destination.
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Cataphract was defensive armour used for the whole body and often for the horse, also. The name was especially applied to the linked mail or scale armour of some eastern nations. Later, the name was applied to an armoured knight.
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A cateran was a Highland irregular soldier or raider.
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A catrail is an earthwork with double ramparts and forts. They are still to be found in parts of Scotland and are believed to pre-date the Roman invasion.
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In fortifications, a cavalier is an elevation of earth of different shapes, situated ordinarily in the gorge of a bastion, bordered with a parapet, and cut into more or less embrasures, according to the capacity of the cavalier.
Cavaliers are a double defence for the faces of the opposite bastion: they defend the ditch, break the besiegers galleries, command the traverses in dry moats, scour the salient angle of the counterscarp where the besiegers have their counter-batteries, and interfere with the enemies trenches. Cavaliers are likewise very useful in defending the breach, and the retrenchments of the besieged.
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A cavin is a hollow way, adapted to cover troops, and facilitate their approach to a place.
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The Cardoen CB 250-K is a Chilean medium-weight, highly effective air launched cluster bomb comprising 240 740 gram bomblets.
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The Cardoen CB 500-K is a Chilean heavy-weight highly effective air launched cluster bomb comprising 240 740 gram bomblets.
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The Cardoen CB 60-K is a Chilean small, but highly effective air launched cluster bomb comprising 50 740 gram bomblets.
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Centesimation is a military punishment involving the infliction of the death penalty upon one person in every hundred. It was sometimes used in cases of mutiny.
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Centre-fire refers to a cartridge with its primer located in the centre of the base of the case.
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A centuria was a subdivision of a Roman Legion, consisting of 100 men under the command of a Centurion.
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In the Roman army, a Centurion was the commander of a subdivision of a Roman Legion, which consisted of 100 men, and was called a centuria.
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A cessation of arms is an armistice, or truce, agreed to by the commanders of armies, to give time for a capitulation, or for other purposes.
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The cestus was a leather thong bound around the hand. It was covered with knots, and often loaded with lead and iron. The Roman origin of the modern-day knuckle duster.
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Chain-mail is a kind of armour made of interlaced rings or links.
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A chamade is a signal made for a parley by the beat of a drum.
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In firearms, the chamber is the enlarged rear part of the barrel that is formed to accept the cartridge to be fired. A revolver employs a multi-chambered rotating cylinder separated from the stationary barrel.
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A chandelier was a former movable parapet, used to support fascines to cover pioneers.
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In military tactics, a charge is a rapid advance of infantry or cavalry against the enemy, with the object of breaking his lines by the momentum of the attack. At the end of the 19th century, British infantry generally advanced to about 100 yards and then fired, before then gradually quickening their pace in to the charge-step, and dashing at the enemy's lines. The infantry charge went out of fashion following the massacres suffered at the hands of automatic weapons during the Great War.
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In firearms, a charger is a metal frame holding a number of small arms cartridges, typically five. On loading the gun, the cartridges are swept out of the charger by the operator's hand and the empty charger is discarded. Chargers were formerly used for loading bolt-action rifles, but have been replaced by the use of filled magazines.
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Chasseurs was a name given to various sections of light infantry and cavalry in the French service, trained for rapid movements.
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Chausses were originally thickly-padded trousers, but the term later was applied to chain-mail covering the legs and feet.
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The Cheka was the first Soviet security and intelligence agency. It was formed on the 20th of December 1917, six weeks after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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A chemical weapon is a weapon which relies upon the release of a toxic or noxious substance. Typical chemical weapons include gasses.
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The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment was raised in 1689 on the Roodee, Chester for service under William III. It next served in its home county in 1988. During the intervening 300 years, it has spent much time on garrison duty in the Empire. It has a tradition of having had a detachment at Dettingen. There it won the distinction of wearing the oak leaf whilst parading for Royalty and also on certain Regimental days. The story is that the 22nd protected the king, who was commanding the field, from being taken prisoner by the French. The king picked a sprig of oak from a nearby tree and presented it to them. The Regiment itself at the time was in the Mediterranean, however. The taking of Louisburg in Nova Scotia was its most famous 18th-century event; the Grenadier Company going on with Wolfe to Quebec. A 22nd Grenadier appears to have been present at the death of Wolfe along with Ensign Browne. The regiment proceeded after the Seven Years War to the West Indies and yellow fever, finally taking its place in New York for the American War.
