This is one of several nodes dedicated to the code names of World War II. I hope to expand it over time, so please let me know of others, provided they have good sources.
This list will include all code names officially used by the U.S. Army, even if the code names described action by other allied armies, or other branches of service in the U.S.
- ABC-1
- Agreements reached at Washington Conference, January-March 1941.
- ABDA
- acronym for the 1942 cooperative American-British-Dutch-Australian defense of the Pacific and Indian Ocean theater
- ABERDEEN
- code name for Chindit stronghold near Manhton, Burma
- ACCOLADE
- seizure of the Dodecanese
- ALABASTER
- Troop convoy from Greenock to Iceland 17 May 1940.
- ALAMO
- code name for the task force (built around Headquarters, Sixth Army) operating directly under General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area for operations in New Guinea
- ALPHA
- plan to defend Kunming and Chungking
- ALSOS
- code name for the Allied special intelligence forces' mission to collect information about German nuclear fission developments
- ANAKIM
- Plan for recapture of Burma.
- ANCHORAGE
- Code name originally used for projected Hansa Bay operation. ANCHORAGE was used for ALAMO Force journals kept during the Admiralties operation.
- ANVIL
- The planned 1944 Allied invasion of southern France in the Toulon-Marseille area--see later DRAGOON.
- ARCADIA
- U.S.-British Conference held in Washington, December 1941-January 1942.
- ARGONAUT
- International Conference held at Malta and Yalta, January-February 1945.
- ARGUMENT
- plan for USSTAF air operations against German aircraft factories, February 1944.
- AVALANCHE
- (9 September 1943) invasion of Italy at Salerno
- AXIOM
- code name for the mission sent to London in February 1944 to urge CULVERIN
- BACKHANDER
- code name for the task force to conduct operations on Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain
- BARCLAY
- plan to induce the Axis to give priority to maintaining and reinforcing its forces in southern France and the Balkans
- BARRACUDA
- plan (cancelled) for an airborne and amphibious assault on Naples
- BARRISTER
- Plan for capture of Dakar (formerly BLACK and PICADOR).
- BAYTOWN
- (3 September 1943) British invasion of Italy at Reggio di Calabria mounted from Sicily
- BAZAAR
- Plan for American air support of USSR In event of Japanese attack on Soviet Union. Also code name for U. S. survey project of air facilities in Siberia.
- BETA
- plan to open a port on the coast of China
- BIRCH
- Christmas Island.
- BLACK
- Plan for seizure of Dakar (later PICADOR and BARRISTER).
- BLACKCOCK
- British 12 Corps operation to clear the German salient between the Meuse and Roer-Wurm Rivers from Roermond southward
- BLACKPOOL
- code name for Chindit roadblock on the railroad near Namkwin, Burma
- BLEACHER
- Tongatabu.
- BLOCKBUSTER
- plan for Canadian II Corps offensive in the Calcar-Udem-Xanten area
- BOBCAT
- Borabora.
- BOLERO
- (1942) plan for offensive operations against Germany on the European mainland and for the build-up of US forces and supplies in the United Kingdom for the cross-Channel attack
- BOSTON
- Southwest Pacific Area of Operations plan to occupy and construct an airfield in the Abau-Mullins Harbor region of New Guinea
- BRASSARD
- plan for operations against the island of Elba
- BREASTPLATE
- plan (cancelled) for a seaborne attack from Malta against Sousse
- BREWER
- Operations in the Admiralties.
