War Gamers (Web-Doku)

World War II. The Battle of the Atlantic. Admiral Karl Dönitz, head of the Nazi’s U-boat fleet, brings Britain to the brink of starvation by sinking their merchant ships. His U-boats strike without warning and disappear immediately. Dönitz’s deadly tactics are mystifying. If the vital transatlantic shipping route is cut off, Britain will be forced to surrender, and the Allies will lose their last foothold in Western Europe. The Royal Navy must find a way to defeat Dönitz. They turn to retired war gamer Gilbert Roberts.

Roberts is set a daunting task – to use war gaming to decipher Dönitz’s tactics and find a way to sink the U-boats. To do this, he needs a team, but the navy can’t spare any men. He is forced to turn to a group of women from the Women’s Royal Navy Service (WRNS), popularly known as the Wrens. With Jean Laidlaw, one of Britain’s first female chartered accountants, and a small team of bright young women, Roberts acts out naval battles and war game scenarios on a linoleum floor using chalk and wooden model ships. (https://www.zdf-studios.com/en/program-catalog/international/unscripted/history-biographies/war-gamers)