The Children’s Overseas Reception Board, or CORB, was a government program that evacuated British children to Commonwealth nations like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa during World War II. The program was controversial; some considered evacuating children to be defeatist, and others worried about the risks children faced sailing through dangerous waters. Furthermore, families had to send their children away with no idea when they would see them again. In total, three ships carrying CORB children were hit by German torpedoes, but the City of Benares was by far the most catastrophic loss. After the ship was sank, the CORB program was discontinued.

A dogfight is air-to-air combat between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first became a popular fighting strategy during World War I, when small, easy-to-maneuver aircraft were first widely employed by militaries. In World War II, many planes dropping bombs were escorted by fighter jets that would engage in dogfights with opposing planes.

U-boat is an anglicization of the German U-boot, a shortened form of Unterseeboot (undersea boat). These naval submarines were used by the German military during the First and Second World Wars to prevent merchant ships from reaching the United Kingdom with supplies.