- BRIMSTONE
- plan (canceled) for the capture of Sardinia
- BROADWAY
- code name for a drop site about fifty miles northwest of Indaw, Burma, used to resupply the Chindits
- BUCCANEER
- plan (cancelled) for the amphibious capture of the Andaman Islands
- BUFFALO
- operation to break out of the Anzio beachhead
- BUTTRESS
- British operation (cancelled) against the toe of the Italian peninsula involving landings at Goija staged from North Africa
- BYPRODUCT
- code name for Trobriand Islands (not an actual operation)
- CACTUS
- operation to capture Guadalcanal (a sub-task of WATCHTOWER)
- CAMEL
- code name for the task force for the invasion of southern France built around the 36th Infantry Division
- CAPITAL
- plan for the attack across the Chindwin River to Mandalay
- CAPRI
- plan for an attack against Médenine
- CARBONADO
- plan to open a port on the coast of China (revised BETA)
- CARPETBAGGER
- operation to airdrop supplies from the United Kingdom to patriot forces in western Europe
- CARTWHEEL
- operations to capture the Solomon Islands, New Britain, and New Ireland involving convergent operations from the South Pacific and Southwest Pacific Areas of Operations targeted against Rabaul
- CASANOVA
- diversionary operation by the 95th Infantry Division during operations against Metz
- CATCHPOLE
- plan for operations against the Eniwetok and Ujelang Atolls in the Marshall Islands
- CATHERINE
- Plan for sending British naval forces into the Baltic Sea to gain control of those waters and stop Swedish ore traffic.
- CAUSEWAY
- operation plan (August 1944) to capture Formosa which was not executed
- CENT
- code name for the beaches at Scoglitti, Sicily
- CHAMPION
- Late 1943 plan for general offensive in Burma.
- CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO
- AEAF operations against German train movements in France and Germany
- CHESTNUT
- code name for four airborne missions sent by Montgomery in an effort to reinforce his army in Sicily with airborne troops
- CHRONICLE
- operation to capture Woodlark Island and Kiriwina
- CLEANSLATE
- operation to occupy the Russell Islands
- CLIPPER
- British 30 Corps offensive to reduce the Geilenkirchen salient
- COBRA
- plan for the First Army's operation designed to penetrate the German defenses west of St. Lô and secure Coutances, France
- COMET
- British plan, not carried out, for an air drop on 7 September 1944 in the Arnhem-Nijmegen area.
- CORKSCREW
- (June 1943) conquest of the island of Pantelleria
- CORONET
- operation (not executed) to invade the island of Honshu at the Tokyo plain. Its launch date of 1 December 1945 was rendered unnecessary by the dropping of the atomic bombs in August.
- COTTAGE
- (1943) recapture of Kiska
- CRICKET
- code name for the Malta portion of the ARGONAUT Conference
- CROSSBOW
- operations by the Royal Air Force against German V-weapon experimental bases
- CROSSWORD
- code name for a covert operation intended to lead to the surrender of Germany (2 May 1944)
- CUDGEL
- plan (cancelled) for small-scale operations on the Arakan coast of Burma
- CULVERIN
- Plan for assault on Sumatra.
- CYCLONE
- operation to capture Noemfoor (1944)
- DELTA
- code name for the task force for the invasion of southern France built around the 45th Infantry Division
- DEXTERITY
- operations in western New Britain and Saidor
- DIADEM
- (11 May 1944) Allied offensive in Italy
- DIME
- code name for the beaches at Gela, Sicily
- DIRECTOR
- code name for the task force for the invasion of Arawe in New Britain
- DIXIE
- code name for the US observer mission to the Chines communists
- DOVETAIL
- rehearsal in Fiji of the operation to capture Guadalcanal and a lodgement in the southern Solomon Islands (a sub-task of PESTILENCE)
- DRACULA
- (1944) plan for an attack on Rangoon
- DRAGOON
- final plan for the invasion of southern France (15 August 1944); code name was changed from ANVIL on 27 July 1944)
- DRYGOODS
- logistical operation to mass supplies at Guadalcanal in February 1943
- ECLIPSE
- name given to Operation TALISMAN after a presumed compromise of security
- ELKTON
- General Douglas MacArthur's plan (not executed) for the capture of Rabaul
- ENCORE
- (February 1945) IV Corps limited objective operation against Mounte Belvedere
- END RUN
- code name for the task force built around the survivors of Task Force GALAHAD used for the drive on Myitkyina, Burma
- ENIGMA
- see ULTRA
- EUREKA
- The Tehran Conference, 28 November-1 December 1943.
