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A pack train is a troop of pack animals, such as mules for example.
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A palanka was formerly a camp permanently entrenched, attached to Turkish frontier fortresses.
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In armour, a palette was one of the plates covering the points of the junction at the bend of the shoulders and elbows.
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In fortifications, a palisade or palisado was a row of stakes set firmly in the ground and presenting a sharp point to an advancing army. the stakes were placed vertically at the foot of the slope of the counterscarp, or presented at an angle at the foot of a parapet, or on the banquette of the covered way.
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A parallel was one of a series of long trenches constructed before a besieged fortress, by the besieging force, as a cover for troops supporting the attacking batteries. They were roughly parallel to the line of outer defences of the fortress.
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The parma was a small round or oval flat shield used by the Romans.
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A partisan was a form of doubled bladed halberd originally developed during the 16th century and used as a weapon of war and used later by ceremonial guards.
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A pass box was a wooden or metallic box, used to carry cartridges from the service magazine to the piece.
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A pass-parole is an order passed from the front to the rear by word of mouth.
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Passe garde were the raised edges of the shoulder-plates of armour, so constructed as to deflect or turn the blow of a lance, and prevent its entering the junction of the rerbrace and cuirass. They were adopted at the beginning of the 16th century.
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A patch was the name given to a piece of greased cloth or leather that was formerly used as a wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the bore.
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A patrol is a movement, by a small body of troops beyond the line of outposts, to explore the country and gain intelligence of the enemy's whereabouts.
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A pauldron was a piece of armour covering the shoulder at the junction of the body piece and arm piece.
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A pavise was a large shield covering the whole body, carried by a pavisor, who sometimes also screened an archer with it.
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A pavisor was a soldier equipped with a pavise.
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A pelta was an ancient Greek shield made of wood or wicker-work, covered with skin or leather and borne by the Peltasts.
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Peltasts were a kind of light infantry employed by the ancient Greeks. They were so named after the pelta which they bore. They also wore quilted tunics and leather leggings and carried long spears and swords.
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In knives, a pen blade is a shape of blade similar to a spear point, but not so pronounced, both sides tapering suddenly towards a point. Pen blades were traditionally used for pen knives, the blade being used for sharpening quill pens.
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The idea of detonating pellets or percussion caps was conceived by Forsyth, an Aberdeenshire clergyman in 1807, introduced in 1816 and adopted by the British government in 1839. They are small, hat-shaped cups filled with detonating powder such as fulminate of mercury with potassium chlorate.
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A pesane was a gorget of mail or plate attached to the helmet in ancient armour.
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A petard was an engine used for blowing open the gates or effecting a breach in the walls of a city or fortress. It consisted of an iron receptacle in the shape of a half cone, filled with gunpowder. The plank to which it was fastened was attached by hoops to the wall or palisade to be destroyed, a fuse ignited, and the powder left to explode. During the 15th century smaller infantry petards containing inflammable material and explosives were thrown into the faces of the advancing enemy. Soldiers armed with
petards were known as petardiers.
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The peytral was a piece of armour worn by a war-horse to protect the chest.
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The PFM-1 anti-personnel mine/bomblet is a Soviet air delivered, plastic mine filled with liquid explosive. It is a bulbous and irregularly-shaped mine, usually green, sand, or white coloured. Any distortion of the body causes the mine to explode, including light pressure while handling. It does not self-destruct and cannot be neutralized,
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Phalanx was the name applied to the ordinary formation adopted by Greek heavy infantry. They were drawn up in close array, shoulder to shoulder, in a line eight deep, as a rule, though the Thebans used a formation twenty- five or even fifty deep. The Macedonian phalanx was an improvement on the Greek formation, in that the men stood in a rather more open order, sixteen deep, armed with spears 640 centimetres long. In 324 BC Alexander made only the three front and the rear ranks spearmen; the intermediate ranks were composed of archers and javelin men.
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Phenyldichlorarsine was a chemical weapon, introduced by the Germans in September 1917. It was one of the most toxic gases used in the Great War. It acted against the lungs to cause pulmonary oedema and also acted as a sneezing gas and in contact with the skin raised blisters. It was the first lung injurant used in the war and was later adopted by the French under the name Sternite.
