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The SA80 bayonet is a British bayonet designed specifically for the SA80 assault rifle. The SA80 bayonet has a 7 inch, clip point shaped blade of stainless steel with widely spaced serrations along the first half of the main edge. The blade is fitted with a hole to enable the bayonet and sheaf to be connected for use as a scissors-type cutter.
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Sabaton was armour protecting the upper side of the foot, first introduced in Europe at the start of the 14th century.
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Sabot is a lightweight carrier surrounding a heavier projectile of reduced calibre, allowing a firearm to shoot ammunition for which it is not chambered. For example, a hunter could use his .30-30 deer rifle to shoot small game with .22 centre fire bullets. SABOT is a type of armour-piercing ammunition based upon kinetic energy. Effectively a SABOT round consists of a super-hard metal bullet which is fired at high velocity to penetrate armour.
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The sabre is a sword designed for cutting and thrusting, characterized by a more or less curved single-edged blade which is two-edged in its lower part. They were popular with dragoons.
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A sabretasche is a leather case or pocket formerly worn by cavalry at the left side, suspended from the sword belt.
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Saker is an old military term for a small piece of artillery.
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A sallet (salade) was a light medieval helmet usually with a vision slit or movable visor.
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In fortifications a sally port was a postern gate, or a passage underground, from the inner to the outer works, to afford free egress for troops in a sortie. They were used for making a sudden and unexpected sally (hence the name) upon the besiegers.
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A salvo is a concentrated fire from pieces of artillery, used in such circumstances as in endeavouring to make a break in a fortification.
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A sangar is an Indian fortification comprising a dry built stone wall of loose stones used as a defensive position by troops. The Sangar was particularly used at strongpoints on the North-West Frontier of India, where the parapet was about two feet thick at the top and the walls built of the largest possible stones, only and with a slope of 4:1.
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A sap was a narrow ditch or trench made from the foremost parallel toward the glacis or covert way of a besieged place by digging under cover of gabions, etc.
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A sap fagot was a fascine about a meter long, used in sapping, to close the crevices between the gabions before the parapet is made.
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A sap roller was a large gabion, two meters long, filled with fascines, which sappers sometimes rolled along before them for protection from the fire of an enemy.
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A sapper is a soldier who is employed in working at saps, building and repairing fortifications, and the like. Today sappers are more general civil engineers in the army, as the nature of warfare has evolved.
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Sarin is a nerve gas used in chemical warfare. It is a colourless, fruity smelling liquid causing nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea followed by muscular twitches and convulsions.
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A saucisson was a form of fuse, in the form of a long and slender pipe or bag, made of cloth soaked in pitch, or of leather, filled with gunpowder. It was used to communicate fire to mines, caissons, bomb chests, etc.
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Scale armour is a type of armour made of small metallic scales overlapping, and fastened upon leather or cloth.
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A scimitar is a highly tempered sword with a convex cutting edge.
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A scorpion is a form of whip, formerly used as an instrument of torture, characterised by either having metal spikes included within its cords or the cords knotted.
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The Scots Guards are a British army regiment. The Scots Guards were formed in 1642. The Regiment was intended by the King to be his Royal Guard and from this date the history of the Scots Guards begins. In 1712 Queen Anne changed the name of the Regiment to the Third Regiment of Foot Guards and laid down the designs of the sixteen badges which formed those of three battalions and of the first thirteen companies
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The scutum was a large rectangular Roman shield.
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The Scytale was an ancient Greek form of encryption used for sending secret messages between generals. A narrow strip of leather was wound around a peculiarly shaped staff and the message written. The strip of leather was then detached and sent to the recipient, who upon winding it around a similarly shaped staff could read the message.
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The SD-2 fragmentation bomb (Butterfly bomb) was a German aircraft dropped anti-personnel bomb of the Second World War. It consisted of a cylinder about 7 cm in diameter attached to which by a short length of stout wire were a pair of curved 'wings' which opened while the bomb descended, arming the weapon. The bombs could be set to explode on impact, after a delay or when disturbed and a bomber could carry over 300.
