Training

 War Plan Orange was a military concept by war planners of the American military in the 1930s in terms of a possible conflict with Japan. Their proposal of island hopping as opposed to a direct approach would in fact become the strategy used when the Second World War broke out.

War planners in Japan devised their own strategies, but warned that Japan could not win a prolonged war against the Allies. They were ignored.

For Canada, much of the emphasis on war games and strategic planning was in the European theatre, and particularly the Atlantic.

This painting is HMCS Ville de Quebec Gets A Sub, by Commander Harold Beament in 1943.

The Western Approaches Tactical Unit was one example of war gaming, set up in 1942 to use war games to analyze the German navy's actions.

More games, meant for children but influenced by the war, and from both sides.

The officers of the United States Naval War College would gather after hours for war gaming at one of their colleagues' homes. Fletcher Pratt and his wife hosted many such sessions, with models like this being laid out on the floor, and strategy being carried out by the participants.

A photograph of one of those nights- with the cat making its own presence known on the battleground.