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Phosgene (carbonyl chloride) is a lung irritant gas used during the Second World War. It is a colourless gas with a smell of musty hay. It is a very poisonous gas, acting immediately to three hours after exposure causing oedema of the lungs.
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The pike was an infantry thrusting weapon with a generally leaf-shaped blade fastened to a long heavy staff.
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A pilcher was a scabbard used to house and carry a sword.
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The pilum was a Roman weapon similar to a pike or spear. It was about 6 feet (two meters) long and was usually thrown at the enemy before the two armies were close enough to engage in close combat.
The pilum comprised a sharp, hard metal spike with a softer metal body, connected to a heavy wooden shaft by way of a single metal pin and below it several wooden pins.
Upon impact, the momentum of the heavy wooden shaft would drive the sharp metal point through a shield or into an opponent. If the pilum should strike a hard object, the shock would usually break the wooden pins, leaving the sharp metal end to pivot or flop uselessly around the single metal pin holding the metal spike in the heavy wooden shaft, thereby preventing the pilum from being reused by an enemy against the Romans.
The sharp metal point was at the end of a softer metal shaft, designed to bend upon impact, again so that the pilum could not be withdrawn and thrown back against the Roman soldiers.
Most ordinary Roman soldiers (Legionaries) carried two pila in addition to their sword and shield.
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The term pistol generally differentiates a semi-automatic or automatic (more often called a machine pistol) handgun which takes a magazine from a revolver, which is a firearm with a revolving cylinder, rather than a magazine.
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Platoon is a military organisation subordinate to a company. Platoons usually include two or three sections of vehicles and between two and four squads of infantry, totalling around 25 to 50 men.
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The PMD series is a Soviet mine. The mine is a wooden box has a hinged lid, overlapping the sides with a deep groove cut in it above the fuse assembly, and the lid rests on the strike retaining pin. Some have a safety rod locking the lid. Pressure on the lid forces the winged retaining nut from the striker and fires the mine.
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The PMN is a Soviet mine. It consists of a rubber-covered pressure plate on top of a small plastic mine secured to the body by a thin metal bank.
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The PMP Floating Bridge is a Soviet army mobile pontoon bridge carried on a Kr AZ-214 truck chassis and later a Kr AZ-255 chassis. The truck is backed up to the shore and the bridge rolled off into the water where it unfolds automatically, spanning 390 meters with 32 river pontoons, 12 bridging boats and four shore pontoons.
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A point d'appui is a given point or body, upon which troops are formed, or by which are marched in line or column. The term also describes an advantageous defensive support, such as a castle, morass, wood, declivity, etc.
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A poleaxe was a military weapon which combined a hatchet, pike and serrated hammer, and was much used by horse-soldiers up to the 16th century. The nautical poleaxe was a heavy hatchet having a handle 38 cm long and a sharp point turning downward on the side opposite the blade. It was used for resisting boarders and boarding other ships as well as a general cutting axe.
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A poleyn was a piece of mediaeval armour worn protecting the knee.
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The Polyvalent MDF is a French tri-purpose rifle and hand grenade comprising three detachable components: explosive body, fragmentation sleeve and a finned tail assembly allowing the Polyvalent MDF to be used as an anti-personnel rifle grenade, defensive hand grenade and offsenive hand grenade. The Polyvalent MDF has a range of 400 meters fired from a rifle and is fitted with a multi-purpose fuse which can detonate upon impact, after a five second delay or five seconds after impact.
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The POMZ-2M is a Soviet anti-personnel mine. It consists of a wooden stake with cast iron fragmentation body, activated by a tripwire, normally laid in clusters of three or four.
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The popinjay was originally a parrot, and then a mark like a parrot, which was put on a pole to be shot at by archers as a test of skill.
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In fortifications, a portcullis is a strong and heavy defensive framework of wood with iron spikes at the bottom hung in grooves within the chief gateway of a fortress or castle. The portcullis could be lowered to bar access during an assault.
