Archangel seaport in northwestern Russia, at the mouth of the Northern Dvina River. It is icebound for six months every year.
Burma Road "Burma," the old name for Myanmar, country in southeast Asia on the Indochinese peninsula. Here, the supply route for the Allies beginning in Burma and extending far into China, where American and Chinese troops fought the Japanese.
Big Three the leaders of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, the most powerful Allied nations in World War II.
Bolsheviks originally, a member of a majority faction (Bolsheviki) of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party, which formed the Communist Party after seizing power in the 1917 Revolution. Here, Finny means the Soviet Union.
Free French inhabitants of the part of France and its colonies not invaded by Germany in 1940.
de Gaulle Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970), French general and statesman; president of France (1959–69). Here, the reference is to de Gaulle's leadership of the Free French during World War II.
Giraud Henri Honore Henri Honore Giraud (1879–1949), French general, de Gaulle's rival for leadership of the Free French.
Ruhr river in west central Germany, flowing west into the Rhine; major coal-mining and industrial region centered in the valley of this river. Here, it refers to the industrial region heavily bombed by the Allies in World War II.
Scharnhorst a German battleship torpedoed by British destroyers and then sunk by the battleship Duke of York in December, 1943.
Stalingrad old name of Volgograd, city in the south central part of the Soviet Union, scene of a decisive Soviet victory (1943) over German troops in World War II.
Tunisian campaign Tunisia is a country in north Africa, on the Mediterranean. The Tunisian campaign was the series of battles between the Allied forces and the combined German and Italian forces in North Africa (January to May, 1943).
Sad Sack (slang) a person who means well but is incompetent, ineffective, etc., and is consistently in trouble. Here, the kind of person Gene fears he might become under the pressure of combat.