- FANTAN
- Fiji Islands.
- FATIMA
- code name for the Mason-MacFarlane Mission
- FELIX
- plan to capture Gibraltar and close the straits of Gibraltar
- FIREBRAND
- (1943) invasion of Corsica
- FIVESOME
- codeword to cover the multi-national agreement for the coordination of operations in the Southwest Pacific
- FLASHPOINT
- (March 1945) Ninth Army assault crossing of the Rhine as part of Operation PLUNDER
- FLAX
- air operations to disrupt the flow of German air transports from Italy to Sicily and Tunisia
- FLINTLOCK
- operation to capture the Marshall Islands
- FORAGER
- operation to capture the Mariana Islands
- FOURTH TERM
- (February 1945) IV Corps limited objective operation in the Serchio Valley
- FRANTIC
- Air Force shuttle bombing of Axis-controlled Europe from bases in the United Kingdom, Italy, and the USSR
- FRY
- operation to occupy four islands in Lake Comacchio, Italy
- GALAHAD
- code name for American long-range penetration groups in Burma
- GALVANIC
- operation to capture the Gilbert Islands and Makin
- GANGWAY
- plan (cancelled) for the unopposed landing at Naples
- GARDEN
- World War II--see MARKET
- GIANT I
- plan (canceled) for an air landing and airborne drop along the Volturno River
- GIANT II
- plan (canceled) for an airborne drop near Rome
- GOBLET
- plan (canceled) for the invasion of Italy at Cotrone
- GOLD
- code name for the assault beach at Normandy assigned to British 30 Corps
- GOLDFLAKE
- code name for the movement of Canadian I Corps from Italy to the European Theater of Operations
- GRANITE
- tentative plan (13 January 1944) by ADM Chester Nimitz for the capture of the Marshall Islands and other 1944 offensive operations
- GRAY
- Pre-War Plan for capture and occupation of the Azores.
- GREEN
- Prewar plan of operations in event of war with Mexico.
- GRENADE
- (February 1945) assault crossing of the Roer River by Ninth Army followed by a drive northeast to link with the First Canadian Army along the Rhine River; large-scale offensive by 21 Army Group from the Roer to the Rhine
- GYMNAST
- Early (1941) plan for invasion of North Africa, referring to either the American plan for landing at Casablanca or the British plan for landing farther eastward on the Mediterranean coast (see SUPER-GYMNAST).
- HALPRO
- Halverson Project -bombing detachment for China- Burma-India theater.
- HARDIHOOD
- code name for Allied aid to Turkey in an effort to induce that nation to enter the war
- HOLLY
- Canton Island.
- HUDDLE
- operation to occupy Ndeni (a sub-task of PESTILENCE)
- HURRICANE
- operation to capture Biak (1944)
- HUSKY
- Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943.
- ICEBURG
- operation to capture Okinawa (1945)
- INDEPENDENCE
- French offensive towards Belfort, France
- INDIGO
- Pre-war Plan for movement of troops to Iceland.
- INTERLUDE
- code name for the rehearsal for the capture of Morotai
- JUNO code
- name for the Normandy assault beach assigned to the Canadian 3rd Division
- JUPITER
- Plan for operations in northern Norway.
- KAPUT
- (April 1945) Ninth Army assignment of defeating an incursion into the zone of the XIII Corps and of clearing a sector along the Elbe River
- KING TWO
- operation to capture Leyte and the southern Philippines (1944)
- LEATHERBACK
- cover name for Woodlark Island (not an operation name)
- LEVER
- operation in Italy to clear the area between Reno and the southwest shore of Lake Comacchio
- LIGHTFOOT
- British offensive operations in Libyan Desert, launched front El Alamein in October 1942.
