23rd Field Regiment, RCA, 83rd Artillery Division

[John McGillivray]

I strongly suggest that you read the three books by George G. Blackburn; “Where the Hell are the Guns”, “The Guns of Normandy” and “The Guns of Victory. The author was a FOO in the 4th Field Regiment RCA, and his books give a very good description of life in an Artillery Regiment during the Second World War.

LSR – Lake Superior Regiment which was the Motor regiment of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division.

RQM – Regimental Quarter Master

RHQ- Regimental Head Quarters

Mike, Uncle and Victor – These are code words used to indicate the size of the fire mission. Mike Target means that the target will be engaged by all of the guns in the Regiment (i.e. all three batteries or 24 guns). Uncle Target is a Divisional Target (i.e. all of the guns in the Division). Victor Target is calling all of the guns in the corps.

AP – Armoured Piercing. It is the type of ammo used against tanks.

BQMS – Battery Quarter Master Sergeant

CPO and ACPO – Command Post Officer and Assistant Command Post Officer.

CCRA - Commander Corps Royal Artillery

CRA – Commander Royal Artillery

RA – Royal Artillery – RCA – Royal Canadian Artillery

COMPO Rations – was the basic food rations issued to British and Canadian troops in the field.

LO – Liaison officer