- Fallschirmjäger
- German paratroopers. Part of the Luftwaffe.
- Fasces
- Bound bundle of birch-wooden rods. Symbol of the Italian fascists.
- Fascism
- Original name of the antidemocratic political movement in Italy under command of dictator “Il Duce” Benito Mussolini. Mussolini was the leader of Italy from 1922 to 1943. Nowadays the term fascism is a much used term for antidemocratic political movements. Sometimes German national socialism is called fascism.
- February strike
- Anti-German demonstration in the Netherlands during 25 and 26 February 1941. Direct cause was the violent razzia by the WA and German soldiers in the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam.
- Feuerschutzpolizei
- “Fire protection police”. Firefighting and police force in the Third Reich. Like many other police departments it was part of the Ordnungspolizei.
- Firestorm
- Happened spontaneously in Hamburg in 1943. This was the ultimate goal of each bombardment. The firestorm could no longer be extinguished and burned down everything in its path. Surface temparatures of 800-1,000 degrees Celcius and wind speeds upto 240 km/hour, so double hurricane force, were reported. Bomber Command only succeeded a few times in creating the desired firestorm, that is in Hamburg on 27 July 1943, Kassel on the 22 October 1943, Darmstadt on 11 September 1944 and Dresden on 13-14 February 1945. Bomber Command always selected the medieval city centres (Altstadt) as target because of the many high wooden buildings and narrow streets.
- First World War
- Took place from 1914 till 1918 and is also named The Great War. The conflict started because of increased nationalism, militarism and neo-colonialism in Europe. Two alliances battled one another during the 4-year war, which after a dynamic start, resulted into static trench warfare. The belligerents were the Triple Alliance (consisting of Great-Britain, France, and Russia; later enlarged by Italy and the USA, amongst others) on the one hand and the Central Powers (consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman empire) on the other hand. The war was characterized by the huge number of casualties and the use of many new weapons (flamethrowers, aircraft, poison gas, tanks). The war ended in 1918 when Germany and its allies surrendered unconditionally.
- Flak
- Flieger-/Flugabwehrkanone. German anti-aircraft guns.
- Fleet in Being
- A war fleet preventing battle but by its presence and force forcing the enemy to take measures by allocating forces to keep an eye on them thus preventing those forces from being deployed elsewhere.
- Flying Fortress
- Nickname for the Boeing B-17 heavy bomber, because of its heavy defensive armament.
- FOD
- Finding of death. Military abbreviation meaning declared dead.
- Food Stamps
- Vouchers that allowed you to receive restricted quantities of food due to shortage of food.
- Foreign Legion
- French army unit whose soldiers and officers were foreign mercenaries. Also in Spain a foreign legion is part of the military forces.
- Forgotten Front
- Name for the British war in Burma.
- Four Year Plan
- A German economic plan focussing at all sectors of the economy whereby established production goals had to be achieved in four years time.
- Freikorps
- German paramilitary units established directly after the Great War by former front soldiers. These groups were often named after their commander. Freikorps formed the basis of the eventual SA or Sturmabteilung.
- Freya
- German long range radar named after a Germanic goddess. Was used as an early warning system for incoming bombers. Could detect aircraft from take-off.
- Front
- Largest Soviet ground formation. It was attached to a certain area which gave its name to the units involved. For instance the Voronezh front.
- Fuselier
- In World War 2 the name of an infantry man armed with a rifle in, among others, the Dutch and Belgian armies. The soldiers of the Dutch guards regiment “Prinses Irene” are still called fusiliers.
- Führer
- German word for leader. During his reign of power Adolf Hitler was Führer of Nazi Germany.
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