[3] The majority of personnel made a dangerous journey by sea, through areas patrolled by German U-boats, however certain individuals whose contribution to the campaign or whose mission was vital were classified "BIGOT", and were flown to Africa on a safer route via Gibraltar.
[4] Several sources state that BIGOT was a codeword for Operation Overlord, the Western Allies' plan to invade German-occupied western Europe during World War II, and that the term was an acronym for "British Invasion of German Occupied Territory".
[7] It is possible that the term itself, supposedly suggested by Winston Churchill, was a "backronym"—a phrase created to fit an acronym such as the existing "To Gibraltar" code.
U.S. military advisor George Elsey tells a story in his memoirs about how a junior officer turned away King George VI from the intelligence centre on the USS Ancon, because, as he explained to a superior officer "...nobody told me he was a Bigot.
"[3][8] Although both derivations are of British origin, the term is widely used in the United States intelligence agencies.