parachute star-shell a parachute carrying a light to illuminate troop movements in the dark.
parade-ground soldiering ceremonial formation in dress uniforms.
parapet a wall or bank used to screen troops from frontal enemy fire.
pill-box a low, enclosed gun emplacement of concrete and steel.
pince-nez eyeglasses without temples, kept in place by a spring gripping the bridge of the nose.
pioneer dump a supply source for the pioneers; here, a supply source for the infantrymen who are preparing the road for marching columns.
piss-a-bed [Slang] a person who is unable to control urination, particularly during sleep.
Plato to Goethe Plato (427?–347? B.C.) was a Greek philosopher and Goethe (1749–1832) a German poet and dramatist; the passage indicates the education Paul and his peers had, covering everything from ancient Greek philosophy to the height of German Romanticism.
pocket-torch [British] a flashlight.
Poetic League of Göttingen a spontaneous Göttingen University league of appreciators of romantic poetry organized in 1771, similar to the "Dead Poet's Society." By 1775, the students eventually drifted apart after many of them graduated.
possy a location, or position.
pothooks S-shaped hooks for hanging pots or kettles over a fire.
Prussians people of a historical region of northern Germany, on the Baltic. The Prussian ruling class was regarded as harsh in discipline, militaristic, arrogant, etc.
pushing up daisies [Slang] dead and buried.
quartermaster an officer whose duty it is to provide troops with quarters, clothing, equipment, and so on.
quids pieces of chewing tobacco.
regiments military units consisting of two or more battalions and forming a basic element of a division.
reinforcement-depot a central receiving headquarters where supplies are delivered for distribution to the field.
