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9 military code names from D-Day

Posted by / June 6, 2014

There’s nothing like a good code name or two to get kids hooked into history, so this is just the thing to spur an interest in WWII now that many of those who were there on D-Day are no longer able to tell the tales themselves.

Mashable’s Yohana Desta takes us back in time to exactly seventy years ago today, when the Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy in the largest seaborne invasion of all time, and took Europe back from the hands of the Nazis with these nine key military code names.

It’s also the perfect reminder to give a call or pay a visit to any grandparents or relatives you might have left who remember the day itself. We’re sure they’d love the company.

1. Operation Overlord

Overlord was the code name for the entire invasion of Normandy. The name, according to The New York Times, was a “Churchill touch.”

2. Operation Bodyguard

To protect Operation Overlord, the Allied states came up with a deception plan called Operation Bodyguard.

The name was based on a quote that Winston Churchill said to Joseph Stalin: “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”

3. Operation Fortitude

Operation Fortitude was the code name of a highly successful deceptive plan, organized as part of Operation Bodyguard.

It was divided into two parts, North and South. The South portion was to convince Germany that General George S. Patton (pictured above) would lead an invasion on Pas de Calais, France. The North operation was focused on convincing the enemy there would be an invasion on Norway.

Full story at Mashable.

Key moments in history.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons, Graphics credit: Canva

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