A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Game Helped Win World War II

by Simon Parkin

Carrs’ commanding officer explained in a letter to the director of anti-submarine warfare at the Admiralty, would require the cooperation of various anti-submarine departments. In his letter, the CO requested the loan of young game designer Lieutenant M. E. Impey to join the project for a month from his current posting in Portsmouth, where Roberts was then working. Lastly, the captain wrote, ‘The Director of A/S Warfare is requested to obtain provisional approval for six gramophone records.’ Carrs’ and Impey’s game, it seemed, was to have audio accompaniment. A month later, on 15th October 1941, Impey flew from London-derry to Liverpool and on to London, arriving at the Admiralty the following day carrying under his arm a prototype of the game. After he outlined its workings, he explained that the gramophone record, which was to be played during the game, was needed to help increase the sense of realism for the ship’s crew. This was not to provide a stirring soundtrack, but rather the ‘ping’ and ‘tong’ of the ASDIC apparatus, the early form of sonar used to detect submarines, which would be synched up with periods of the game in order to provide participants with an accurate reading of the simulated U-boat’s position. For those playing in the plotting room of the ship, away from the portholes, any differences between playing the game and hunting a real-life U-boat