Glossary of RAF code names

Code words used by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War: Angels – height in thousands of feet. Balbo – a large formation of aircraft. 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. Channel Stop – air operations intended to stop enemy shipping passing through the Straits of Dover. Circus – daytime bomber attacks with fighter escorts against short range targets, to occupy enemy fighters and keep them in the area concerned. 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. Flower – counter-air patrols in the area of enemy airfields to preventing aircraft from taking off and attacking those aircraft that succeeded. Gardening – mine-laying operations. Instep – missions to restrict attacks on Coastal Command aircraft by maintaining a presence over the Western Approaches. Interdiction – missions to carry out low-level attacks against enemy communications: railways, shipping, and road traffic. Intruder – offensive patrols to destroy enemy aircraft over their own territory, usually carried out at night. 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. Kipper – patrols to protect fishing boats in the North Sea against air attack. Mahmoud – bombing operations accompanied by de Havilland Mosquitoes equipped with rear-facing radar; if an enemy aircraft was detected a 180° turn would enable an attack. Mandolin – attacks on enemy railway transport and other ground targets. Moonshine – jamming operations, originally involving the Defiants of No.