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The PRB 404 is a Belgian anti-personnel rifle-grenade designed for firing from a PRB 424 disposable mortar. The PRB 404 consists of 100 grams of explosive charge in a thermoplastic body which can be fitted with a notched coil fragmentation sleeve to make a defensive grenade. The PRB 404 has an average range of more than 400 meters.
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The PRB 405 is a Belgian smoke grenade. The PRB 405 emits a dense cloud of white phosphorous smoke for about 45 seconds, and also has an incendiary and anti-personnel function, being dangerous for a fifteen meter radius from the point of detonation. The PRB 405 is fitted with a 4.5 second delay fuse.
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The PRB 415 is a Belgian high-explosive dual anti-tank and anti-personnel 3.5 inch calibre ground-fired rocket. The PRB 415 weighs 4 kg and contains 600 grams of explosive. It flies at a muzzle velocity of 95 meters per second and can penetrate 200 mm of armour at 735 meters. The PRB 415 rocket als ohas a fragmentation sleeve for anti-personnel effect.
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The PRB 422 was a Belgian hi-blast grenade developed to produce an extremely high blast effect for attacking bunkers, underground shelters, covered trenches and light structures. The PRB 422 contained 350 gramms of trialene in a 265 mm long projectile launched from a PRB 425 hand mortar, giving an average range of 300 meters.
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The PRB 434 is a Belgian anti-personnel rifle-grenade designed for firing from standard NATO rifles fitted with a removable grenade launcher or flash suppressor of 22 mm standard external diameter. The PRB 434 consists of 100 grams of explosive charge in a thermoplastic body within a cylindrical 300 gramm fragmentation sleeve, 278 mm long. The PRB 434 has a range of 150 or 400 meters depending upon launching cartridge.
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The PRB 7 is a Belgian bivalent hand grenade, identical to the PRB 8, but without the fragmentation sleeve attached.
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The PRB 8 is a Belgian bivalent hand grenade. The PRB 8 consists of a thermoplastic case containing 80 grams of TNT and a fragmentation sleeve of square section steel wire, pre-notched and spirally wound. The PRB 8 is fitted with a 4.5 second fuse. It has a lethal radius of 12 meters and a safety radius of 40 meters.
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The PRB NR 423 is a Belgian anti-personnel fragmentation hand grenade. The PRB NR 423 is a traditional egg-shaped hand grenade containing 60 grams of explosive, a notched steel wire which fragments into 900 splinters upon detonation and 52 steel balls, which provide a killing zone of nine meters around the point of detonation. The PRB NR 423 is fitted with a four second delay fuse.
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The PRB NR 446 is a Belgian offensive hand grenade. The PRB NR 446 is a traditional egg-shaped hand grenade containing 85 grams of high explosive optimised to produce a powerful shock wave without fragmentation. The PRB NR 446 is fitted with a four second delay fuse.
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The PRB NR169 is a Belgian trip flare designed to give a visual warning of approaching enemy in poor visibility, and to provide sufficient illumination for defensive action. The PRB NR169 comprises a picket which is driven into the ground and a flare attached atop it. To this is connected a trip wire which is set. Upon being triggered the flare burns for about 60 seconds with an intensity of 40,000 candela. The PRB NR169 also includes a booby trap, whereby should the trip wire be cut, the flare is also triggered.
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The PRB NR170 is a Belgian surface aircraft beacon flare designed for illuminating aircraft landing areas and the like. the PRB NR170 is a 500 mm long and 42.5 mm diameter tube and burns for between 3.5 and 5 minutes with an intensity of 100,000 candela.
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The PRB NR403 is a Belgian trip flare designed to give a visual warning of approaching enemy in poor visibility, and to provide sufficient illumination for defensive action. The PRB NR403 comprises a picket which is driven into the ground and a flare attached atop it. To this is connected a trip wire which is set. Upon being triggered the flare burns for about 60 seconds with an intensity of 60,000 candela.
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Primer is the ignition component of a cartridge, generally made up of a metallic fulminate or (currently) lead styphnate.
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Project Cherry was a CIA operation (a part of the Operation Phoenix brief) during the Vietnam War to assassinate Cambodian officials suspected of collaborating with the North Vietnamese and Soviet forces.
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Abbreviations
Warfare
