List of abbreviations, symbols, and code names

Editor’s Note.—This list does not include standard abbreviations in common usage or unusual abbreviations of rare occurrence which are clarified in footnotes to the text.

  • A–26, twin-engine light bomber aircraft (Invader) (United States)
  • AA, anti-aircraft
  • Abraham, Quebec
  • A/c, aircraft
  • ACV, auxiliary aircraft carrier or tender
  • AEC, Atomic Energy Commission (United States)
  • AFHQ, Allied Force Headquarters at Algiers
  • AFofL, American Federation of Labor
  • AGC, combined operations communications headquarters ship
  • AGWar, Adjutant General, War Department (United States)
  • AK, cargo ship (including ships of the Liberty and Victory classes)
  • AKA, cargo vessel, attack
  • Alacrity, plan for the entry of a British force into the Azores on October 8, 1943
  • Alcove, communications indicator used on telegrams from the British Government in London to the British Delegation attending the Third Washington Conference
  • Alusna, United States Naval Attaché
  • Amco, the United States telephone exchange established at the Citadel, Quebec
  • AMG, Allied Military Government
  • AMGOT, Allied Military Government in Occupied Territories
  • Anakim, Allied plan to retake Burma and open the line of communications to China through the port of Rangoon
  • Anfa, the Casablanca Conference, January 14–24, 1943
  • AOC-in-C, Air Officer Commanding in Chief
  • AP, transport ship, armor piercing
  • APA, transport, attack
  • APD, high-speed troop transport
  • Arcadia, the First Washington Conference, December 1941–January 1942
  • Armd, armoured
  • A/S, anti-submarine
  • ASW, anti-submarine warfare
  • AT, ocean tug
  • AT(E), Administration of Enemy Territories (Europe)
  • ATR, ocean tug, rescue
  • AUS, Army of the United States
  • Avalanche, Allied amphibious assault at Salerno
  • B,Baker” time (the local time in Algiers)
  • B–17, four-engine heavy bomber aircraft (Flying Fortress) (United States)
  • B–17 F, four-engine heavy bomber aircraft (Flying Fortress, Series F) (United States)
  • B–24, four-engine heavy bomber aircraft (Liberator) (United States)
  • B–24 C and D, four-engine heavy bomber aircraft (Liberator, Series C and D) (United States)
  • B–25, twin-engine medium bomber aircraft (Mitchell) (United States)
  • B–29, four-engine very heavy bomber aircraft (Superfortress) (United States)
  • Backbone, plan for possible military operations against Spanish Morocco
  • Baker, military expression for the letter B
  • Barracuda, plan for an Allied sea and airborne assault on Naples
  • Baytown, British invasion of the Calabrian coast opposite Messina
  • BB, battleship
  • Bigot, special security procedure for future operations
  • Black, communications indicator used on telegrams sent to the White House Map Room by President Roosevelt when the latter was away from Washington
  • BMWT, British Ministry of War Transport
  • BOAC, British Overseas Airways Corporation
  • Bolero, build-up of United States forces and supplies in the United Kingdom for a cross-Channel attack; sometimes used to refer to the attack itself
  • Bosco, United States Army communications center at the Chateau Frontenac, Quebec; communications indicator used on certain messages handled by that center
  • Bosco–in, communications indicator used on incoming messages handled by the United States Army communications center at the Chateau Frontenac, Quebec
  • Bracken, the Azores
  • Brimstone, plan for the capture of Sardinia
  • Brisk, plan for acquiring bases in the Azores
  • Bullfrog, plan for an operation against the Arakan coast in Burma
  • Buttress, British operation against the toe of Italy
  • C–47, twin-engine transport aircraft (Skytrain) (United States)
  • CA, heavy cruiser
  • Cannibal, British offensive against Akyab in 1943
  • Cartwheel, converging drives on Rabaul by forces from the South Pacific and Southwest Pacific areas
  • Catalina, twin-engine naval patrol bomber aircraft (PB2B or PBY) (United States)
  • Cav, cavalry
  • CC, military communications indicator
  • CCAC, Combined Civil Affairs Committee (United States-British)
  • CC of S, Combined Chiefs of Staff (United States-British)
  • CCOS, Combined Chiefs of Staff (United States-British)
  • CCS, Combined Chiefs of Staff (United States-British); document symbol used by the Combined Chiefs of Staff
  • CCWD, classified communication, War Department