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The Seaforth Highlanders (also known as the Ross-shire Buffs and The Duke of Albany's) was a Highland army regiment first raised in 1756 under the title of the 72nd Regiment of Foot (Fraser's Highlanders). It was disbanded in 1763 and reformed in 1778 by the Earl Of Seaforth. In 1881 it was joined with the 78th Regiment of Foot, also known as the 78th Highlanders or Ross-shire Buffs and the merged regiment was renamed the Seaforth Highlanders.
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The Secret Auxiliary Unit was a top-secret British volunteer militia formed of the Home Guard during the Second World War. Unlike the regular Home Guard, this elite fighting force were hand picked, very highly trained and equipped with the latest weapons, even before the regular army. The force was arranged into small platoons of maybe six men based around a secret dugout. In the event of invasion these men would hide in the dugout, coming out to carry out sabotage and cause mayhem among the invaders. The volunteers were required to be very fit - they had to swim across a river in full kit as part of their test - and were ruthless, none were to be taken prisoner and any wounded who couldn't be got away were to be shot, as was anyone who might or could reveal the location of the dugout. Equipment included knuckledusters, 0.38 calibre revolver, automatic pistol (possibly 9 mm), detonators, explosives including the new plastic explosives, sub-machine guns, standard issue rifle and emergency rations which
included a bottle of rum! One such unit in the New Forest area of Hampshire was captained by the local estate agent, the sergeant was the local butcher (Leslie Charles 'Elsie' Probert) and also included the local chemist in the platoon. This platoon certainly didn't store all its equipment in the dugout, many weapons and detonators were secreted at the sergeant's butchers shop as was the rum - which on one occasion was dropped and smashed by the sergeant's fourteen year old son. After the war, most members of the Secret Auxiliary Unit continued to keep the secret of their unit, never talking about it or revealing the location of their bunkers.
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Secure arms is a military command and a position in the manual of arms, formerly used in wet weather, the object being to guard the firearm from becoming wet. The piece was turned with the barrel to the front and grasped by the right hand at the lower band, the muzzle was dropped to the front, and the piece held with the guard under the right arm, the hand supported against the hip, and the thumb on the rammer.
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Selective-fire is a firearm's ability to be fired fully automatically, semi-automatically or, in some cases, in burst-fire mode at the option of the firer.
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A semi-automatic firearm is designed to fire a single cartridge, eject the empty case and reload the chamber each time the trigger is pulled. There are various types of semi-automatic operation, one of the most common being 'blowback' in which gases from the discharged cartridge are channelled to operate the firearm mechanism to discharge the spent cartridge case, reload another from the magazine or belt, and cock the weapon ready for the next pull of the trigger.
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Semtex is an odourless plastic explosive manufactured in Czechoslovakia that can only be ignited by a detonator.
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In military terminology, a sentry (previously known as a sentinel) is a member of personnel placed in some post to watch the approach of the enemy, to prevent surprises, and to stop other personell passing without orders or strangers passing. A sentry placed in an extremely hazardous location is known as a sentinel perdu.
An 18th century military manual eloquently illustrates the precautions and seriousness of the duty of a sentry, describing the duties of a sentry thus:
All sentines [sentries] are to be vigilant on their posts; neither are they to sing, smoke tobacco, nor suffer any noise to be made nrear them. They ate to have a watchful eye over the things committed to their charge. They are not to suffer any light to remain, or any fire to be made, near their posts in the night-time; neither is any sentry to be relieved or removed from his post but by the corporal of the guard. They are not to suffer any one to touch or handle their arms, or in the night-time to come within ten yards (nine meters) of their post.
No person is to strike or abuse a sentry on his post; but when he has committeda crime, he is to be relieved, and then punished according to the rules and articles of war.
