A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Game Helped Win World War II by Simon Parkin
Reviewed by: Beth Weimer, Communications Specialist
Genre: Nonfiction, History
Suggested Age: Adults, Teens
What is This Book About?: By 1941, Great Britain was close to losing WWII because of the relentless success of the Nazi U-Boats in the ongoing battle of the Atlantic. Aside from the damages to the Royal Navy, the U-Boats were sinking thousands of merchant ships full of food and fuel, pushing Great Britain to the brink of starvation – the extent to which even some members of Churchill’s cabinet were unaware. In desperation, Churchill formed a top-secret unit called the Western Approaches Tactical Unit (WATU). Operating from an underground bunker in Liverpool and led by retired Captain Gilbert Roberts and a team of ten Women’s Royal Naval Service members (known as Wrens), WATU developed complex wargames to figure out how the U-Boats operated and create new antisubmarine tactics. The young Wrens developed innovative battle maneuvers and trained thousands of British naval officers through the wargames, and Wren officer Jean Laidlaw developed a counter-maneuver called Operation Raspberry that turned the tide of the war in one of the greatest convoy battles in 1943. Despite their role in these victories and the countless contributions made by the more than 70,000 Wrens who served throughout the war, the Wrens collectively received only one formal, public message acknowledging their service from the government – no awards or honors.
My Review: Full disclosure, I randomly selected this audiobook because I misread the title as “Indigenous” rather than “Ingenious” and was intrigued. So once I got over my initial confusion, (wait, why is everyone British?) and despite any previous knowledge or interest in submarine warfare, I did enjoy it more than expected. I was disappointed that most of the book focuses on the male British and German commanders involved, but the context is relevant and, as Parkin acknowledges, not much information is available about the Wrens. The role of the WATU Wrens is incredible, and it’s infuriating that so much history has been lost because they were forbidden from talking or writing about their experiences for 50 years. It’s so sad to me that many of the women never even told their husbands or families about their experiences, even later in life. One exception is that fearless Vera Laughton Mathews, Director of the Wrens who also served in WWI, wrote her autobiography in 1948. Hopefully, this book will inspire a documentary or more official recognition of these women and their proper role in history.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Detailed, Fascinating, Heroic
Give This a Try if You Like… Fly Girls: The Daring American Women Pilots Who Helped Win WWI by P. O’Connell Pearson, The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson, Code Name: Lise by Larry Loftis
Rating: 3.5/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.
