Glossary of RAF code names

{{Short description|none}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Use British English|date=April 2017}} Code words used by the [[Royal Air Force]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]]: *'''Angels''' – height in thousands of feet. *'''[[Balbo (aircraft formation)|Balbo]]''' – a large formation of aircraft.<ref name=Rawlings1969>Rawlings, John D.R., ''Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft'', London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd.</ref> *'''Bandit''' – identified enemy aircraft. *'''Bogey''' – unidentified (possibly unfriendly) aircraft. *'''Buster''' – radio-telephony code phrase for 'maximum throttle' or full power climb. *'''Cab rank''' – an airborne patrol of fighter-bombers near a combat zone which could be called upon to attack specific targets as necessary.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Channel Stop''' – air operations intended to stop enemy shipping passing through the [[Straits of Dover]].<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Circus''' – daytime bomber attacks with fighter escorts against short range targets, to occupy enemy fighters and keep them in the area concerned.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Diver''' – radio-telephony code word for a sighted [[V-1 flying bomb]]. *'''Fighter night''' – introduced in November 1940, night patrols above a specified height with orders to shoot down any multi-engined aircraft.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Flower''' – [[counter-air patrol]]s in the area of enemy airfields to preventing aircraft from taking off and attacking those aircraft that succeeded.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Gardening''' – mine-laying operations. *'''Instep''' – missions to restrict attacks on [[RAF Coastal Command|Coastal Command]] aircraft by maintaining a presence over the [[Western Approaches]].<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Interdiction''' – missions to carry out low-level attacks against enemy communications: railways, shipping, and road traffic.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Intruder''' – offensive patrols to destroy enemy aircraft over their own territory, usually carried out at night.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Jager''' – a hostile aircraft that is at a higher altitude than the pilot's aircraft. *'''Jim Crow''' – coastal patrols to intercept enemy aircraft crossing the British coastline; originally intended to warn of invasion in 1940.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Kipper''' – patrols to protect fishing boats in the North Sea against air attack.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Mahmoud''' – bombing operations accompanied by [[de Havilland Mosquito]]es equipped with rear-facing radar; if an enemy aircraft was detected a 180° turn would enable an attack.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Mandolin''' – attacks on enemy railway transport and other ground targets. *'''[[Moonshine (electronics)#Moonshine|Moonshine]]''' – jamming operations, originally involving the [[Boulton Paul Defiant|Defiant]]s of [[No. 515 Squadron RAF]], against German radar.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Noball''' – attacks on [[V-weapons]] launch sites and related targets.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Pancake''' - Code word ordering an aircraft or formation to land. *'''Rag''' – decoy flying operations to misdirect the enemy.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Ramrod''' – short range bomber attacks to destroy ground targets, similar to Circus attacks.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Ranger''' – freelance flights over enemy territory by units of any size, to occupy and tire enemy fighters.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Rhubarb''' – fighter or fighter-bomber sections, at times of low cloud and poor visibility, crossing the [[English Channel]] and then dropping below cloud level to search for opportunity targets such as railway locomotives and rolling stock, aircraft on the ground, enemy troops, and vehicles on roads.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /><ref name=Johnson1956>Johnson, 'Johnnie' J.E., ''Wing Leader'', London: Chatto & Windus (1956).</ref> *'''Roadstead''' – dive bombing and low level attacks on enemy ships at sea or in harbour.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Rodeo''' – fighter sweeps over enemy territory.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''Rover''' – armed reconnaissance flights with attacks on opportunity targets.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''[[Scrambling (military)|Scramble]]''' – fast take-off and climb to intercept enemy aircraft. *'''Serrate''' – equipment enabling aircraft to home on enemy aircraft transmissions.<ref name=Rawlings1969 /> *'''[[Siren Tour]]''' - early morning light bombing raid, to wake up the German town at 4am in the morning, from 1944 by the de Havilland Mosquito *'''Sortie''' – a flight by one aircraft, thus a mission by one squadron might be termed as 11 sorties. *'''[[Tally-ho]]''' – radio-telephony code word for 'enemy in sight'. *'''Vector''' - fighter controllers' code word giving a heading to steer. *'''Window''' – an early term for [[Chaff (countermeasure)|chaff]], aluminium foil dropped to confuse enemy radar.<ref name=Rawlings1969 />

==See also== * [[List of World War II electronic warfare equipment]] * [[Multiservice tactical brevity code]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Royal Air Force]] [[Category:Glossaries of the military|RAF]] [[Category:Wikipedia glossaries using unordered lists]]