Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum - * Starkey, John The RAF's Cross-Channel Offensive: Circuses, Ramrods, Rhubarbs and Rodeos 1940-1941

Glad to have these terms defined in the book's description.

"Circus sorties - These were attacks undertaken by a small force of bombers with a powerful fighter escort. They were intended to lure enemy fighters into the air so that they could be engaged by RAF fighters, the primary objective being the destruction of Luftwaffe fighters, followed by the protection of the bombers from attack.

Further development of the Circus missions were Ramrods, Rhubarbs and Rodeos, all of which were variations on the same theme.

A Ramrod was similar to a Circus, though in this instance the primary objective was the destruction of the target, the main role of the accompanying fighters being to protect the bombers from attack.

A Rhubarb was a small-scale attack by fighters using cloud cover and/or surprise, the object of which was to destroy German aircraft in the air and/or striking at ground targets.

A Rodeo consisted of a fighter sweep over enemy territory with no bombers."