This was the code-name given for the entire operation!Īlarm bells rang throughout MI5 …was the crossword being used to tip-off the Germans? Perhaps the most suspicious was a clue about a ‘Big-Wig’, to which the answer was Overlord. Neptune, another answer, referred to the code-name for the naval support for the operation. This was the name of the floating harbour that was to be towed across the Channel to accommodate the supply ships of the invasion force. These were the names given by the Allies to the beaches in Normandy where the American Forces were to land on D-Day.Īnother answer that appeared in that month’s crossword was Mulberry. They noticed that the answer to one clue, ‘One of the USA’, turned out to be Utah, and another answer to a clue was Omaha. One US major-general was even demoted and sent home for simply speculating at a cocktail party on the date of the invasion.īut while some members of MI5, Britain’s counter-espionage service, were whiling away their spare moments in May 1944 by doing the Telegraph Crossword, they noticed that vital code-names that had been adopted to hide the mightiest sea-borne assault of all time, appeared in the crossword. It was in early May 1944 that Eisenhower decided that D-Day would fall on 5th June 1944.Ī huge security blanket had been thrown over all aspects of the operation, including the place and exact date of the landings, in order to maximise the element of surprise and minimise casualties. The US General Dwight D Eisenhower was made overall commander of Operation Overlord in December 1943, with the British hero General Bernard Law Montgomery assuming control of ground troops. The assault was code-named Operation Overlord by Churchill himself. Planning for the invasion started almost immediately, and after extensive research it was decided that the sheltered Normandy coastline with its wide sandy beaches presented the best option for the surprise attack that was to be the D-Day landings. It was in January 1943 that the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin D Roosevelt met and agreed that the future of the war must include an invasion of northwest Europe or a ‘return to the Continent’. One of the popular ‘dailys’ of the time was the Daily Telegraph, and so too was its crossword puzzle. Nearly all newspapers had crossword puzzles in them and they were very popular as they helped fill in the hours spent in the air-raid Shelters, waiting for trains or just simply engaged in that great British tradition of queuing. People throughout Britain could find out what was happening in the parts of the world where our troops were engaged in the fight against Hitler and the NazisĪt the beginning of the war, the news was mainly bad with the German blitzkrieg advances throughout Europe but as the years rolled on, the news slowly became better …and in October 1942 British morale was greatly bolstered by General Montgomery’s famous success at El Alamein in North Africa.īritish Sherman tanks during the Battle of El Alamein, 1942īut it wasn’t just the news that was eagerly sought in the papers there were other matters of interest. To see and download the existing Crossword Puzzles, click on “ Browse Gallery” button.During World War II the daily newspapers were at their most popular …even though they consisted of only a few pages. The download PDF will have two separate sheets, one crossword puzzle and second with answers.
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