  • CG, Commanding General; Consul General
  • CGS, military communications indicator
  • Charlie, military expression for the letter C
  • Churchill, heavy tank (British)
  • CIC, Combined Intelligence Committee (United States-British); document symbol used by the Combined Intelligence Committee
  • CIGS, Chief of the Imperial General Staff (British)
  • CinC, Commander in Chief
  • CIO, Congress of Industrial Organizations (United States)
  • CKS, Chiang Kai-shek
  • CL, light cruiser
  • CM–in, classified message, incoming
  • Colonel Warden, Prime Minister Churchill
  • ComAirLant, Commander, Air Forces, Atlantic Area
  • CominCh, Commander in Chief
  • Concrete, communications indicator used on telegrams from the British Government in London to the British Delegation attending the First Quebec Conference
  • COS, Chiefs of Staff (British); document symbol used by the British Chiefs of Staff
  • COSSAC, Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander Designate; document symbol used by COSSAC
  • CPS, Combined Staff Planners (United States-British); document symbol used by the Combined Staff Planners
  • Cromwell, medium tank (British)
  • Cudgel, plan for small-scale operations against the Arakan coast in Burma
  • Culverin, plan for an assault on Sumatra
  • CV, aircraft carrier
  • CVE, aircraft carrier, escort
  • D, day
  • D–1, one day before the date of a planned military operation
  • D+1, D+2, etc., one, two, etc., days after the date of a planned military operation
  • DD, destroyer
  • D Day, the date of a planned military operation
  • DE, destroyer escort
  • Div(s), division(s)
  • DMI, Director(ate) of Military Intelligence, War Office (British)
  • DNB, German News Agency (owned by the German Ministry of Propaganda)
  • DSIRN, a section of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (British)
  • DUKW, 2½-ton amphibian truck
  • EAM, National Liberation Front (Greek)
  • E–boat, anti-submarine naval craft
  • ETO, European Theater of Operations
  • Eu, Division of European Affairs, Department of State (United States)
  • EW, European War
  • Eyes Only, communications indicator used on messages which were to receive extremely limited distribution
  • Fan, communications indicator used on messages from the Combined Chiefs of Staff to Allied Force Headquarters at Algiers
  • FCB, Federal Communication Board (United States)
  • FE, Division of Far Eastern Affairs, Department of State (United States)
  • FEB, Far Eastern Bureau (British)
  • fhcic, reference symbol used by the Commander in Chief, Allied Force Headquarters at Algiers
  • fhcos, reference symbol used by the Chief of Staff, Allied Force Headquarters
  • fhdsc, reference symbol used by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Allied Force Headquarters
  • fhgbi, reference symbol used by the Assistant Chief of Staff (G–2), Allied Force Headquarters
  • fhgct, reference symbol used by the Assistant Chief of Staff (G–3), Allied Force Headquarters
  • Firebrand, plan for the invasion of Corsica
  • FO, Foreign Office (British)
  • Former Naval Person, Prime Minister Churchill
  • Fortune, military communications indicator used by a planning group located in Algiers
  • Freedom, communications indicator used on certain messages to General Eisenhower; Eisenhower’s headquarters at Algiers
  • ftr, fighter
  • FW, file with
  • G–2, G–3, intelligence and operations sections, respectively, of a divisional or higher staff
  • GAF, German Air Force
  • Gestapo, Secret State Police (German)
  • GHQ, General Headquarters
  • Giant 2, plan for an air drop near Rome
  • Goblet, plan for an invasion of Italy at Crotone (Cotrone)
  • GR, general range
  • GRT, gross registered tonnage
  • GSC, General Staff Corps, United States Army
  • H, document symbol used by the Division of Political Studies, Department of State, for policy summaries
  • H2S, radar aid to navigation and target identification (British)
  • Habbakuk, a floating airfield to be used as a substitute for an aircraft carrier
  • Habbakuk I, a floating airfield made of wood
  • Habbakuk II, a large floating airfield made of steel or pykrete (frozen pulp and water)
  • Habbakuk III, a small floating airfield made of steel
  • Hardihood, aid to Turkey
  • HM, His Majesty’s
  • HMG, His Majesty’s (i.e., the British) Government
  • Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily
  • HX, cargo convoy to the United Kingdom from New York or Halifax
