Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2020 August 19

= August 19 =

Request for info on Polish noms-de-guerre
Hi! I'm trying to find information on the noms-de-guerre used by the Polish resistance during WW2.

In particular, I want to know if there were any conventions about what words and names could be used, or was it just a case of finding a name that represented something you like? Or were names given by someone else (and if so, who)?

Does anyone know where I could find any info on this? Thank you in advance.

Princess Persnickety  (talk)  14:50, 19 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Tadeusz Komorowski apparently chose his own name, Bór ("forest"), see Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates (p. 4562) and Who's Who in Twentieth Century Warfare (p. 32). Didn't find much else I'm afraid. Alansplodge (talk) 15:59, 19 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Hi Alansplodge, thank you for taking the time to answer. I really appreciate it. Princess Persnickety   (talk)  17:09, 19 August 2020 (UTC)


 * The article Home Army mentions the above "Forest" for Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski and also "Bear" for Leopold Okulicki. The relevant references may give more information.  There may be a Polish reference desk where you can post a query (but the link under languages goes to a WP page which seems dormant since 2008).  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 14:43, 20 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Janina Forbertówna: "Jasia"; Bolesław Kowalski: "Ryszard". Very likely these books contain more examples, but I can only see snippets. --Lambiam 15:14, 20 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Aleksander Tarnawski: Upłaz. Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz: Alinka or Alicja. Category:Polish resistance members of World War II and its subcategories may lead to more wartime codenames; that way the very first one I tried gave me Jadwiga Apostoł: Barbara Spytkowska. --Lambiam 15:27, 20 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your help Lambiam and Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM :) Princess Persnickety   (talk)  16:31, 20 August 2020 (UTC)

French officer Gustave Bertrand worked with the Biuro Szyfrów (Polish Cipher Bureau, that cracked Enigma) during WW2 and had the Polish codename Bolek. This codename was purportedly also used by Lech Wałęsa in the 1970s: see Lech Wałęsa. 2602:24A:DE47:BB20:50DE:F402:42A6:A17D (talk) 06:40, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

The flag on "flag of Belarus" is wrong.
Someone changed it to the white and red flag. 42.113.60.40 (talk) 15:23, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * It looks like someone fixed the error 6 minutes after someone else had made it. -- Jayron 32 15:43, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * But you might have to change it back again if Alexander Lukashenko gets kicked out. Bets anyone? Alansplodge (talk) 15:50, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * "We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate." From the instructions at the top of the page.  -- Jayron 32 16:26, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Quite right. Pretend it was a rhetorical question (my money is on under 48 hours). Alansplodge (talk) 16:34, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * --2606:A000:1126:28D:F936:DCD9:CC6E:A4F9 (talk) 01:39, 20 August 2020 (UTC)
 *  16:41, 21 August 2020 (UTC) so do we need to send our PayPal account details to you or.....? Nil Einne (talk) 16:41, 21 August 2020 (UTC)
 * :-) Alansplodge (talk) 17:52, 21 August 2020 (UTC)
 * All bets are off Nil Einne, the bugger is still there! Alansplodge (talk) 13:54, 22 August 2020 (UTC)