A sentinel, on his post in the night, is to know nobody but by the counter-sign: when he challenges, and is unaswered, Relief, he calls out, Stand relief! Advance, corporal! Upon which the corporal halts his men, and advances alone within a yard (one meter) of the sentry's firelock (first ordering his party to rest, on which the sentry does the same), and gives him the counter-sign, taking care that no one hear it.
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Sepoy was the name given to native Indian soldiers serving in the British army in India, to distinguish them from European soldiers. The first natives were used as soldiers by the East India Company during the 18th century.
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The Al Mar SERE series of knives are American multipurpose knives for special forces personnel. There are three fixed blade and three folding knives in the series. Generally they have spear pointed blades with a serrated section to the back (the model IV having a plain false back edge).
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The Al Mar SF-Sog Special Ops is an American fighting knife produced in two blade lengths: 6 5/8 inch and 8 inch, both with a clip point blade with hollow ground edge and false top edge.
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A shabrack is the saddlecloth or housing of a cavalry horse.
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A shaffron was a rectangularish shaped piece of armour worn by war-horses to protect the front of the head. Shaffrons were employed by the ancient Greeks and later by European knights of the 13th century.
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Shelley was the OGPU codename of the spy Raymond Oake, a British cipher clerk working with the British delegation to the League of Nations in Geneva. He was approached by the OGPU in 1933 and subsequently recruited and operated by the Dutch artist and OGPU agent Henri Pieck.
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A shinai is a Japanese practise sword made from four staves of polished bamboo held together by a long sheath which forms a handle. They are used in kendo.
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In fortifications the shoulder is the angle of a bastion included between the face and flank.
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The Shropshire Light Infantry are a British army regiment. They were first raised in 1755 as the 53rd Foot (nicknamed the Brickdusts and also the five-thre' pennies), later becoming the 1st Battalion of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. A 2nd Battalion, called the Bucks Volunteers was raised in 1793, later called the 85th Regiment of Foot. The Shropshire Light Infantry were the first British light infantry corps.
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The Siegfried Line (called the Hindenberg Line by the British) was the main system of the German defence on the Western front after the first battle of the Somme during the Great War. It was prepared during the winter of 1916-17 and stretched from Tilloy-lez-Mofflaines south-east of Arras, across the Sensee to Bullecourt and on to the Saint Gobain Forest south-west of La Fere. It was comprised of two or more lines of massive trenches spaced 100 meters apart and protected by thick barbed wire entanglements. Part of the line was taken by the British in the third battle of Arras, but it generally resisted attack until the British offensive of the summer of 1918. The fortifications were designed to give the German Army a shorter and more easily held line in the west, allowing them to hold off the Anglo-French attack while dealing a decisive blow to Russia. The main positions were on reverse slopes, with the advance positions on forward slopes and all were protected by artillery.
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The Signaal UA 1116 is a Dutch second-generation image-intensifier sight specifically designed for military small arms and fitting the NATO-standard STANAG 2324 sight mounting bracket. The unit is battery operated, and has a magnification of 4.2X.
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The Signaal UA 1137 is a Dutch self-powered night sight. The operator presses a noiseless lever on the unit, which generates enough power to activate the unit long enough to detect a target, aim and fire. The UA 1137 has a magnification of 1.5X and a field of view of 22 degrees wide and 10 degrees high so that the firer's view is shielded from the sky above and the muzzle flash below.
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Sikorsky is an American helicopter manufacturer.
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In fortifications, a sillon is a defensive work raised in the middle of a wide ditch, to defend it.
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The Simrad KN250 is a Norwegian night sight (image intensifier) attachment for ordinary optical sights. The output from the KN250 is fed to the far end of the conventional telescopic sight, providing the operator with a consistent sight, both during the day when not using the KN250 and at night when using it.
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Operation Sindikat (Syndicate) was an OGPU operation in 1921 against Boris Savinkov of the White Guards. The first stage of the operation was to plant a mole within the NSZRiS which ran an agent network within the Soviet Union, and then to neutralize the organisation with the help of information received from the mole. The second stage of the operation lured Boris Savinkov back to Russia for trial and conviction for crimes against the Bolshevik Revolution. Sentenced to fifteen years in jail, Boris Savinkov shared a cell with a man he didn't realise was actually an OGPU officer, who gained his confidence and extracted more information from Boris Savinkov before Savinkov was killed 'falling' from an upper-storey window following a drinking bout.
