Office of the Historian

List of abbreviations, symbols, and code names

Editor’s Note.—This list does not include standard abbreviations in common usage; unusual abbreviations of rare occurrence which are clarified at appropriate points; and those abbreviations and contractions which, although uncommon, are understandable from the context.

  • Abwehr, the Foreign Intelligence Service of the High Command of the German Armed Forces, dealing with counterintelligence
  • A–C, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Department of State
  • AC, Allied Council; Allied Commission
  • ACA, Allied Control Authority; Allied Commission for Austria
  • ACC, Allied Control Council; Allied Control Commission
  • ACI, Advisory Council for Italy
  • AEG, Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft (Universal Electricity Company in Germany)
  • AFHQ, Allied Force Headquarters
  • AFL, American Federation of Labor
  • AGWar, Adjutant General, War Department
  • AICC, All India Congress Committee
  • Alcom, Allied Commission
  • AMG, Allied Military Government
  • AMVat, American Mission Vatican
  • AP, Associated Press
  • APO, Army Post Office
  • ATC, Air Transport Command
  • AV, Aviation Division, Department of State
  • BOAC, British Overseas Airways Corporation
  • CAA, Civil Aeronautics Administration; Civil Aeronautics Authority
  • CAB, Civil Aeronautics Board
  • CAD, Civil Affairs Division, War Department
  • CCAC, Combined Civil Affairs Committee
  • CCS, Combined Chiefs of Staff
  • CDU, Christlich-Demokratische Union (Christian Democratic Union), a German political party
  • CE, Division of Central European Affairs, Department of State
  • CFM, Council of Foreign Ministers
  • CG, Commanding General
  • CGT, Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Labor, French)
  • CIC, Counter Intelligence Corps, U.S. Army
  • CIO, Congress of Industrial Organizations
  • cirtel, circular telegram
  • CMF, Central Mediterranean Force (British)
  • ComGenMed, Commanding General, Mediterranean Theater of Operations (U.S.)
  • Comintern, (Third) Communist International
  • CORC, Coordinating Committee (Allied Control Council for Germany)
  • CP, Communist Party
  • CP, Division of Commercial Policy, Department of State
  • CRC, Central Rhine Commission
  • CSU, Christlich-Soziale Union (Christian Social Union); a German political party centered in Bavaria
  • DDSG, Donau Dampfschiffahrts Gesellschaft (Danubian Steamship Company)
  • Delsec, indicator for telegrams from the United States Delegation to the Council of Foreign Ministers, or the Paris Peace Conference, at times headed by the Secretary of State
  • Deptel, Department’s telegram
  • DLL, Decreto legge luogotenenziale (Decree Law of Lieutenant General of the Realm)
  • DP, Displaced Person
  • DPD, Deutsche Presse Dienst (German Press Service, British Zone)
  • ECEFP, Executive Committee on Economic Foreign Policy
  • ECITO, European Central Inland Transport Organization
  • ECO, European Coal Organization
  • ECOSOC, Economic and Social Council (UN)
  • ED, Division of Investment and Economic Development, Department of State
  • EE, Division of Eastern European Affairs, Department of State
  • EECE, Emergency Economic Committee, Europe
  • ESC, Central Secretariat of the Secretary of State’s Staff Committee
  • ESP, Office of Economic Security Policy, Department of State
  • EUR, Office of European Affairs, Department of State
  • Fan, military communications indicator
  • FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization (UN)
  • f.a.s., free alongside ship
  • FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • FDGB, Freier Deutscher Gewerk-schaftsbund (Free German Trade Union Association)
  • FLC, Foreign Liquidation Commissioner
  • FN, Division of Financial Affairs, Department of State
  • FonOff, Foreign Office
  • G–2, Intelligence section of the general staff of a large unit
  • G–5, Civil affairs section of the general staff of a large unit
  • GA, Division of German and Austrian Economic Affairs, Department of State
  • GA, General Assembly (UN)
  • GOI, Government of India
  • GSC, General Staff Corps
  • IA & C, Internal Affairs and Communications Directorate, Allied Control Council for Germany
  • IARA, Inter-Allied Reparation Agency
  • IATA, International Air Transport Association
  • ICAO, International Civil Aviation Organization (UN)
  • IEFC, International Emergency Food Council
  • IGC, Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees
  • ILO, International Labor Organization
