Lessons in Leadership: Captain Frederick John “Johnny” Walker, RN

“No officer will ever be blamed by me for getting on with the job in hand.”

Captain Walker was the most successful U-boat hunter in the Royal Navy in World War Two. When he took over the 36th Escort Group in October 1941 he issued the following Operational Instructions to the nine ships under his command.

1. The object of the Group while on escort duty is to ensure the safe and timely arrival of the convoy concerned. It is not possible, with the ships available, to dispose of the Group in such a way as to protect the convoy completely from enemy attacks -- these must be accepted and doubtless some losses. The only practicable course of action is to ensure that any enemy craft, either surface or air, which attack are destroyed.

2. The particular aim of the Group therefore is to be taken as the destruction of any enemy which attacks the convoy. U-boats are the chief menace to our convoys. I cannot emphasise too strongly that a U-boat sighted or otherwise detected is immediately to be attacked continuously without further orders, with guns, depth charges, and/or ram until she has been destroyed or until further orders are received.

3. I wish to impress on all officers that although I shall naturally take charge of the majority of operations, I consider it essential for themselves to act instantly without waiting for orders in situations of which I may be unaware or imperfectly informed.

4. It should seldom, if ever, be necessary to conclude a signalled report with the words: “Request instructions.” Action should be “proposed” or “intended” by the men on the spot and the senior officer can always say if he doesn’t like it.

5. No officer will ever be blamed by me for getting on with the job in hand.

Source

B. H. Liddell Hart described Marlborough's leadership genius as "the power of commanding affection while communicating energy". Captain Walker's Operational Instructions certainly communicated energy. The men in his group knew what was expected of them and had no fear of being second-guessed or micro-managed. They had permission and knew they would not have to beg for forgiveness if they "got on with the job at hand."

Under his command, the 36th Escort Group was the first unit to inflict serious losses on the German U-boats. Walker, his commanders, and his crews were creating and refining a war-winning doctrine for the Battle of the Atlantic.

Consistent success is one of the ways to "command affection". Professional competence is an often overlooked factor in real leadership. (As Farnam Street noted, a leader's supreme competence is "pure oxygen" for an organization.) Walker had studied the U-boat problem for years and had knack for finding solutions. His expertise helped make his escort groups elite units which were recognized as such throughout the Royal Navy.

By the time of the Normandy landings, the U-boat threat had been negated. They were unable to contest the landings and the supply efforts. They tried, but were turned back with crushing heavy losses. Captain Walker was in the middle of the fight from the dark days of 1941 to the brilliant success of June 1944.

Captain Walker, like Gen. Percy Hobart and Air Marshall Dowding was slated for retirement before the war intervened. It really seems that the British military had systemic problems in identifying talented officers in the interwar period. Fortunately, Hitler made even greater mistakes.


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