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Single-action is a classification of firearms in which the firer manually retracts the hammer to cock it which simultaneously causes the cylinder to rotate. A subsequent squeeze of the trigger is then required to discharge the shot. In a pistol, the term single-action indicates that the hammer must be cocked before each shot. This is usually done automatically by the act of firing the previous shot, but may also be initiated manually and must be done manually before releasing the first shot.
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Single-shot is a gun mechanism lacking a magazine where separately carried ammunition must be manually placed in the gun's chamber for each firing.
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Sirota was the KGB codename for its British agent Donald Maclean.
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A skean dhu is a traditional Scottish sock knife. They generally have a blade about 9 cm long.
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Skirmishers are troops serving in loose order in front of an army. Their usual employment is to protect an advancing army from a surprise.
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Slide-action is a gun mechanism activated by manual operation of a horizontally sliding handle almost always located under the barrel. 'Pump-action' and 'trombone' are synonyms for 'slide-action.'
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A sling is a primitive projectile weapon comprising a short piece of leather to each end of which cords are attached. A stone is placed in the pocket formed by the leather, and, gripping both cords, the slinger whirls it. When he lets one cord free the stone is thrown out by the momentum. The sling is frequently referred to in Biblical history, and in classical times the Balearic islanders were renowned slingers.
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The Smatchet is a fighting knife based on the Celtic short sword and developed by Colonel Rex Applegate of the US OSS and Captain WE Fairbairn of the British Royal Marines. In combat the Smatchet is recommended for stabbing in the stomach, chopping to the neck, wrist or arm so as to severe main arteries or smashing the pommel into the face. The Smatchet has a 10 inch long, 3 inches wide, wide leaf shaped, spear pointed double-edged blade.
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The Mecar SMK-RFL-40 BT is a Belgian 40 mm calibre rifle fired smoke grenade. The SMK-RFL-40 BT is fired from a rifle using standard live ammunition and provides 80 seconds of white or orange smoke at a range of between 50 and 320 meters.
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A smoke screen is a defensive scheme employed in both land and naval operations, and developed as one phase of chemical warfare.
In land warfare smoke screens are generally produced by the discharge of smoke shells and bombs from guns, howitzers and mortars, but in favourable situations fixed smoke pots may be employed to produce the cloud. It is essential that the smoke hangs close to the ground, and is not readily dissipated by shell fire or similar means. Burning phosphors and a mist of sulphur trioxide are very effective as they cause condensation of the moisture in the atmosphere thus forming a thick mist.
During the Great War destroyers were provided with special burners for phosphorus on the after deck, apparatus for discharging chlorine and ammonia into the air, and means for injecting chlorosulphonic acid into the funnels. These chemicals all produced a dense white mist hanging low on the water, and the vessels steaming rapidly could quickly lay a smoke screen behind which other warships could manoeuvre or a convoy of merchantmen remain hidden. Floats and flares producing similar smoke clouds were supplied to slower ships, so that they could either be thrown overboard or burnt on deck. In actual naval operations the blocking of the harbours at Zeebrugge and Ostend during the Great War provided examples of the value of smoke screens in concealing attacking forces from the view of the defenders.
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Sneezing gas is a popular term for various chemicals employed in warfare which have the effect of causing violent sneezing. The use of sneezing gas was introduced by the Germans during the Great War, and were chiefly employed as subsidiary aids in the use of other gases.
Sneezing gas is capable of penetrating the majority of gas masks to a certain extent, and as a very low concentration is effective for its purpose, persons wearing gas masks may be so affected that they are unable to keep the protection on, and thus became easy victims to the effect of other chemical weapons.
