Well. Thanks to Pete we now have our new forum.
As I suggested the apparent solution I thought maybe I would post the first topic.

I've noticed that some code names for WWII top secret projects have a clue in the name itself to what they actually do. Now, asssuming that the idea of the code name is intended to fool the enemy I find this a little strange. I can only suppose that intellectuals think in a different way to us mere mortals. To be honest I know they do. Or maybe they're playing little games with each other. I've been re-reading "Most Secret War" by Professor R.V Jones & some old friends from his university days found themselves on opposite sides when war was declared.

I'll give you 2 examples. Maybe others can add more.

Knickebein. The code name for German radio navigation beams roughly translates to Crooked Leg. This actually gives a good idea to a radio expert on how the system works.

Freya (Freya-Meldung). German short range radar. In Norse mythology Freya was the Nordic Venus. She had a necklace, her most prized possession, which was guarded by Heimdall, the watchman of the gods, who could see 100 miles both by day & night. An accurate description of a short range chain radar system. Not only that but even before war had been declared a mystery tower had been reported to British Intelligence, situated at the Brocken - which is the special abode of the mythological Freya.

I find this extremely interesting. Anyone know any more like it?

I've been reading the Mitrokhin Archives, and the KGB codenames tended to be blindingly obvious. I'll have to have a think about other ones for a bit.

Ozzy

Window.

The British name for what we now call chaff...it was designed to provide a window through radar so as to avoid all those nasty fighters.

Window & Overlord might have some general reference to what they were but I don't think they would mean much to an enemy. I like the more obscure code names. The significance of Freya in particular would only be apparent to someone with a good knowledge of classical literature. Even then, the real importance would only become clear to someone from the same background as the person who thought of the name in the first place. ie. An electronics expert well versed in the classics. There can't have been too many of them around in WWII.
This is what I find so fascinating.

Maybe I can extend this topic a little by wondering how code names were allocated. It seems obvious to me that ideally the code name would have no relationship at all to whatever it referred to, yet this often was not the case. The British system, if you can call it that, was haphazard to say the least. It seems that someone, perhaps the inventors themselves, thought up a name & providing nobody objected & it hadn't been previously allocated they used it. Knowing how intellectuals think this might not have been such a good idea. The meaning might not be obvious to a normal person but could well give important clues to their fellow intellectuals working in intelligence for the enemy.

I'm sure I once knew why 2 RAF navigation aids were named GEE & OBOE but I forget now. ???
My favourite story is the origin of another one named H2S. This is the chemical formula for hydrogen sulphide which, as any schoolboy knows, smells strongly of bad eggs. Apparently they were discussing a suitable name for this new invention at a top secret meeting. Prof F Lindeman, Winston Churchill's senior scientific adviser well known for his narrow minded views & an abrupt manner, said "The idea stinks. Call it H2S."
Now that's what I call the perfect code name. Nobody could possibly guess or deduce what it referred to.  

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Hi Brensec. I've been waiting for you to show up.

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This was actually called 'Seelowe' or Sea Lion. I don't think it was ever intended to be secret, in fact quite the opposite. It was always more of a propaganda exercise than a serious invasion plan. IMHO

PS. In that it was extremely successful. The threat of invasion was believed imminent at even the highest levels of the British government throughout 1940.

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Churchill might or might not have believed it. Professor R.V Jones writing after the war suspected he didn't. Whatever he believed, his "Fight them on the beaches" speech is still one of the most powerful & stirring examples of oratory skill I have ever heard. It certainly had the desired effect on the British people & I suspect our allies too.

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A-G - THis merits a new thead by itself - the use of doubles for famous people.