  • ICAN, International Commission for Aerial Navigation
  • ICI, Imperial Chemical Industries (British)
  • IE, initial equipment
  • ILO, International Labor Organization
  • Inf, infantry
  • IRA, Irish Republican Army
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States)
  • jg, junior grade
  • JIC, Joint Intelligence Committee; document symbol used by the Joint Intelligence Committee
  • JPS, Joint Planning Staff
  • JP(T), document symbol used by the British Planning Staff
  • Ju 52, transport aircraft (Junkers 52) (German)
  • Juggler, operation against fighter aircraft production complexes at Regensburg and Wiener Neustadt
  • Jupiter, plan for operations in Norway
  • Kkad, communications indicator used on certain telegrams sent to Quebec
  • KMS, cargo convoy from the United Kingdom to Gibraltar
  • Lady Warden, Mrs. Winston S. Churchill
  • LCA, landing craft, assault
  • LCF(L), landing craft, flak, large
  • LCG(L), landing craft, gun, large
  • LCG(M), landing craft, gun, medium
  • LCI(L), landing craft, infantry, large
  • LCM, landing craft, mechanized
  • LCM 3, landing craft, mechanized (Mark III)
  • LCP(L), landing craft, personnel, large
  • LCS(M), landing craft, support, medium
  • LCT, landing craft, tank
  • LCT(2) to LCT(6), landing craft, tank (Mark II to VI)
  • LCT(R), landing craft, tank, rocket
  • Liberator, see B–24
  • Lifebelt, the Azores; plan for an assault on the Azores
  • L of C, line(s) of communications
  • LR, long range
  • LRP, long-range penetration
  • LRPGs, long-range penetration groups
  • LSC, landing ship, carrier, derrick-hoisting
  • LSD, landing ship, dock
  • LSE, landing ship, emergency repair
  • LSH, landing ship, headquarters
  • LSI(H), landing ship, infantry, hand-hoisted boats
  • LSI(L), landing ship, infantry, large
  • LSP, landing ship, personnel
  • LST, landing ship, tank
  • LST(2), landing ship, tank (Mark II)
  • LVT II, landing vehicle, tracked, un-armored (Mark II) (Water Buffalo)
  • LVT(A)II, landing vehicle, tracked, armored (Mark II) (Water Buffalo, canopy type)
  • Manhattan Engineer District, atomic bomb development project
  • MAP, Ministry of Aircraft Production (British)
  • Mariner, see PBM
  • Mat, military communications indicator
  • Maud Committee, scientific committee established to examine fission phenomena (British)
  • Mayson, atomic energy research
  • MC, Medical Corps, United States Navy; Military Cross (British)
  • Me 323, transport aircraft (Messer-schmitt 823) (German)
  • Med, Mediterranean
  • MEW, Ministry of Economic Warfare (British)
  • Min, minutes
  • Miscl, miscellaneous
  • Monkey, communications channel between Italy and Eisenhower’s headquarters
  • Mosquito, twin-engine bomber aircraft (British)
  • Mrs. Warden, Mrs. Winston S. Churchill
  • MT, motor transport
  • Mtg, meeting
  • Musket, projected landing on the heel of Italy near Taranto
  • MVSN, Fascist Militia (Italian)
  • N, night
  • Naf, communications indicator used on telegrams from Allied Force Headquarters at Algiers to the Combined Chiefs of Staff
  • NATO, North African Theater of Operations
  • NATS, Naval Air Transport Service
  • NDRC, National Defense Research Committee (United States)
  • NE, Division of Near Eastern Affairs, Department of State (United States); northeastern
  • NL, naval lighter
  • Notebook, build-up of the air transport route to China
  • Oatmeal, plan for landing in the Azores
  • OBB, old battleship
  • OEW, Office of Economic Warfare (United States)
  • OSRD, Office of Scientific Research and Development (United States)
  • OSS, Office of Strategic Services (United States)
  • Overlord, plan for an Allied cross-Channel invasion of northwest Europe in 1944
  • OVRA, Secret Police (Italian)
  • OWI, Office of War Information (United States)
  • P, document symbol used by the Subcommittee on Political Problems of the Advisory Committee on Postwar Foreign Policy (United States)
  • P–38, twin-engine fighter aircraft (Lightning) (United States)
  • PA/H, Office of the Adviser on Political Relations (Mr. Hornbeck), Department of State (United States)
  • PBM, twin-engine naval patrol bomber aircraft (Mariner) (United States)
  • Pencil, communications indicator used on telegrams to the British Government in London from the British Delegation to the Third Washington Conference
  • P–IO, document symbol used by the Special Subcommittee on International Organization of the Subcommittee on Political Problems of the Advisory Committee on Postwar Foreign Policy (United States)
