Linkspam: The Wrens of WATU

[davidgillon]

(I've seen this before, but I'm not sure I linked to it, and if I did, it may have been a copy without the second article).

Fascinating article on the Wrens of the Western Approaches Tactical Unit, who gamed U-boat and escort tactics during the Battle of the Atlantic, sometimes in real-time, in order to try and improve the defence of convoys. Including one 18yo Wren rating who repeatedly humiliated WWI submarine ace Admiral Sir Max Horton when he was playing the u-boat commander.

The other article in the file on the wartime life of Anne Grace, and her biography in 'The Girl From Station X' is also worth reading - a socialite who ended up in the WAAF and was eventually posted to Bletchley Park. The emphasis sounds slightly different from a lot of the Bletchley Park stuff as she was on what we'd nowadays call the exploitation side of the process, dealing with decoded Enigma information rather than cracking it. And if her diaries are as detailed as this makes out, she was doing a damned sight more than bending the Official Secrets Act!

And for something completely different, a Brexit game. There's also a podcast I've not yet listened to on the general subject of Brexit games.

Comments

[sovay]

Fascinating article on the Wrens of the Western Approaches Tactical Unit, who gamed U-boat and escort tactics during the Battle of the Atlantic, sometimes in real-time, in order to try and improve the defence of convoys.

Thank you! I like the Nicholas Monsarrat connection.