  • IMAS, Italian Military Affairs Section, AFHQ
  • INS, International News Service
  • IRNA, International Rhine Navigation Administration
  • IRO, International Refugee Organization
  • IRWC, International Rhine Working Committee
  • ITP, Office of International Trade Policy, Department of State
  • IWT, Inland Water Transport
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • JDC, Joint Distribution Committee (American Jewish)
  • JIOA, Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency
  • KPD, Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (German Communist Party)
  • KRN, Krajowa Rada Narodowa (Polish National Council of the Homeland)
  • L of C, Lines of Communication
  • LDP, Liberal-Demokratische Partei (German Liberal Democratic Party)
  • MEA, Mission for Economic Affairs (London)
  • MG, Military Government
  • MMIA, Military Mission to the Italian Army
  • MRP, Mouvement Républicain Populaire (French political party)
  • MTOUSA, Mediterranean Theater of Operations, U.S. Army
  • mytel, my telegram
  • NAC, National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Matters
  • Naf, Communications indicator for messages from the Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean, to the Combined Chiefs of Staff
  • NARS, National Archives and Records Service
  • NHA, National Housing Agency
  • Niact, Communications indicator requiring attention by the recipient at any time of the day or night
  • NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party)
  • NWFP, North West Frontier Province (India)
  • ODT, Office of Defense Transportation
  • OFLC, Office of Foreign Liquidation Commissioner
  • OMGUS, Office of Military Government of the United States for Germany
  • OPD, Operations Division, War Department
  • OSS, Office of Strategic Services
  • ourtel, our telegram
  • PAA, Pan American Airways
  • Paperclip, code name referring to interim program for the short-term exploitation in the United States of selected German and Austrian specialists in science and technology
  • PICAO, Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization
  • PW, Prisoner of War
  • RAF, Royal Air Force (Great Britain)
  • RCA, Radio Corporation of America
  • RDR, Reparation, Deliveries, and Restitution Directorate of the Allied Control Council for Germany
  • refDeptel, reference Department’s telegram
  • RFC, Reconstruction Finance Corporation
  • RIN, Royal Indian Navy
  • RIWC, Rhine Interim Working Committee
  • SACMED, Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean
  • SAG, Sowjetische Aktiengesellschaften (Soviet Industrial Corporations or Trusts)
  • SC, Security Council (UN)
  • SD, Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service of the National Socialist Elite Guard in Germany)
  • Secdel, indicator for telegrams to the United States Delegation to the Council of Foreign Ministers, or the Paris Peace Conference, at times headed by the Secretary of State
  • SED, Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (German Socialist Unity Party)
  • SEPD, Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (German Socialist Unity Party), usually designated SED
  • SfAmb, Secret for the Ambassador
  • SHAEF, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force
  • SNCF, Société Rationale des Chemins de Fer (French National Railroad Authority)
  • SPD, Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (German Social Democratic Party)
  • SPD, Special Projects Division, Department of State
  • SS, Schutzstaffeln (National Socialist Elite Guard of Germany)
  • SSU, Strategic Services Unit
  • SWNCC, State–War–Navy coordinating Committee
  • SYG, Secretary General (UN)
  • Tam, military communications indicator
  • Tass, Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, official communication agency of the Soviet Government
  • TU, Trade Union
  • TVA, Tennessee Valley Authority
  • UNO, United Nations Organization
  • UP, United Press
  • UNRRA, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
  • urad, your radiogram
  • urtel, your telegram
  • USAFE, United States Army Forces, Europe
  • USFA, United States Forces in Austria
  • USFET, United States Forces, European Theater
  • USPolAd, United States Political Adviser (for Germany)
  • V–E Day, the day of Allied victory in Europe
  • V–J Day, the day of Japanese capitulation
  • VKF, Vereinigte Kugellagerfabriken A.G. (United Ball Bearing Factories, A[ktien] G[esellschaft] Incorporated)
  • WarCAD, War Department, Civil Affairs Division
  • WDSCA, War Department Staff Civil Affairs
  • WDGS, War Department General Staff