A spell in India led to the 22nd being the only English Regiment in Sir Charles Napier's force to conquer the Scinde. The great battle at Meeanee on 17 February 1843 is celebrated as the Regimental Day. The Regiment spent most of the 19th century in the Indian sub-continent or its dependencies. A 2nd Battalion was raised in 1814 for a short while and re-raised in 1858. It fought in the Boer War in South Africa in 1900. This battalion was amalgamated with the 1st at the end of the Second World War. In the Great War 38 battalions were raised by the Cheshire Regiment. At the outset of the war in 1914 the 1st Battalion was exposed to the brunt of two German Army Corps at the village of Audregnies near Mons. Their heroic stand saved the British Expeditionary Force from a disaster and is celebrated as a second Regimental Day on 24 August. This Battalion was in every major action in France throughout the war and won 35 Battle Honours.
The Territorial and New (Kitchener's) Army Battalions fought in France, Gallipoli, Sinai, Palestine, Salonika and Mesopotamia. The 12th Battalion won the French Croix de Guerre. Over 8,000 officers and men gave their lives. Between the wars the two regular battalions served in India, Sudan, Palestine and Malta and became noted for their sport and athletic prowess. Just prior to the Second World War the Regiment was armed with the Vickers Machine Gun and became a Support Regiment for the duration of the war. At the outbreak of war the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Battalions TA were re-established. A 30th Battalion (Home Defence) and 39 Home Guard battalions made up the Regimental roll. The 2nd Battalion was at Dunkirk, North Africa and Italy before returning to be part of the initial landing at Normandy. The 1st Battalion was in North Africa and Malta during the siege and finally in NW Europe. The 6th and 7th Battalions fought in Italy. Since the war the 1st Battalion has served in numerous operational areas: Malaya, Cyprus, Northern Ireland and recently in Bosnia under the United Nations. The Regiment now consists of a
1st Battalion and 3rd Battalion (Volunteer). This latter unit is once more a support battalion as history repeats itself.
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The Cheval de Frise (horse of Friesland) was the fore-runner of barbed wire entanglements used in warfare. It was a fortification comprised of timber pierced and traversed with wooden spikes pointed with iron five or six feet long and used for stopping a breach, defending a passage or making entrenchments to stop cavalry. They were first used by the Prince of Orange in the siege of Groningen, Friesland in 1594 from whence the name.
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Chloropicrin was a chemical weapon used during the Great War. It is a lethal compound which attacks the lungs and acts as a tear gas. It was first employed by Russia against the Germans in August 1916 and was subsequently used by all combatants. Also called 'nitrochloroform', it was used both in artillery and mortar projectiles and as a cloud gas. It penetrated gas-masks to cause nausea, vomiting, colic, and other ill-effects causing troops to remove their masks, and so leave them vulnerable to lethal concentrations of other gases, such as phosgene, fired simultaneously. In time, gas-masks were made impervious to it, and this, coupled with its persistence, which limited its tactical use, led to its eventual abandonment. The British also mixed it with chlorine as 'Yellow Star' gas, released from cylinders in cloud attacks.
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Chobham Armour is the currently finest armour plate used on armoured fighting vehicles. It was developed in Chobham, England.
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Cigar was the codename of the British operation to jam enemy VHF radio communications to airborne fighters during the Second World War.
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In military terms, circumvallation describes a line of field-works consisting of a rampart or parapet, with a trench surrounding a besieged place, or the camp of a besieging army.
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The City of London Imperial Volunteers (CIV) was a corps of citizen soldiers raised in 1899 after Sir Redvers Buller's repulse at Colenso, in the Boer War. Its formation was due to the then Lord Mayor of London, Sir Alfred J Newton. The force ultimately consisted of over 1700 officers and men, each one as he was enrolled being admitted a freeman of the city of London.
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In fortifications, clayes were formerly wattles, or hurdles, made with stakes interwoven with osiers, to cover lodgements.
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The claymore was originally a large two-handed double-edged sword of the Scottish Highlanders; now a basket hilted, double-edged broad-sword.
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In firearms, a clip is a method of loading some rifles, particularly the US Garand and Mannlicher series. A clip differs from a charger in that the entire unit, cartridges and metal frame, are inserted entirely into the gun's magazine and the metal frame is only discarded when all the cartridges have been fired. Clip-loading rifles suffer from two distinct drawbacks. Firstly, the magazines cannot be partially reloaded. The operator must wait until the magazine is empty before fully loading it. Secondly, the discarded clip provides an audible signal to the enemy that the operator's weapon is empty.
