# Talk:Operation Overlord

On an Antiques Roadshow episode (apparently "Durham Cathedral I" in 2016) a guest brought in some documents inherited from a relative purporting to show that the codewords had been changed shortly before the invasion went forward, with distinct new codewords for "Operation Overlord" ("Exercise Hornpipe") and "D Day" ("Halcyon"), as well as a codeword to announce postponement. The documents also included copies of signals reports using these codewords. It's been quite a few years since that episode aired: were these documents ever authenticated? 207.180.169.36 (talk) 02:06, 20 May 2023 (UTC)

I found a few articles that repeat the information from the show, for example this one by The Times (paywall). The same info and photos can be seen in a Daily Mail article on the subject.
Brown (1975), Bodyguard of Lies v. 10, p. 624: "Eisenhower directed that the signal 'Exercise Hornpipe plus six' be sent to all Commanders-in-Chief. It mean that D-Day was set for June 5, 1944."
Haswell (1979), The Intelligence and Deception of the D-Day Landings, p. 151: "The Allied planning staff had come to the same conclusion as Rommel. On three days only, 5, 6, and 7 June, would factors such as tides and currents, phase of the moon and hours of daylight be right for Neptune. Y-Day, codenamed Halcyon, the day on which all preparations for the assault must be completed, was set for 1 June".
Haswell (1979), The Intelligence and Deception of the D-Day Landings, p. 191: "Ripcord: codeword used in postponing D-Day". Ripcord is also referenced as in this context on Brown, p. 629: "through 'Ripcord,' the entire operation was placed in a state of suspended animation." I only have access to the snippet view of this book, so I would hazard a guess that it is referencing the codeword being used to delay the operation to 6 June?
Kind of seems like the documents may have been taken out of context?EnigmaMcmxc (talk) 19:28, 20 May 2023 (UTC)
A couple of extra links with some interesting related tibbets:
2011 obituary detailing how these codewords would be used: "One of his tasks was to send out the coded message to the air commanders to launch their part of the D-day assault as follows: "Exercise Hornpipe Halcyon Y Plus Four." This meant: "Operation Overlord D-day 1st June Plus Four." In the event, of course, bad weather for 5 June meant a 24-hour postponement of the invasion, and notification of this was issued under the coded message: "Ripcord Plus 24.""
An Imperial War Museum art description (actual piece of art not available online) that briefly discusses Hornpipe and that Eisenhower chose the term "Halcyon" for Y Day, the mythology around that, and concluding with "thus "halcyon days" are days when storms never occur." (i.e. the 5-6 June window).EnigmaMcmxc (talk) 20:30, 20 May 2023 (UTC)

user:Bonthefox3 has placed seven templates on the article suggesting that we expand this article using content from the Ukrainian, German, Danish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and Vietnamese articles. Our English-language article does not need expansion in my opinion, and covers all the major points. It was the subject of a successful Good Article review in 2014. (The Ukranian article you particularly suggest to use is over 33,000 words, which is triple the suggested size for our wiki, and contains a lot of off-topic content, the sort of thing that we could not include if we wish this article to retain its Good Article status.) Bonthefox3, if you think there's content that is missing from this article, it makes more sense in my opinion for you to make specific suggestions here on the talk page as to what you think is missing rather than tagging the article with vague requests for expansion.  — Diannaa (talk) 14:11, 9 November 2023 (UTC)

I have changed the map of the break-out in July-August, from this one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Normandybreakout.jpg
-to this one:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Normandy_Breakout_Map,_operations_25_July_to_15_August_1944.svg
This map is based on the first, but in better resolution, in .svg and also with a slightly longer time period (start with the break-out on 25 July), it also has explanations for most used symbols. I want to add that is is made on my request, paid for me, by a contributor that has helped me with various maps before. If anyone feel that they would prefer to keep the old map, they may revert my change. Ulflarsen (talk) 18:23, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy? Operation Overlord was the codename for the plan for the Normandy invasion during the planning phase. Other pages (I came from Sherman Firefly, but up above we see somebody coming from Tiger II) reference Battle of Normandy, but getting here where the narrative starts with the fall of France and Dunkirk(!!) feels a bit like a rug pull, at least from that perspective. Battle of Normandy deserves its own page, about the battle, like all other pages titled "Battle of ..." 98.7.197.219 (talk) 21:11, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

As per the current lede, it's the codename for the battle. However, I don't think there should be any page called "Operation Overlord", since the average person has no clue what that is. There should be an RfC for renaming this page back to "Battle of Normandy" or "Invasion of Normandy". natemup (talk) 15:37, 30 July 2025 (UTC)