The chemical most frequently employed as a sneezing gas was diphenylchloroarsine, an organic compound of arsenic which occurs as a bright yellow oil. In the cold it has only a faint odour, but when heated it has a penetrating odour. Splashes on the skin have an irritant effect, and the compound is very toxic if inhaled in any quantity. Nitro-trichloromethane also known as chloropicrin and nitrochloroform were similarly used.
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A snickersnee is an old English expression for a large clasp-knife.
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A sniper is an excellent shot armed with a high quality, accurate rifle and often special long-range ammunition. The job of a sniper is to kill selective targets at long range from a concealed position. The Confederate army of the American Civil War employed snipers, arming them with Whitworth .450 calibre rifles. A successful sniper must not only be a good shot. He must also be able to withstand long periods of solitude and sighting while remaining concealed.
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Originally a sniperscope was a rifle sight incorporating a periscope (known during the Great War as a periscope rifle), which allowed the weapon to be aimed by a soldier under cover. Now the sniperscope has changed to a telescopic rifle sight incorporating an image intensifier so that it can be aimed in the dark.
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The SOG Desert Dagger is an American military knife developed to provide a more versatile tool than a regular dagger-type fighting knife. The SOG Desert Dagger has a 6.5 inch parallel edged dagger blade with a spear point made of stainless steel, with serrated sections on each edge towards the hilt, one set of serrations finer than the other. A flat-ended stainless steel pommel is provided for use as a hammer.
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The SOG Pentagon is an American fighting knife designed as a back-up weapon for law enforcement personnel. It has a 5 inch tapered dagger blade with one plain edge and one serrated, made of stainless steel. Supplied with a boot clip sheath, the SOG Pentagon is probably intended as a concealed boot knife.
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Solenite was an Italian military propellant similar to Filite and Cordite, but the nitro-glycerine content being reduced to 33 per cent, with a corresponding increase in the nitrocellulose content. The method of manufacture of solenite was similar to that of cordite. Solenite was pale brown in colour and translucent.
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A solleret was an armour shoe worn by knights in the 14th and 15th centuries.
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The Somerset Light Infantry (formerly known as Prince Albert's (Somerset) Light Infantry) was a British army regiment raised in 1685 as the 13th Regiment of Foot, and consisted of pikemen and musketeers. The regiment served in Holland between 1701 and 1703 and in 1704 assisted in the defence of Gibraltar, subsequently being engaged in Spain as dragoons. During the Great War the regiment saw action in almost every battle, including the Battle of Ypres in 1915 and the first battle of the Somme in 1916 In 1920 the regiment's name was changed from Prince Albert's (Somerset) Light Infantry to Somerset Light Infantry.
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The South Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales' Volunteers) was a British infantry regiment comprised of the former 40th Regiment of Foot (raised in 1717) and the 82nd Regiment of Foot (raised in 1793). The regiment served with distinction at Alexandria in 1801 and in the Peninsular campaign and at the Battle of Waterloo. The regiment saw action in the Afghan War of 1842 and the Maratha War of 1843. After serving in the Crimean War it was present at the relief of Lucknow, took part in the New Zealand War of 1860 until 1865, and in the South African War was attached to the Ladysmith relief force, the 1st battalion being engaged in the fighting for the Tugela Heights.
During the Great War the regiment had attached to it a number of territorial and service battalions. The 1st battalion was in Mesopotamia in 1916, and distinguished itself in the battles for Kut. The 2nd battalion went to France in 1914 and participated in all the major battles of that year, and also at Loos in 1915. Among the regiment's services generally were the stand of the 5th in the German gas attack of May 1915; the 6th (Territorial) at Gallipoli in 1915, and the 7th and 8th were on the Somme and Ancre in 1916; the tragedy of the 11th battalion which went to France in 1915 and fought continuously until the end of the war with only six of the original men who went over surviving.