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In knives, a clip blade is a blade in which the back of the blade curves down towards a point at the end, as though a large part of the plade has been clipped out, and the cutting edge of the blade curves slightly upwards to the point.
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In fortifications a coffer was a trench dug in the bottom of a dry moat, and extending across it, to enable the besieged troops to defend it by a raking fire.
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A cohort was a division of the Roman Infantry consisting of 600 men. 10
cohorts formed a legion.
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A coif was a steel cap worn by knights, and later the name was used for the lawn hood or cap won by sergeants-at-law.
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The Cold Steel Culloden is an American fighting knife based on the traditional Scottish skean dhu. The Cold Steel Culloden has a 5-inch serrated edge blade with a 1.75 inch gimped section on the back edge. the blade is pointed, but single edged and manufactured of either stainless or carbon steel.
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The Cold Steel Peacekeeper 1 is an American double-edged dagger with a 6.5 inch spear point blade of stainless or carbon steel.
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The Cold Steel Peacekeeper 2 is an American double-edged dagger with a 5.25 inch spear point blade of stainless or carbon steel.
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The Cold Steel Tai Pan is an American fighting knife with a broad, straight-sided, double-edged 7 1/8 inch dagger blade with a spear point made of stainless steel.
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The Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards trace their history and formation from two Regiments of the New Model Army. These ten companies were united under Colonel George Monck in 1650 and were officially known as Monck's Regiment of Foot, serving with distinction at the Battle of Dunbar in 1651.
Oliver Cromwell died in the autumn of 1658 and in the following year Monck, who was the General Commander in Scotland, moved his headquarters to the town of Coldstream on the Tweed. It was from here that the Regiment gained its name. On January the 1st 1660, General Monck started from Coldstream on his historic march to London with the intent of restoring Charles II to the throne, which he reached at the beginning of February. The Coldstreamers were then used to keep order and repress the disturbances which had broken out at the end of Parliamentary rule. The end of May 1660 saw the Restoration of Charles II as King of England, whereupon General Monck was created Duke of Albemarle, and his Regiment, commonly known as Coldstreamers, was inspected by the King on his triumphal entry into London.
Monck's Regiment of Horse and Foot paraded on Tower Hill and ordered to lay down their arms and disband, and then were immediately ordered to take them up in the name of the King. From that moment the Regiment became personal Guards to the Sovereign of the Realm.
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Colonials was a nickname of the 100th Regiment of Foot from their Canadian origins.
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Colour-Sergeant was a British Army rank which was created in 1813 at Wellington's suggestion for a senior N.C. O of a company to attend the companies colours (standards and flags). The rank was abolished in 1912.
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The Colt Black Diamond Liberator is a series of American fighting knives with a 6 1/8 inch long blade available in double-edged dagger, tanto and spear-point bayonet type shapes made of stainless steel.
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A column is a military formation of troops drawn up in deep files, showing a small front; as distinguished from a line, which is extended in front and thin in depth. Columns are said to be close or open, according to the intervals between the battalions, regiments, etc, of which they are composed. Sometimes the name column is given to a small army, especially when actively engaged.
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In the British Navy, Commander is a rank below Captain, and above lieutenant-commander.
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A commando is a member of a specially trained, highly mobile military unit. The term originated in South Africa in the 19th century, where it referred to Boer military reprisal raids against Africans and, in the South African Wars, against the British. Commando units have often carried out operations behind enemy lines. In Britain, the first commando units were the British Combined Operations Command who raided enemy-occupied territory in the Second World War after the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940. At the end of the war the army commandos were disbanded, but the role was carried on by the Royal Marines.
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The commissariat is the army department which supervises the supply of food and forage to the troops, and its transport.
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In the armed forces, the writing conferring on an officer his command is known as his commission. In the British army previous to the 1st of November 1871 these commissions could be purchased.
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In firearms, a compensator is a device which is attached to the muzzle of automatic weapons to reduce the tendency of such weapons to rise at the muzzle when being fired in full automatic mode. The compensator directs some of the muzzle blast upwards, thereby forcing the muzzle down and compensating for some of the upward tendency of the weapon.
