Not Overlord, but Hornpipe apparently!

Discussion in 'NW Europe' started by RemeDesertRat, Dec 27, 2014.

  1. RemeDesertRat

    RemeDesertRat Very Senior Member

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  2. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

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  3. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    There are long lists of codewords for various aspects of D Day. I have been trawling through some but I think Mr Jinks has it right. The heading on the document suggests it was a codeword for the Airborne and AA aspects of the operation.

    Mike.
     
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  4. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    I notice the story has headlines in quite a few `news` papers in one it has a quote from the expert saying the `codeword` is not mentioned in any books on the subject yet a quick flick through the google version of "The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (The Liberation Trilogy)" reveals the following text;-
    " The coded radio message for a one-day postponement—hornpipe bowsprit—reached many British troop convoys before they weighed anchor. Forces out of Falmouth had travelled only half a mile beyond the antisubmarine nets when frantic blinkering from shore brought them back."


    Kyle
     
  5. RemeDesertRat

    RemeDesertRat Very Senior Member

    Its on The Antiques Roadshow tomorrow, Sun 28th. Will have a look and see what the 'experts' say. (perhaps if they wanted d-day experts they should have posted here? :)
     
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  6. DannyM

    DannyM Member

    Hi,
    Below is a photos of the document mentioned plus the preceding page that explains the use of the codewords as per Mr Jinks link.

    Apologies for the quality of the photos, they were taken back in 2006 on the first digital camera I had.

    Regards

    Danny

    postponement  ed.jpg postponement  2  ed.jpg
     
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  7. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    The key word for me is Exercise. There's a big difference between Exercise and Operation.
     
  8. Sheldrake

    Sheldrake All over the place....

    Exactly. This was just a layer of security.

    It was the name of an Exercise which was a cover for Operation Overlord, which allowed for logistic and administrative arrangements to be made without telling anyone more than they needed to know.

    Maps used for planning were printed with bogus place names for the section of Normandy. Here is a section of the Bogus "Capri" Mapsheet with "Berlin," "Chicago" and "Toronto"
     

    Attached Files:

  9. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    He did big it up a bit on the Road Show didn't he. Definitely a nice piece of history to have in the family but worth a £1,000? o_O

    I noticed earlier they told a young lad his grandfathers DFC, campaign medals and log book was worth £3,500 - I'm no expert but I'd expect that to go for a bit more than that at auction.
     
  10. SDP

    SDP Incurable Cometoholic

    Interesting. That map shows part of the Bayeux to Caen road in the area of Martragny, Loucelles, Putot en Bassin and down towards Audrieu and Point 103.

    Got any more of these maps?
     
  11. Sheldrake

    Sheldrake All over the place....

    Sorry its the only map sheet I have ever seen. It was in the Firepower library.
     
  12. SDP

    SDP Incurable Cometoholic

    Thanks.
     

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