September 6, 2016 at 1:04 pm
This may only be a RAAF thing but, during WWII according to a confidential order from 1942 titled, SECRECY REGARDING NEW TYPES OF WAR EQUIPMENT, code names were given to new equipment.
The order reads:
1. It is essential that the production or arrival in Australia of any new type of war equipment should be kept strictly secret, and that no use should be made of, nor reference made to, the name of such equipment, except when absolutely necessary, and then only in a SECRET communication.
2. Then it is necessary to refer to any such equipment, use is to be made of a special name which will be notified to all concerned. For example, Spitfire aircraft may when necessary be referred to as such in SECRET documents, but if it is required that any reference should be made to Spitfire aircraft otherwise than in a secret document, such aircraft are to be referred to as “CAPSTAN” until such time as notice is promulgated that the need for secrecy no longer exists.
Does anyone know of “special names” used for other aircraft types?