Paddy Griffith's Wargaming Operation Sealion

Back in 1974, Paddy Griffith was a fairly new member of the staff of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, when he conceived the idea to run a serious historical wargame that examined what might have happened had the Germans attempted to carry out Operation Sealion. It was one of the first wargame of its sort and is credited by Peter Perla as showing that a wargame could be a serious academic tool when use was made of proper historical analysis, statistical modelling, and applied human experience.

The DAILY TELEGRAPH sponsored the event, and it was staged at the Army Staff College. The list of participants is very interesting, and included:

• General Adolf Galland: Holder of the Kight's Cross of the Iron Cross, with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, he was a fighter ace who had flown in combat from the Spanish Civil War until the end of the Second World War.
• Major Rudolf Rothenfelder: An ex-Luftwaffe pilot who became President of the German Fighter Pilots Association.
• Admiral Freidrich Ruge: Holder of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, he commanded naval forces in the North Sea, Italy, and the Channel during the Second World War. He became the first commander of the Federal German Navy.
• Admiral Prof Dr Jurgen Rohwer: German naval historian who served aboard several destroyers and minesweepers during the Second World War.
• Admiral Dr Schunemann: German naval attaché in 1974,
  
• General Heinz Trettner: Holder of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, he served as Chief of Operations of 7th Flieger Division in 1940, before taking part in the invasion of Crete. He later commanded 4th Fallschirmjager Division, and after the war he became commander of the Federal German Army.
• Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Foxley-Norris GCB, DSO, OBE, FRSA: He served as a fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain. After the Second World War he served as Assustant Chief of the Defence Staff, commander of RAF Germany, and the 2nd Tactical Air Force.
• Rear Admiral Edward Findlay "Teddy" Geuritz CB, OBE, DSC & Bar: He was the third most senior member of the beachmaster party on Sword Beach on D-Day. After the war he served as Deputy Director of the Royal Naval Staff College before a stint on the Naval Staff at the Admiralty. He then moved to become Captain of the Fleet for the Far East Fleet, then Director of Defence Plans (Navy), Director of the Joint Warfare Staff, and President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. His last appointment was as Commandant of the Joint Warfare Establishment.
• Major General Glyn Charles Anglim Gilbert CB MC: He came ashore at Normandy in command of a company of 2nd Lincolns, and he fought with them throughout the subsequent campaign to liberate France. He took part in the Rhine crossing, and was still leading his company when they captured Bremen in 1945. After the war he transferred to the Parachute Regiment, and commanded of the Territorial Army's 44th Parachute Brigade before becoming the Commandant of the School of Infantry, Warminster. His final posting was as General Officer Commanding 3rd Division.
• John Davis: One of the wargaming pioneers, his figures were used in the episode of CALLAN that featured a wargame,
• Andy Callan: One of the founding fathers of Wargame Developments and still one of the most innovative wargame designers around.
• Brigadier Page: He was the Assistant Commandant of the RMA Sandhurst at the time of the wargame.
• Dr Antony Brett-James: After service with the Royal Corps of Signals during the Second World War, he served for a time as Head of the War Studies Department at Sandhurst.
• Professor Michael Orr: He lectured in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, from 1969 to 1984. He later worked at  the Conflict Studies Research Centre, and amongst other things he is currently a Honorary Research Fellow in War Studies at the University of Birmingham, editor of the Records of the Douglas Haig Fellowship, and Secretary General of the British Commission for Military History.
• Nigel de Lee: He taught war studies at Sandhurst, before moving on to teach history at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, and Operations and Tactics at the Krigsskolen in Oslo.
• Dr David Chandler: After serving as a Captain in the British Army, he lectured at Sandhurst and held held three visiting professorships at Ohio State University, the Virginia Military Institute, and the Marine Corps University. He specialised in the study of the Napoleonic Wars, and was an acknowledged expert on Napoleon's military career.
• 'Lieutenant' Featherstone: THE Donald Featherstone, who was 'temporarily' (and unofficially) promoted from his wartime rank of sergeant and allocated to the team from 44th Parachute Brigade who assisted in the running of the wargame.

A report on the wargame was featured in the DAILY TELEGRAPH, and Richard Cox used it as the 'plot' for his 'what if' novel about Operation Sealion.

A very poor-quality photograph of those taking part in the 1974 Operation Sealion wargame at the British Army Staff College. The map over which the battle was fought can be seen in the centre of the photograph.

This book contains a wealth of information and was put together by John Curry from Paddy Griffith's notes and records. It not only includes the background information and player briefings, but also the rules used and the data required to run the wargame.

In addition, there is a scale-down version of the wargame that was devised by John Curry for use by a smaller group or wargame club. This was used at the Wargame Developments Conference of Wargamers in 2008, and I contributed my research into the naval forces that would have been involved had Operation Sealion taken place.

I think that this will be one of those books that serious wargamers will want to have on their shelves. IT shows that wargaming is not only a fun hobby but can also be a very useful historical research tool if used correctly. I leave the final words to Peter Perla:

'Finally, to me, one of the more interesting and cogent contributions contained herein is the short section on Griffith's Reflections on wargaming in general and Sealion in particular. Those alone are worth the price of admission.'

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PADDY GRIFFITH'S WARGAMING OPERATION SEALION: THE GAME THAT LAUNCHED ACADEMIC WARGAMING was edited by John Curry from the writings of the late Dr Paddy Griffith. It was published in 2021 by The 'History of Wargaming' Project (ISBN 979 8 5106 7146 9).