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Composite Armour is a type of armour plate fitted to armoured fighting vehicles. It comprises layers of hard steel and heat resistant ceramics or glass to withstand HEAT ammunition better than normal steel. A typical composite armour may comprise layers of one inch thick steel plate sandwiched with plates of ordinary glass. When struck by a projectile, the glass shatters into many small pieces, absorbing a great deal of energy from the projectile in the process. The glass shards, while dangerous to people and organic materials, are too soft to penetrate the steel plates which safely contain them. The glass layers then effectively reduce the speed of the projectile to a level at which it can no longer penetrate the hard steel layers.
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The Condor Legion or German Volunteer Corps, was a force of 4500 volunteers sent by Nazi Germany to Spain in 1936 to assist General Franco's Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War.
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The Condottieri were mercenaries hired during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries to take part in the wars between the Italian States.
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The Conspicuous Service Cross was a medal, instituted in 1901, awarded to officers in the Royal Navy below the rank of Lieutenant-Commander and to Warrant Officers. It was replaced in 1914 by the Distinguished Service Cross.
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In fortifications a contramure was an outer wall.
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In fortifications a contravallation was a trench guarded with a parapet, constructed by besiegers, to secure themselves and check sallies of the besieged.
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The coolus was a type of Roman helmet used between 50 BC and 50 AD. The coolus was made from one piece of metal, having a broad rear plate which fanned out to protect the neck and had large hinged cheek flaps.
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Cooper was the OGPU codename of the Dutch artist and spy Henri Pieck who worked as an OGPU agent.
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In fortifications corbiel were small gabions.
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Cordite is a smokeless explosive for use in ordnance, so named from being made in cordlike forms. In appearance it is like yellow gutta-percha, and when its ingredients are worked up into a mass it receives the cord-like character by being pressed through openings in dies. In the same way as the grains of charcoal powder are made of various sizes to suit various guns so cordite is made of various diameters. It consists of 58 per cent nitro-glycerine, 37 per cent gun-cotton, and 5 per cent vaseline, which is added to make the cordite flexible and reduce friction in the incorporating process, while it also counteracts metallic fouling in small-arms. The cordite is wound on reels, and is afterwards cut up in lengths suitable for the various cartridges. Its keeping qualities are excellent in the extremes of climatic heat and cold. Wet cordite can be fired; moisture does not deteriorate it. As it is somewhat difficult to ignite, an 'igniter' of black gunpowder was originally put into the gun cartridges to extend the flash of the firing-tube. In the open air cordite burns quietly.
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A cordon is a line of military (and nowadays also police) posts placed around a district or house etc. in order to prevent communication between it and the parts around it, or to keep up an uninterrupted line of communication, to preserve an area either from hostile invasion or from contagious diseases. In the latter sense it is called a cordon sunitaire.
In fortifications a cordon was the coping of the scarp wall, which projects beyond the face of the wall a few inches.
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Cordon Bleu denoted the blue ribbon worn by the Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Ghost, the leading order of royalist France.
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Corporal is the lowest rank of non-commissioned officer in the British Army. He wears two stripes on his sleeve.
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Corporal of Horse is the Household Cavalry name for the rank of sergeant.
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Corporal-major is the Household Cavalry name for the rank of sergeant-major.
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The Corps des Guides was a French military force organised by Napoleon in 1796 as a personal bodyguard. In 1848 several squadrons were created and later Napoleon III made the corps a part of the Imperial Guard.
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The Corps of Electrical Engineers were a volunteer army corps formed in 1897 principally for the purpose of assisting the submarine miners on the south coast. The corps was made up exclusively of men having a practical knowledge of both electrical and mechanical engineering.
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A corselet is a light cuirass or armour worn to protect the front of the body.
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In fortifications, a counter approach was a trench or work pushed forward from defensive works to meet the approaches of besiegers.
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In fortifications a counterfort was a kind of buttress of masonry intended to strengthen a revetment wall.
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In fortifications, a counterguard is a low outwork before a bastion or ravelin, consisting of two lines of rampart parallel to the faces of the bastion, and protecting them from a breaching fire.
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In fortifications a countermure is a wall raised behind another, so as to supply its place when breached or destroyed.
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In fortification, a counterscarp is the exterior slope of the ditch towards the field, in contradistinction to the slope next to the rampart, which is named the scarp or escarp.
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A countersign is a private signal, word, or phrase given to soldiers on guard, with orders to let no man pass unless he first give that sign; a military watchword or password.
