| pinnace | a small boat carried on a large ship, used to carry goods and people from the ship to the shore |
| plateau | a large area of high and fairly flat land |
| plebiscite | a direct vote by the people of a country or region in which they say whether they agree or disagree with a particular policy |
| prisoners of war | a person who is held captive by a belligerent power, such as their enemy, during or after an armed conflict |
| promontory | a cliff or high point of land that points out into the sea |
| Protection Acts | state-based laws of the 1800s and 1900s that forced First Australians to live under the control of a legal protector who managed many aspects of their lives, such as employment and marriage |
| Protestant | a Christian who belongs to the branch of the Christian church that separated from the Catholic Church in the 16th century |
| protocol | a system of rules about the correct way to act in formal situations |
| quarantine | method of keeping some people or animals separate from others for a set period of time, usually to prevent spread of disease in a population |
| rating | a junior enlisted member of a navy who is not a warrant officer or commissioned officer |
| reconnaissance | an activity to obtain military information about a place by sending soldiers or planes there or by using satellite data |
| referendum | a national vote for people to decide whether or not they agree with a policy |
| reinforcements | extra people in a military force who are sent to help or to replace those who have been killed or wounded |
| reparation | a sum of money paid after a war by the defeated country for the damage and injuries it caused in other countries |
| repatriation | returning a veteran home after they have been injured, become sick or been killed in another country; also refers to returning a military force when conflict has ceased |
| sabotage | to deliberately damage or destroy an object during a war |
| salvage | to save useful or valuable items from a damaged ship or building |
| salvo | the firing of several guns or missiles at the same time in a battle |
| sapper | a soldier whose job is to do building, digging and similar construction work |
| scapegoat | a person who is publicly blamed for something bad that has happened, even though it was not their fault |
| screening | a military tactic that uses either a body of cavalry to screen the advance of an attacking infantry force or a naval force to protect the main body of ships |
| scuttle | to sink a ship deliberately |
| serge | a strong woollen cloth used to make clothes, such as nurses' uniform dresses |
| shell | a metal container full of an explosive substance and fired from a large gun; (verb) to fire shells at something from a large gun - shelled, shelling, shellfire |
| shell shock | a confused or nervous mental condition of people who have been under fire in a war |
| shrapnel | consists of small pieces of metal that are scattered from exploding bombs or shells |
| siege | a military tactic where soldiers surround a place in an attempt to force its people to come out or give up control of the place |
| signaller | a radio or telephone operator in the armed forces who relays messages from the battle field to headquarters, governments or non-government organisations |
| skirmish | a small short-lived military battle |
| smoke shell | a shell filled with white phosphorus fired by artillery to screen advancing troops |
| sniper | a person who shoots at people from a hidden position |
| Somme | a river in northern France where battles took place during World War I |
| squalor | very dirty, unpleasant conditions |
| stalemate | a military situation where two opposing forces find that further action is either impossible or pointless |
| stall | a compartment in a stable or shed for confining or feeding an animal |
| Stolen Generations | describes the children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were forcibly removed from their families from the mid-1800s to the 1970s under various federal and state laws |
| strafe | to attack a place from an aircraft by flying low and firing a lot of bullets - also 'ground strafing' |
| stretcher case | someone who has to be taken away on a stretcher because they are too injured or sick to walk |
| strong-point | a crucial point in a defensive position, usually strongly fortified and heavily armed, and protected by other positions nearby |
| surrender | to give up to an enemy or to relinquish control or power over something |
| theatre of | area or region where a war or conflict is happening, on land, on the sea or in the sky |
| torpedo | a bomb that is shaped like a tube and travels under water |
| tourniquet | a strip of cloth tied tightly around an injured arm or leg to stop bleeding |
| tow | a towboat or tug used for pushing a barge or group of barges |
| transport | a military vehicle, especially a ship or plane, that's used to carry soldiers or equipment |
| traverse | a protective bank or other barrier across a trench |
| treaty | a written agreement between countries to show they agree a particular action or to help each other |
| triage | the practice of sorting battle casualties (sick and wounded people) into categories of priority for treatment |
| troopship | a ship that carries a large number of soldiers from one place to another |
| Turk | a person from the principal ethnic group of Turkey or, formerly, the Ottoman Empire; a Turkic-speaking person |