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The South Staffordshire Regiment was a British army infantry regiment formed from the amalgamation of the 38th Foot (raised in 1702) and the 80th Foot (raised in 1793). It was renowned for its marching and shooting and first saw action in Guadeloupe in 1759. The regiment was involved in all the leading campaigns of the 18th and 19th centuries including the Peninsular War, Crimean War, Indian Mutiny, Egypt and the South African War.
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The South Wales Borderers was formed in 1689 as the 24th Regiment of Foot when new regiments were needed to fight in Ireland. When the Duke of Marlborough became the Regiment's Colonel, it fought under his command at the Battles of Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet. The regiment fought in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Chillianwallah, during the Second Sikh War, it gained one of its more famous victories. In the Zulu War of 1879 the regiment was engaged at the Battle of Isandhlwana, at which the entire 1st battalion was wiped out, and a single company was at the Defence of Rorke's Drift. Nine VCs were won by the Regiment in these battles, the most ever awarded to a regiment in a single action. By 1873 the Regiment was recruiting heavily in Wales and had its Depot at Brecon and, in 1881, the 24th became the South Wales Borderers. It fought in the Great War, winning the unique Battle Honour 'Tsingtao'. The Regiment saw much action during the Second World War, with the 2/24th being the only Welsh Battalion to land on the Normandy Beaches on 'D' Day.
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A sow was a kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, or the like.
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The Spahi were Turkish irregular cavalry soldiers characterised by their almost wild horses. They were formed in 1326 are reorganised by Moltke in 1835. The French army adopted the name and employed it for members of the Algerian and Tunisian cavalry regiments in the French army.
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In knives, a spear point is a shape of blade in which both the back and the cutting edge taper equally into a sharp point, useful for stabbing. Often a spear point blade will have two cutting edges, the back also being sharpened.
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Spearfish is a wire guided torpedo with both active and passive homing to a range of 65 kilometres.
Spearfish has a velocity of 60 knots and is equipped with a directed energy warhead.
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The Special Air service (SAS) began life in the desert. It was founded by David Stirling, a lieutenant in the Scots Guards, who had fought with No.8 Commando in the Mediterranean. Injured during parachute training, he drew up plans for a new type of long-range commando organisation while hospitalised in Cairo. He presented them through General Neil Ritchie to the perceptive commander of British Forces in the Middle East, General Auckinleck, and was rewarded with promotion and command of the 'L' detachment,
Special Air Service Brigade. The unit designation was a fiction intended to deceive but the SAS had been born. Stirling planned the SAS as a strategic force, attacking targets deep in the enemy heartland where they thought they were safe. From air bases in North Africa to the valleys of southern France, the SAS inflicted constant damage and tied down thousands of enemy soldiers guarding installation and sweeping the countryside for these elusive raiders. The SAS was disbanded after the war, but resurrected within two years. A territorial regiment, 21 SAS, was created and some members volunteered for a new organisation, the Malaya Scouts (SAS). The latter were formed for counter-guerrilla operations against the communist rebels in Malaya. In 1952, this unit was redesignated 22 SAS and spearheaded the jungle war. Stirling's original belief that a small elite force could achieve results out of all proportion to its size was proved correct a second time. As the British Empire disintegrated, the SAS were involved in guerrilla wars from Asian
jungles to the Middle East. From 1969 the regiment was committed to action much closer to home, as handfuls of men were detached to Northern Ireland. SAS involvement was on a small scale until Prime Minister Harold Wilson publicly announced in January 1976, that he was sending in the SAS. This was without reference to the regiment, which had very few men available at the time. A counter-terrorist role was developed in response to the massacre of Israeli athletes in Munich during the 1972 Olympic Games. In 1980 the world saw the SAS in action for the first time when they were unknowingly filmed storming the Iranian Embassy in London, releasing the hostages and executing all but one of the terrorists. Later the SAS were again at the centre of controversy for the assassination of civilians suspected of being members of the IRA in Gibraltar, a move which had the full backing of the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, though not the British press, most notably Thames Television which produced a documentary entitled 'Death on the Rock',
a program many believe led to Thames losing their broadcast license shortly afterwards.
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Splash was the KGB codename for an explosion.