  • Plough Force, project for training United States and Canadian volunteers for snow operations in northern Norway
  • PM, Prime Minister, i.e., Churchill
  • Pointblank, combined bomber offensive against Germany from the United Kindom
  • PQ, President Roosevelt; Province of Quebec
  • Present Aerial Person, Prime Minister Churchill
  • Priceless, Mediterranean operations following the Allied invasion of Sicily
  • Prime, Prime Minister Churchill
  • PRU, photographic reconnaissance unit
  • PT, motor torpedo boat
  • PW, Pacific War
  • PWE, Psychological Warfare Executive (British)
  • Qtr, quarter
  • Quadrant, First Quebec Conference, August 11–24, 1943; Quebec
  • RAF, Royal Air Force (British)
  • Rankin, plans for a return to the Continent in the event of deterioration of the German position
  • Ravenous, plan for the recapture of northern Burma
  • RCAF, Royal Canadian Air Force
  • RCMP, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  • RDF, radio direction finder
  • Recce, reconnaissance
  • Recn, reconnaissance
  • Reconn, reconnaissance
  • Rept’g, representing
  • RN, Royal Navy (British)
  • RNA, Royal Netherlands Army
  • RNN, Royal Netherlands Navy
  • Roundhammer, plan for a cross-Channel operation intermediate in size between Sledgehammer and Roundup
  • Roundup, plan for a major Allied cross-Channel operation in 1943
  • S, Office of the Secretary of State (United States)
  • S–1, atomic energy research and development
  • SAM, United States ships transferred to British flag on bareboat charter (for seamen and manning)
  • Saucy, limited offensive to reopen a land route from Burma to China
  • SC, cargo convoy to the United Kingdom from Halifax or Sydney, Cape Breton Island
  • SE, single-engine
  • SEF, single-engine fighter
  • Sherman, medium tank (M–4) (United States)
  • Sickle, build-up for a bomber offensive against Germany
  • SIS, Secret Intelligence Service (British)
  • Sledgehammer, plan for a limited cross-Channel attack in 1942
  • Soapsuds, early code word for Tidalwave
  • SOE, Special Operations Executive (British)
  • SOS, Services of Supply
  • Spitfire, single-engine fighter aircraft (British)
  • Sqns, squadrons
  • SS, submarine; National Socialist Elite Guard (German)
  • Stat, United States Statutes at Large
  • T, document symbol used by the Subcommittee on Territorial Problems of the Advisory Committee on Postwar Foreign Policy (United States)
  • T–20, medium tank (United States)
  • T/C, navigation trainer aircraft
  • TEF, twin-engine fighter
  • Tidalwave, low-level heavy bomber attack on Ploeşti, Rumania
  • tk bdes, tank brigades
  • Torch, Northwest Africa; Allied invasion of Northwest Africa
  • Trident, the Third Washington Conference, May 12–25, 1943
  • Troopers, War Office (British)
  • Tubealloy, see Tube Alloys
  • Tube Alloys, atomic energy research and development
  • U–boat, submarine
  • UE, unit equipment
  • UGF, troop convoy from New York to Gibraltar
  • UGS, cargo convoy from New York to Gibraltar
  • UJ, Uncle Joe, i.e., Stalin Uncle Joe, Stalin
  • UNRRA, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
  • Upkeep, bombing of the Möhne and Eder dams in Germany
  • USA, United States Army; United States of America
  • USAAF, United States Army Air Forces
  • USCOS, United States Chiefs of Staff, i.e., the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • USFor, United States Forces in the United Kingdom
  • USN, United States Navy
  • USNR, United States Naval Reserve
  • Ventura, twin-engine naval patrol air-craft(PV–1 or PV–3) (United States)
  • VLR, very long range
  • Vulcan, final ground offensive to clear Tunisia
  • W, communications indicator used on telegrams from Allied Force Headquarters at Algiers to the War Department
  • WDCSA, War Department, Chief of Staff, United States Army
  • Welfare, communications indicator used on telegrams to the British Government in London from the British Delegation attending the First Quebec Conference
  • White, communications indicator used on telegrams sent from the White House Map Room to President Roosevelt when the latter was away from Washington
  • WPB, War Production Board (United States)
  • WSA, War Shipping Administration (United States)
  • W/T, wireless telegraphy
  • XAP, merchant transport
  • YMS, motor mine sweeper
  • Z, “Zebra”, Greenwich mean time