- LILLIPUT
- operation to defend Buna (1942)
- LONDON
- phase line for XVIII Airborne Corps near Wesel, Germany
- LUMBERJACK
- (February-March 1945) converging offensive by First and Third Armies to create a pocket of trapped Germans in the Eifel
- MAGIC
- Code name applied to intercepted and decoded Japanese messages.
- MAGNET
- Movement of first U. S. forces to Northern Ireland.
- MAGNETO
- code name for the Yalta portion of the Argonaut Conference
- MAILFIST
- (1945) recapture of Singapore
- MAINYARD
- code name for the island of Guadalcanal (not an operation name)
- MALLORY MAJOR
- air offensive against the bridges over the Po River
- MANNA
- British occupation of southern Greece
- MARKET-GARDEN
- Operation in September 1944 to establish bridgeheads across three rivers in the Netherlands (Maas, Waal, and Lower Rhine) and reach the IJssel Meer. Airborne phase was called Operation MARKET. Companion ground attack was Operation GARDEN.
- MARS
- code name for the US task force in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations that was the 5332d Brigade (Provisional)
- MICHAELMAS
- code name for the task force for the seizure of Saidor on New Guinea
- MIKE FOUR
- plan for the invasion of Nasugbu and Balayan Bays
- MIKE ONE
- plan for the invasion of Lingayen Gulf
- MIKE SEVEN
- plan for the invasion of the Zambales coast
- MIKE SIX
- plan for the invasion of Batangas and Tayabas Bays
- MIKE THREE
- plan for the invasion of Vigan
- MIKE TWO
- plan for the invasion of Dingalan Bay
- MINCEMEAT
- cover plan to divert attention from Operation HUSKY to induce the Axis to believe that Allied objectives were Sardinia and the Peloponnesus instead of Sicily
- MINERVA
- code name for the 6 November 1942 embarkation of General Henri Giraud from southern France
- MODICUM
- Party sent to London to present Marshall Memorandum, April 1942.
- MONTCLAIR
- World War II; final name given to PRINCETON
- MUSKET
- plan for a projected landing in 1943 on the heel of the Italian peninsula near Taranto
- MUSKETEER
- Code name for a series of plans covering operations for recapture of Philippine Islands.
- MUSTANG plan
- (canceled) for an overland seizure of Naples after initial landings in Calabria
- NABOB
- Northern Ireland.
- NEPTUNE
- Actual 1944 operations within OVERLORD. Used for security reasons after September 1943 on all OVERLORD planning papers that referred to target area and date.
- NEW GALAHAD
- code name for American long-range penetration groups in Burma
- NEW YORK
- XVIII Airborne Corps phase line in the Ringenberk-Krudenberg area in Germany
- NUNTON
- (March 1944) Allied cover and deception plan
- OCTAGON
- code name for the Quebec Conference, September 1944
- OLIVE
- (September 1944) attack on the Gothic Line in Italy
- OLYMPIC
- plan (not executed) for the March 1946 invasion of the island of Kyushu
- OMAHA
- code name for the assault beach at Normandy assigned to V Corps
- ORANGE
- Pre-war plan within the RAINBOW matrix for unilateral conflict between the United States and Japan; ORANGE 1 was approved in 1938, ORANGE 3 in April 1941
- OVERLORD
- (6 June 1944) Allied cross-Channel invasion of northwest Europe
- PANTHER
- British 10 Corps drive across the Garigliano River in Italy
- PARIS
- XVIII Airborne Corps phase line west of Erle, Germany
- PERPETUAL
- (11 November 1942) Eastern Task Force reserve's landing at Bougie
- PERSECUTION
- operation to capture Aitape (1944)
- PESTILENCE
- COMSOPAC OPLAN 1-42, 16 July 1942, plan for "Task One" to launch the initial offensive operation in Guadalcanal and the southern Solomon Islands
- PICADILLY
- code name for a drop site for the Chindits in Burma
- PICADOR
- Plan for Seizure of Dakar (formerly BLACK, later BARRISTER).
