U-Boat Wargamers | Episode 2: False Dawns | Free Documentary History

U-Boat Wargamers - Episode 2: False Dawns | History Documentary Watch the next episode of 'U-Boat Wargamers' here:    • U-Boat Wargamers | Episode 3: The Wrens | ...   In this episode: After the fall of France in 1940, Dönitz’s most famous U-boat commanders embark on a race to send British merchant ships to the bottom of the sea. Driven by a fierce competition to sink the highest tonnage, they terrorise the North Atlantic convoys and converge on them in wolfpack attacks. All the while, Vera Laughton Mathew’s Wrens work around the clock to bring the battle directly to Dönitz’s U-boats. When confronted with unprecedented losses, and the real risk of starvation, the British Royal Navy seize on a manoeuvre developed by the famous U-boat hunter, Commander Johnny F. Walker. But many suspect this to be a fluke. Only one man can expose it as such. After a brief stint training the Home Guard, Commander Gilbert Roberts is finally ordered to report to the Admiralty. His mission: ‘to find out what is happening in the Atlantic and sink the U-boats.’ The series: 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. By putting themselves into the minds of the U-boat captains, Laidlaw and the Wrens decipher Dönitz’s tactics and turn the tables on the U-boats, developing countertactics to destroy them. Their work enabled the Allies to turn the tide of the war, outthink the U-boats and defeat Nazi Germany. The Wrens were some of the greatest war gamers of their generation, but their legacy has been ignored. Now the story of these forgotten war gamers can be told. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Subscribe to Free Documentary - History Channel for free: https://bit.ly/2FjRPgV Facebook: https://bit.ly/2QfRxbG Twitter: https://bit.ly/2QlwRiI ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ #FreeDocumentary #Documentary #History ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Free Documentary - History is dedicated to bringing high-quality documentaries to you on YouTube for free. You will see original archive footage, reenactments, and animations showing the past from a new perspective and explanations by renowned historians that make history come alive with stories about people and events that formed the world we live in.