Week-End: Hero Accountants

I like to read books about history and sometimes notice the role, which accountants played in our daily live, not just in a professional field. Recently I have read an interesting book by Andrew Marr “The Making of Modern Britain”. The author described an interesting episode in the chapter about World War II, or the Peoples War like it is also  named in the UK. Here is the small passage:

“In the Atlantic, which mattered most to Britain, the capital surface ships became a sideshow. The life or death struggle was led from Brittany by Admiral Doenitz, the leader of the U-boat fleet, based in a sardine-merchant’s château; and in Britain by a polio-stricken civilian lawyer, Rodger Winn, who, along with a chartered accountant, ran the Royal Navy’s Submarine Tracking Room in an ugly concrete building near Downing Street. Their game of bluff, counter-bluff, changing tactics and secret intercepts was an important fight as any other part of the war.”

The British Submarine, Triton Class

Thus, a chartered accountant helping to navigate Royal Navy’s submarines contributed to the victory over Nazi Germany!

It is interesting which accounting skills did he applied to do this glorious job? I would suggest that he had good analytical skills, could have analyse trends in the movements of U-boats, accurately measured the balance of power at the point of time in the Atlantic…

Unfortunately, the book does not tell us anything about this hero. Who was he? Why did he decide to take this job? What was his fate? It would be nice to get know about this man.

PS If you know any analogous stories about brave, heroic or simply good deeds of accountants which influenced our live, please leave a comment – share your knowledge.

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