Virtual Talk: “A Game of Birds and Wolves” with Simon Parkin

By the autumn of 1941, German U-boats were devastating the British war effort. Operating in groups known as “wolf packs” – inspired by the indigenous hunters of their homeland – they had torpedoed and sunk countless convoys packed with vital supplies. Winston Churchill knew the outcome of the war rested on the battle for the Atlantic.  What he didn’t know was his solution would evolve from a game.  Captain Gilbert Roberts and a group of ten Wrens (members of the Women’s Royal Naval Service) assigned to his team invented it. The “board” was a linoleum floor divided into painted squares. The pieces were model ships, moving across a make-believe ocean. The object: reveal the tactics behind the vicious success of the German U-boats and develop a counter-maneuver. That counter-maneuver became “Operation Raspberry” and, in the words of one admiral, “contributed in no small measure to the final defeat of Germany.”  This true-life tale has it all: larger than life characters, little known heroes, ingenuity, dedication, perseverance and sacrifice.

Tickets: Nonmembers $10/ Members $5
For more information, click here.