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Splint-armour was a kind of armour made of several overlapping plates. It never proved very popular as the convexity of the breastplate would not allow the body to bend unless the plates were made to overlap upwards, and this made them liable to be ripped off by an assailant's weapon.
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A spontoon was a kind of half-pike, or halberd, formerly borne by inferior officers of the British infantry, and used in giving signals to the soldiers.
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The Sportsmen's Battalion was a popular name given to the 23rd and 24th battalions of the Royal Fusiliers regiment during the Great War. The battalions were raised in 1914 largely through the efforts of a Mrs E Cunliffe-Owen, and were composed of men practised in sport and athletics. During the Great War about 7,000 men passed through the battalions.
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A spring gun is a weapon designed for the defence of a house or land against trespassers and burglars. It is so placed and contrived as to be discharged by the action of the intruder. Rifles were used as spring guns for the defence of blockhouses and barbed-wire during the Boer War.
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In fortifications, a spur is a wall that crosses a part of a rampart and joins to an inner wall.
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A squad is a military organisation of infantry subordinate to a platoon. It contains between 6 and 14 men and is sometimes divided into two or more sections.
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A squadron is a subordinate division of a cavalry regiment corresponding to the company of an infantry battalion. In the navy, a squadron is part of a division or a group of ships detailed for special service. Since the advent of Aircraft, the term has also been adopted by the Air Force.
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A squib is a small, tubular explosive charge. Some squibs were used as early hand grenades, others as a charge used in blasting, and a third type as a small torpedo to ignite a main torpedo.
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A stack of arms is a number of rifles set up together, with the bayonets or barrels crossing one another, forming a sort of conical self-supporting pile.
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A stadiametric gun sight is one with mil markings placed on the sight to help the gunner estimate the range of a target.
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Staff corporal is a non-commissioned rank in the British Army above that of staff sergeant and below that of warrant officer.
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The Staffordshire Regiment (the Prince of Wales') is a British infantry regiment incorporating the former South and North Staffordshire Regiments, which were amalgamated in 1959. Its origins go back to 1705 when the 38th Foot (later 1st South Staffords) was raised at Lichfield in the King's Head public house and was known as Lillingston's Regiment. The 64th Foot (later 1st North Staffords) was raised in 1756 and the 80th (Staffordshire Volunteers) in 1793. The 98th was raised and disbanded on five occasions between 1760 and 1818. It was finally reformed in 1824 and became 2nd North Staffords in 1881. The Depot for the South (38th & 80th) and North (64th & 98th) Staffords was established at the newly built Whittington Barracks in 1881. The North Staffords adopted the title ' The Prince of Wales's' from the 98th Foot, which had it conferred in 1876 by Queen Victoria, although the title had been held by a previous 98th in 1805. All four original regiments spent much of their time propping up the Empire and one or more
were involved in the American War of Independence, Napoleonic Wars (Sphinx carried on Regimental Colour for 1801), Opium Wars (Dragon carried on Regimental Colour), Sikh Wars, Crimea, Indian Mutiny, Zulu War, Egypt and Sudan and the Boer War. There were 35 Staffordshire battalions in the Great War and 17 in the Second World War. Thirteen members of the Regiment have won the Victoria Cross, including LCpl Coltman VC, DCM & Bar (a stretcher bearer who was the most decorated other rank in the Great War), Major Cain and LSgt Baskeyfield at Arnhem and Lt Cairns with the Chindits.
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A Star fort is a fortification surrounded on the exterior with projecting angles hence the name.
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A stick grenade is a type of hand grenade in which the body is attached to a wooden handle of moderate length. Before the Great War the only hand grenade supplied to the British army was of the stick type. The body was built up from sheet brass and secured by screws to a wooden block into which a cane handle of about 35 cm length was fixed. A streamer tail was tied on just above the hand grip. The body carried a segmented cast-iron ring to provide shrapnel, and was filled with cast lyddite, while an inner case contained picric powder to act as a primer. Just before the grenade was required for use, the detonator was inserted and the safety pin withdrawn. The grenade required to strike an object nose-on to detonate, the force of the strike causing the striker to be driven down and the bomb exploded.
