The U-boat players had full visibility of the board, whilst the ship commanders had to sporadically peer through holes in a canvas screen to recreate the limited visibility at sea.Įach team was allowed just two minutes to make their move and Wrens moved around constantly, relaying information to act as radio chatter. One team would play as the U-boats, the other as the escort ships. The gridlines were measured to represent nautical miles and escort ships, and U-boats became tiny wooden models with different coloured chalk displaying their movements. With the help of eyewitness testimony and gathered intelligence, the Wrens designed a game that allowed them to stage battles as accurately as possible. The team got straight to work converting the lino-clad floor into a giant board game, divided with painted sectors and marked by string and chalk. Roberts and the Wrens were given the entire top floor of Derby House to stage their wargames. Known by staff as 'The Citadel', Derby House in Liverpool was the secret command centre from which Britain waged its war in the Atlantic. Both women played a pivotal role in subduing the U-boat peril. Among them were 19-year-old Janet Okell and 21-year-old chartered accountant Jean Laidlaw. Read more about: WW2 The Battle of the Atlantic: The longest military campaign of WWIIĪccompanying Roberts in his task was a select group of Wrens chosen for their mathematical and statistical capabilities. There he was tasked with establishing the Western Approaches Tactical Unit (WATU) to put his wargaming skills to good use by deciphering and combating Karl Dönitz’s U-boat tactics. However, on 1st January 1942, he found himself with purpose once again after being summoned to report to the Western Approaches HQ in Liverpool. Deemed medically unfit, Roberts retired from the Navy. However, his career came to an early end in 1938 after suffering from a bout of tuberculosis. During the mid-1930s, he studied at Portsmouth Tactical School where he was first introduced to the art of naval wargaming something he quickly took to. Gilbert RobertsĪt the tender age of twelve, Gilbert Roberts joined the Royal Navy. Something had to be done before Britain was starved into submission. The commander of the U-boats, Admiral Karl Dönitz, had developed strategies, including the ‘Wolf Pack’ attack tactic, that were wreaking havoc on Allied supplies in the Atlantic. Between June 1940 and the end of the year, U-boats sunk three million tons of Allied shipping. The Nazi conquest of France and Norway had given Germany forward operating bases from which they could launch their U-boats into the Atlantic. It does not store any personal data.Read more about: WW2 Germany’s most successful U-Boats from WWII The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.
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