The lost dead of WW2

Trigger warning – this article contains discussion of suicide.

In 15th April 1939’s weekend edition of the Essex Newsman, you’ll an incredibly tragic story. It’s not front-page news, but beyond Winston Churchills promise to aid Greece and Romania against Nazi invasion, there is a none the less important story; that of Edith Hann. A 43-year-old mother of two who on Good Friday had curled up with her husband on the sofa to listen to that evenings BBC News wireless transmission. As she heard of the ever-growing threat of Nazi invasion and that Britain must become more involved in this international crisis, she turned to her husband and said ‘That means war’. The next morning Edith was dead.

Edith had been scared of what war would mean for her family. What it would mean for her sons, then 9 and 16. She’d lived through World War One, she knew that a second war could mean her oldest son being conscripted; that he might never come home. That the threat of bombing might mean he wouldn’t even have a home to come back to – or parents to help him get through. Edith was terrified. She couldn’t face another war. So, she took her life. At her inquest, the coroner, one Dr P.B Skeels, underlined the effect the wireless news had on Edith. Saying ‘The news is not always happily expressed on the wireless. Of course, we want to know the facts, but people with a nervous disposition are likely to be tremendously effected.’ This was backed up by a Daily Mail on 13th April 1939. Edith was one of three people whose suicides were directly linked back to that same BBC news broadcast on Good Friday 1939.

When we think of the outbreak of The Second World War, we don’t think suicide. Maybe that’s because suicide was illegal in the UK until 1961. Maybe it’s because these people’s stories have just got lost in the melee of ‘THERE’S A WAR!’. Or maybe, it’s because, until quite recently, we didn’t feel comfortable talking about mental health. The answer is probably a mix of all of these reasons, but almost certainly thanks to a pretty heavy dollop of the latter. Still between 1938’s Munich crisis and the official outbreak of war in Britain in 1939, there were many instances of people, just like Edith, committing suicide due to the threat of war. They are the lost dead. The casualties of war we just don’t want to think about.

Essex Newsman, 15 April 1939

The First World War changed Britain -obviously. Pretty much every city, town and village now had a war memorial. A great wave of death had swept the nation and nobody was left unmarked. This was made even worse by the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, which claimed at least 200,000 lives in Britain, an estimated 45% of which were under 35. Between 1914-1918 it was not a good time to be a young person – the odds of your survival weren’t exactly stellar. Which is why today we know this generation as ‘the lost generation.’

If you’ve ever lost someone you’ve loved than you’ll know how tough it is to recover. To rebuild your life and find a way to smile again. Now imagine that personal pain and spread it throughout the country – one big shared unimaginable loss. That was the aftermath of the First World War. Sadly, there just weren’t enough resources, or knowledge in mental health to help everyone. So, veterans were put as first priority (although admittedly the help they got was beyond poor-buts that’s a story for another day) For everyone else – the shattered and traumatised civilian’s – well for the most part, you just had to carry on. It’s perhaps why we see a post war spike in spiritualism, religion and even ‘pilgrimages’ to visit First World War battle sites. It’s also why in the 1930’s there’s a boom in ‘emotional control’ with women’s newspaper columns and magazines in particular advising their readers on how to ‘manage’ their feelings.

But beyond all this feeling management and hope in spiritualism, there was another thing to hold on to. The best kind of silver lining. Because, at the time this wasn’t called ‘The First World War’; it was ‘The Great War’. A war so great and tragic that it could never happen again. So of course, the trauma you experienced during The Great War wasn’t likely to repeat itself. Right? Right?!?

Enter Hitler!

This fucking guy

After the absolute failure of 30th September 1938’s Munich Pact, it became apparent that Britain joining another international war was a definite possibility. This wasn’t a new fact for the people of Britain – who earlier in the year had already been advised to be fitted with gas masks. Not only was another war on the cards, but an attack was thought so likely that everyone was now issued with a gas mask. It’s a terrifying thought, even more so if you’re already traumatised by the horrors of war.

This is where we start to see the first forgotten casualties of Britain’s involvement in The Second World War. The University of Sheffield’s Dr Julie Gottlieb is carrying out an ongoing research project on suicides related to The Munich Crisis, as part of a wider project researching suicides during times of crisis. In 2018 at the time of the research’s publishing, Dr Gottlieb told the New Statesman that she had uncovered at least 110 suicides directly relating to The Munich Crisis.

These include Roger ‘Tom’ Northcutt, a 36-year horticultural whizz who’d been assembling gas masks when he suddenly told his fellow volunteers he was quickly nipping home. Expect he never made it home and shortly afterwards a search party found his body. Then there’s, William Neatham Rumbell a 27-year-old sales clerk, who immediately went to pick up his gas mask after hearing Hitlers speech on 26th September 1938, where the Nazi leader threatened war with Czechoslovakia. Shortly after William returned home with his mask, he reportedly uttered the same last words as Edith Hann: ‘That means war’ – his body was later discovered in his room.

Roger ‘Tom’ Northcutt

In the grand scheme of things 110 suicides might seem like a drop in the ocean. But these deaths are just scratching the surface. They are the deaths where there is a clear and direct link back to the impending outbreak of war. That’s just one aspect that makes broader research into this is tricky. In addition many deaths that were probably suicides, were recorded as ‘accidental deaths’ and/or just weren’t reported on. This adds another fun spanner in the works, because newspaper archives are one of the primary sources for tracking this – although some coroner inquest reports still exist, not all of them do, because coroners are only required to keep records from this era for so long. However, despite all of these added hurdles, there is clear anecdotal evidence that there may have been an impact to overall mental health in the run up to Britain entering The Second World War.