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The stiletto was a tiny dagger with a straight, short, cross-guard first produced in Italy during the 16th century.
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The stimuli was a Roman anti-personnel boobytrap weapon, similar to a modern anti-personnel mine. The stimuli comprised a heavy, tapered wooden stake about 20 cm in length and about 8 cm in diameter at the top into which was fixed a long, thin, barbed iron spike about 20 cm in length. This was then secured into the ground with the intention that a running enemy soldier, upon standing upon it would drive the barbed metal spike through his foot, the barb preventing easy extraction, thereby disabling the soldier who at best would have to rip his foot clear leaving a very serious wound.
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A stink-ball was an early gas grenade comprised of a preparation of pitch, rosin, nitre, gunpowder, colophony, asafoetida and other offensive and suffocating ingredients placed in earthen jars. They were used in naval warfare, being thrown at close quarters onto the enemy's decks.
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Stratarithmetry is the art of drawing up an army, or any given number of men, in any geometrical figure, or of estimating or expressing the number of men in such a figure.
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A strategic point is any point or region in the theatre or warlike operations which affords to its possessor an advantage over his opponent, such as a mountain pass, a junction of rivers or roads, a fortress, etc.
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Subaltern refers to ranking as a junior officer; being below the rank of captain; as for example, a subaltern officer.
Research Subaltern
The Suffolk Regiment was a British army infantry unit raised in east Suffolk in 1685 and named the 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot in 1782, whereupon it became known as the 'Old Dozen'. It won its badge of a castle and key for services rendered during the Siege of Gibraltar during 1779 to 1783.
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Support arms is a command in the manual of arms in response to which the piece is held vertically at the shoulder, with the hammer resting on the left forearm, which is passed horizontally across the body in front.
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A suspension of arms is a short truce or cessation of operations agreed on by the commanders of contending armies, as for burying the dead, making a proposal for surrender or for peace, etc.
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In fortifications a swallowtail or priestcap is an outwork with converging sides, its head or front forming a re-entrant angle resembling a swallow's tail.
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The Swiss Guards or Papal Guards is a name given to a force of some 120 officers and men of Swiss nationality employed by the Pope as mainly ceremonial guards at the Vatican palace.
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The Swiss Guards were a regiment of bodyguards to the French throne raised in 1616 under the title Les Gardes du Roi. The Swiss Guards distinguished themselves during the French revolution with their loyalty and devotion to Louis XVI, which resulted in them being disarmed and massacred after they had resisted the mob which invaded the Tuileries on August the 10th 1792.
Research Swiss Guards (2)
A sword is an offensive weapon designed for cutting and, or, thrusting. A sword consists essentially of a long straight or curved blade - which may or may not be sharpened on one or both edges - with a handle or hilt and a cross-guard and often a sharp point.
A sword may be specialised as a thrusting weapon, such as the rapier, specialised as a hacking weapon such as the Indian talwar, or a general purpose weapon suitable both for hacking and thrusting, such as the sabre. Mounted soldiers typically preferred a sword suitable for hacking, while for close combat the duality of a general purpose sword was preferred by foot soldiers until the advent of armour which rendered the thrusting approach ineffective. For duelling the thrusting only rapier sword was preferred and is still used in the sport of fencing.
In mediaeval times swords were extremely expensive and rarely used in battle because of the brittleness of the blade. Rather they were carried as an adornment of status and wealth. Because mediaeval swords were so fragile and so expensive - costing the equivalent of several years salary for many ordinary people - their owners would use a battle axe in times of war rather than the sword. The Hollywood notion of mediaeval knights duelling with broadswords is a romantic myth, the reality would be more likely they were braining each other with maces or short handled axes. A mediaeval sword which did survive its owner would be handed down as a valuable family heirloom.
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Abbreviations
Warfare