- PIGSTICK
- limited operation (cancelled) on the south Mayu Peninsula
- PLOUGH
- Project for training U. S. and Canadian volunteers for snow operations in northern Norway.
- PLUNDER
- (March 1945) 21 Army Group assault across the Rhine north of the Ruhr
- POINTBLANK
- combined bomber offensive against Germany from bases in the United Kingdom
- POSTERN
- operation to capture Lae-Finschhofen-Madang
- PRINCETON
- plan establishing the basic outline for the reoccupation of the Visayas-Mindanao-Borneo-Netherlands East Indies area (later renamed MUSKETEER)
- PROVIDENCE
- plan (canceled) for the occupation of the Buna area of New Guinea
- PUGILIST-GALLOP
- (1943) attack to outflank the Mareth Line in Tunisia
- QUADRANT
- U.S.-British Conference at Quebec, August 1943.
- QUEEN
- 12th Army Group operation on the Roer plain between the Wurm and the Roer Rivers
- RAINBOW
- Various plans prepared between 1939 and 1941 to meet Axis aggression involving more than one enemy. Each plan was named with a color; RAINBOW 5 was published in October 1941
- RAINCOAT
- assault on the Camino hill mass in Italy
- RANKIN
- Plans for an emergency return to the Continent in event of a collapse of German resistance.
- RASHNESS
- revised CORONADO plan
- RAVENOUS
- plan by 4 Corps for the recapture of northern Burma
- RECKLESS
- operation to capture Hollandia (1944)
- RED
- Prewar plan of operations in event of war with Great Britain.
- RENO
- General Douglas MacArthur's plans for operations in the Bismarck Archipelago, along northern coast of New Guinea and thence to Mindanao, P.I.
- RESERVIST
- code name for the seizure of vital points at Oran and the landing of Allied forces to prevent sabotage in the harbor
- RETRIBUTION
- (April-June 1943) plan to prevent Axis forces from reaching Italian territory if they should attempt to evacuate Tunisia
- RINGBOLT
- operation to capture Tulagi (a sub-task of WATCHTOWER)
- ROAST
- operation to clear Comacchio Spit, Italy
- ROGER
- capture of Phuket Island of the Kra Isthmus in Burma
- ROMEO
- code name for the French commando force that landed at Cap Nègre
- ROMULUS
- Arakan part of CAPITAL
- ROOSTER
- operation to fly the Chinese 22d Division to Chihchiang
- ROSE
- operation (April 1945) in the Ruhr pocket
- ROSES
- Efate.
- ROSIE
- code name for the French naval force that landed southwest of Cannes during DRAGOON
- ROUNDHAMMER
- plan for a cross-Channel operation intermediate in size between SLEDGEHAMMER and ROUNDUP
- ROUNDUP
- Plan for major U.S.-British attack across the Channel in 1943.
- ROYAL MARINE
- British proposal for sowing fluvial mines in the Rhine.
- RUGBY
- code name for the airborne forces dropping behind the beaches during the invasion of Southern France
- SATIN
- (December 1942) plan (canceled) for II Corps to attack Sfaz, Tunisia
- SAUCY
- limited offensive to reopen a land supply route from Burma to China
- SCIPIO
- (6 April 1942) attack by the Eighth Army at Akarit wadi
- SEXTANT
- code name for the Cairo Conferences (22-26 November and 3-7 December 1943)
- SHINGLE
- (22 January 1944) amphibious operation at Anzio, italy
- SITKA
- code name for the task force that captured the islands of Levant and Port Cros in the Mediterranean
- SLAPSTICK
- (9 September 1943) British airborne landing at Taranto, Italy, mounted from Bizerte, Tunisia
- SLEDGEHAMMER
- Plan for limited cross-Channel attack in 1942.
- SPOONER
- New Zealand.
