choctaw code talker

It is generally accepted that the Choctaws Code Talkers were the first Code Talkers, but this is false, Cherokee of North Carolina invented and used this system nearly 2 weeks before.

The first combat test for the Choctaws Code Talkers took place on October 26, 1918, when Colonel Bloor ordered a "delicate" withdrawal of two companies from the 2nd Battalion, from Chufilly to Chardeny. The movement was successful: "The total surprise of the enemy is proof that he could not decipher the messages," observed Bloor.

Eighteen men were recruited to deliver messages and design a communication system for Code Talkers. In the twenty-four hours since Code Walkers began work, the battle had turned and in less than 72 hours the Germans were retreating.

In a post-war memo, Bloor expressed his pleasure and satisfaction. "We were convinced that the possibilities of the phone had been obtained without its dangers." He noted, however, that the Choctaw language, in itself, was unable to fully express the military terminology then in use. No word or phrase Choctaw existed to describe a "submachine gun," for example. Then the Choctaws improvised, using their words for "big gun" to describe "artillery" and "quick small gun" for "machine gun".