How Crosswords Nearly Derailed D-Day
Because loose lips really could sink ships
Newspapers have contained crosswords since the early 20th century, a tradition that continues to delight readers to this day. They were particularly popular in Britain during the Second World War when civilians would have endless hours to fill during blackouts or in their air-raid shelters.
However, there was a time when British intelligence officers were worried that one little crossword could bring down the entire amphibious invasion of occupied France by Allied forces: D-Day.
Meaningful words start turning up
In the early summer of 1944, the Allies were planning to invade France by sea and take back the nation from Nazi Germany. The whole operation was shrouded in secrecy, with the precise locations and details on a ‘need to know’ basis only.
It was an enormous shock, then, when some of the codenames assigned to the operation began to show up as answers in the Daily Telegraph’s regular cryptic crossword. Two of the beaches — Utah and Omaha — appeared, followed by ‘mulberry’, the name given to the temporary harbour that would be towed across the English Channel.
However, it was when the words ‘Neptune’ and ‘Overlord’ were spotted that intelligence and military…