- STALEMATE
- invasion of the Palaus
- STRANGLE
- (March-May 1944) air operations to interdict the movement of Axis supplies in Italy
- SUMAC
- Australia.
- SUPER-GYMNAST
- Plan for Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa, combining U. S. and British plans and often used interchangeably with GYMNAST.
- SUPERCHARGE
- (March 1943) revised plan for the assault on the Mereth Line. Also (November 1942) breakout by British 30 Corps in Egypt as part of Eighth Army's offensive in the Western Desert (?)
- SWORD
- code name for the assault beach at Normandy assigned to British 3d Division
- SYMBOL
- Casablanca Conference. 14-23 January 1943.
- TALISMAN
- name for early plan for post-hostilities activities in Germany
- TALON
- Akyab part of CAPITAL
- TARZAN
- India-based portion of the general offensive in Burma
- TED
- code name for a task force operating in the Aitape area of New Guinea
- TERMINAL
- (8 November 1942) operation in the harbor of Algiers, also code name for the Potsdam Conference (16 July-2 August 1945)
- THUNDERBOLT
- offensive in the Metz area
- TIDALWAVE
- code name for the 1943 low level attack on Ploesti, Rumania, by heavy bombers
- TIGER
- code name for one of the rehearsal exercises for OVERLORD
- TOENAILS
- operation to capture New Georgia
- TORCH
- Allied invasion of North and Northwest Africa, November 1942.
- TOREADOR
- airborne assault on Mandalay
- TORNADO
- operation to capture Wakde-Sarmi (1944)
- TRADEWIND
- operation to capture Morotai (1944)
- TRANSFIGURE
- plan (cancelled) for airborne operations on the west side of the Seine River to block German escape routes
- TRIDENT
- cover name for the U.S./British Washington Conference (12-25 May 1943)
- TULSA
- first outline plan by General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area, for operations directed at the capture of Rabaul
- TWILIGHT
- plan to base B-29 bombers in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations
- TYPHOON
- operation to capture Sansapor-Mar (1944) in New Guinea
- ULTRA
- signals intelligence derived from interception and decoding of German ENIGMA machine ciphers
- UNDERTONE
- (March-April 1945) offensive by Third and Seventh Armies to break through the West Wall and clear the Saar-Palatinate triangle (area within the Rhine, Moselle, and Lauter-Saar Rivers), and to secure a bridgehead east of the Rhine River in the vicinity of Worms
- UTAH
- code name for the assault beach at Normandy assigned to VII Corps
- VARSITY
- First Allied Airborne Army operation for crossing of Rhine River in vicinity of Wesel, Germany, in 1945 in support of Operation PLUNDER
- VERITABLE
- Canadian First Army operation to clear the area between the Maas and Rhine Rivers
- VICTOR I
- operation in Panay and Negros Occidental
- VICTOR II
- operation in Cebu, Bohol, and Negros Oriental
- VICTOR III
- Eighth Army operation against Palawan
- VICTOR IV
- Eighth Army operation against the Sulu Archipelago and the Zamboanga area of Mindanao
- VICTOR V
- Eighth Army operations against western Mindanao
- VULCAN
- (6 May 1943) final Allied offensive to clear Axis forces from Tunisia, particularly the Cape Bon area
- WATCHTOWER
- operation to capture Guadalcanal and Tulagi (a sub-task of PERSECUTION)
- WEBFOOT
- rehearsal for SHINGLE
- WHITE POPPY
- Noumea, New Caledonia.
- WILFRED
- Plan for laying of mine fields in Norwegian waters.
- WOP
- (17 March 1943) opening attack by II Corps against Gafsa
- X
- Australia.
- YOKE
- code word for all US organizations working with Y-Force in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations
- ZEBRA
- code word for US-sponsored Chinese division in east China
- ZIPPER
- 1945 plan for assault on Malaya
Source:
Taken from various publications in the series Report of the Office of the Chief of Military History on the UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II