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In fortifications, a coupure is a passage cut through the glacis to facilitate sallies by the defenders when besieged.
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The couse was predominantly a herald's weapon of the 16th and later centuries. It comprised a knife-like long blade, with the back edge also sharpened, fixed to a long pole. Later couses dispensed with the double- edged blade, replacing it with a wider blade with an arched cutting edge. The couse was unpopular as a combat weapon, but popular among the European palace guards of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
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In fortifications, the covered way was a corridor or banquette along the top of the counterscarp covered by an embankment whose slope formed the glacis. It gave the garrison an open line of communication around the works, and a standing place beyond the ditch.
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The Cold steel Special Projects Covert Action Tanto (CAT) is a covert fighting knife made entirely of Zytel glass-reinforced nylon so as to avoid detection by X-ray and metal detecting equipment. It has a 5.75 inch blade, bevel ground with a chisel tip.
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The Croix de Guerre are French and Belgian military decorations which were instituted in 1915 and given to members of the forces on land, sea or in the air for conspicuous bravery.
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The crossbow (arbalist) is a bow fastened across a stock (hence the name
crossbow). The bow string was cocked and fired by way of a trigger, projecting a bolt. The crossbow was invented by the Normans but went out of fashion when the long-bow became popular, mainly because twelve arrows per minute could be fired from a long-bow compared to only three bolts per minute from a crossbow.
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A crotchet is the arrangement of a body of troops, either forward or rearward, so as to form a line nearly perpendicular to the general line of battle. In fortifications, a crotchet is an indentation in the glacis of the covered way, at a point where a traverse is placed.
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In fortification, a crown-work is a form of advanced work consisting of two double-bastions and a curtain, with two long sides called wings, which are flanked by the main works in the rear.
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A crupper was a piece of armour worn by a war-horse to protect the hindquarters.
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A cuirass was a coat or jerkin worn by soldiers as protection against pistol-shot and sword cuts. Varieties include the chain-mail and metal studded leather coats of the Middle Ages through to the corselet worn by the British Life Guards on ceremonial parades.
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Cuirassiers were heavy cavalry which evolved from the mounted men-at-arms of feudal days. An Austrian corps was formed in 1484, very heavily armoured and by 1705 there were 20 corps.
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A cuisse or cuishe was a piece of mediaeval armour worn protecting the thigh. The cuisse was separated from the greave by the poleyn.
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In fortifications a cunette or cuvette is a drain trench, in a ditch or moat.
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In fortifications the curtain is that part of the rampart and parapet which is between two bastions or two gates.
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Curtain Fire is a line of shells exploding just in front of an advancing infantry to shield them from attack. Sometimes the shells would be exploded behind an entrenched enemy position to prevent their retreat.
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The curtal-ax was a type of short sword.
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The curtana is a pointless sword carried before English monarchs at their coronation. Emblematically it is considered as the sword of mercy. The original sword, called Curtana, belonged to Edward the Confessor. Subsequent Rnglish royal swords were named Curtana until the regin of Henry III.
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The cutlass was a short sword carried by seamen. It was effective due to being short enough to be easy to control, and yet long enough to defend a skilful swordsman. Today the term is used in Jamaica for the machete which resemble in simple form the cutlass they evolved from.
Research Cutlass
Cyanogen bromide is a tear gas that was used by all sides during the Great War. Its prime effect is as a lachrymatory agent and irritant, although it is lethal at higher concentrations. It was introduced by the Austrians in September 1916 and subsequently adopted by the British and Italian armies. However it is highly corrosive and decomposes in contact with metal, and is also unstable in storage, losing its effect and becoming inert. Hence its use as a war gas was short, and it was soon replaced by more stable compositions.
Research Cyanogen bromide
Cyanogen chloride is a toxic nerve gas that was used during the Great War. It acts on the nerve centres, particularly those controlling breathing, causing rapid paralysis and death. It was introduced by the French in October 1916 to replace hydrocyanic acid. At low concentrations it acts as a tear gas and lung irritant but prolonged exposure even at this level can be lethal due to lung damage.
Research Cyanogen chloride
In firearms, cyclic refers to a theoretical rate of fire produced by an automatic weapon. The cyclic rate is quoted in rounds per minute.
Research Cyclic
The cylinder is the drum of a revolver that contains the chambers for the ammunition.
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Abbreviations
Warfare
