English to Italian Art/Literary History

È una parola in codice, penso sia "Alce", ma vorrei conferma. Ecco il contesto:

The boorish behaviour of some early escapers (reported by Uys Krige "The Way Out. Italian Intermezzo", Collins, London, 1946, p.376) is confirmed by Captain A C Soames of ‘A’ Force (later Lord Soames) who wrote to S/Ldr Dennis on 7 November 1943 of the ‘complete lack of gratitude shown by the vast majority of *Elks* (codeword for escapers), including officers, towards the guides who have brought them in. They appear to regard them in the same light as [...] their company cooks or sanitary men, and take them completely for granted’.