D-Day - The Crossword Panic of 1944

The Crossword Panic of 1944

Leonard Dawe, the headmaster at Strand school in Effingham, Surrey often compiled crossword puzzles for various newspapers. In August 1942 a crossword that he had compiled appeared in the Daily Telegraph and gave a clue as "French port" (six letters); the answer was Dieppe; two days later the disastrous Dieppe Raid took place. It was suspected by the War Office that the crossword had been used to pass information to the enemy and called in Lord Tweedsmuir to investigate. The inquiry, which also included MI5, concluded that it was just a remarkable coincidence that the word had appeared so soon before the raid. During the run-up to the Normandy landings, five of the codenames that were being used were answers in crosswords that he had submitted to the Telegraph. In his crossword for 2 May the clue for 17 across was "one of the U.S.."-the correct answer was Utah. On 22 May the clue for 3 down, " Red indian on the Missouri" gave the answer Omaha. On 27 May, "overlord" was the answer to 11 across; again, three days later on 30 May the answer for 11 across was "Mulberry" - giving a total of four top-secret codewords being given as answers in less than a month. The final straw came on 1 June when "Neptune" was the answer for 15 across. In previous months, answers for clues were "Gold", "Juno" and "Sword". Dawe was tracked down and arrested by MI5; following interrogation, he was able to persuade them that it was all just a coincidence and that he had actually compiled the puzzles months earlier. It is not really known if it was a coincidence or if Dawe got the words after hearing them from his Brother-in-Law who worked at the Admiralty.