For an example let’s go back to where this article began and focus in on those reported in the local confines of The Essex Newsman. Looking at the last two weeks in September 1938 – when fears of Britain entering the war were at a high – The Newsman reports on seven suicides within the Essex area – a far greater number than usual. This is in addition to one woman being charged with attempted suicide and an inquest ruling accidental death in the case of one man, although the coroner’s verdict includes that the deceased stepped in front of a train and upon hearing the trains whistle, he deliberately ‘jumped forward’ towards the oncoming train.

Again, this is of course incredibly anecdotal evidence on my part. And of course it’s important to understand that a sudden impending war wasn’t likely to be the sole cause that led to a suicide or a suicide attempt – rather a contributing factor. The straw that broke the camels back if you will. But this glimpse into just two weeks in one county in England really illustrates what we’re looking at as a far wider reaching trend; and it’s one that is still being analysed and studied. Now unfortunately although amazing research is being done in this area, it’s not yet fully formed. However, when it is – this area of historic research could be a complete game changer. The study of these deaths won’t just provide us with a window into the lives of people history likes to forget, but it will help us better understand mental health.

Think about it. We know that looming economic, political and social crisis’s see an uptick in people attempting to take their lives. We’re currently living in an epidemic that has seen this exact effect. And although understanding of mass mental health is better than it ever was, it’s still not 100% there. By studying these past incidences, we can get a far better understanding of their cause, symptoms and ultimately, what can be done to help. Now I’m not going to lie, as a suicide survivor and a researcher of mental health history, I totally have skin in this game (so please do expect me to bang on about this in the coming weeks and months!) This has been a really basic overview of the issue at hand, but I hope one that makes you want to read more into this (and if that is the case, reading list is at the bottom). These stories are never fun to read about, but they are important and expanding our knowledge of this area of the past can only make the future we build even better.

If you’re currently experiencing suicidal thoughts, please contact your GP – they really will help you. You can also call the Samaritans for 24/7 free one to one support, on 116 123.

Further reading

• M. Thomson, Psychological Subjects: Identity, Culture and Health in Twentieth-Century Britain (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).
• Essex Newsman archive (through British Newspaper Archive)
• 13th April 1939 Daily Mail (available through British Library reading rooms or Daily Mail Online Archive
• Suicide rates before, during and after the world wars, European Psychology, 1994
• Dying for the nation: Death, grief and bereavement in Second World War Britain (Cultural History of Modern War), Lucky Noakes, Manchester Press, 2020
• Suicide, Society and Crisis, Wellcome Trust funded project

*Just for clarity – I’ve chosen to omit mention of methods of suicide from this article as much as possible. If you want to find them for each individual then you can (most are cited in the newspaper sources above).

Franceska Mann and the myth of The Dancer of Auschwitz

On October 23 1943, 26 year old ballerina, Franceska Mann, transformed. Overnight she became the stuff of legend. Not through her deft pointe work or an ovation worthy performance, but because of her death.

That dark October day, Franceska, along with 1,700 over Polish Jewish people was dragged off a transit train and pushed through the gates of Auschwitz. You don’t need me to tell you what a death sentence that was. Franceska knew the odds, knew her time was up and she refused to go quietly into the night.

Franceska Mann

Franceska Mann was exceptional. A dancer at a night club in Warsaw, she was known for her talent and beauty. It was this that caught the attention of two of Auschwitz’s SS guards, Josef Schillinger and Wilhelm Emmerich.

Along with a large group of women, Franceska was led to the undressing room next to the gas chamber and told to strip. As the women undressed, the SS Guards, including Schillinger and Emmerich watched, their gaze soon honing in on Franceska. She noticed them watching and looked them directly in the eye.

She lent down to take off her shoe and the men started to approach. Then quick as a flash, Franceska attacked, using her high heel to beat a guard down. Seizing his gun, she shot. Killing Josef Schillinger and wounding Wilhelm Emmerich.

As the other SS guards bore down on the vulnerable women, they followed Franceska’s lead and fought back with everything they had. One woman reportedly bit off a guard’s nose, as machine gun fire tore through the room.

It lasted minutes. If that.

Most of the women lay dead, those that weren’t were taken outside and shot.

But their story lived on.

Artists interpretation of the shooting – not exactly accurate but you get the gist

Becoming a legend

The tale of Franceska Mann and the women that resisted spread like fire through the camp. It bought hope; the guards now knew there was the threat, however small, that the next time they struck, the prisoners might hit back. It was a grain of resistance and in this veritable hellscape, that was so needed!

Which is why Franceska’s story become mythologised. Feverishly passed around the prisoners, its details becoming blurrier and blurrier.

Soon enough, the story was that Franceska had performed a strip tease. Luring Schillinger and Emmerich towards her with a flash of thigh and seductively pulling her blouse away. Only when the two men were lulled into a sense of lusty security did she strike. Turning the tables on her abusers.

It’s this version of events that has prevailed. Through accounts of Auschwitz survivors and even those that were at camps miles away, yet had still heard the tale.

Though popular, many historians have agreed that this version is incredibly unlikely. Yes, there was an attack of Schillinger and Emmerich, but it’s highly unlikely it was precursor’d with some light stripping. It’s an embellishment and one we continue to glean onto.

But it’s not just the strip tease that’s been added on. There are arguments that it may not have been Franceska Mann, but another woman. In different tellings Francesca morphs into everything from a Greek dancer, to an actress and even a whole mob of women taking the guards down as a unit.

Though it’s now agreed it was most likely Franceska Mann who shot down Schillinger and Emmerich, it’s undoubtable that this incident took on a life of it’s own, becoming more fiction than fact.

BUT WHY?!? What’s with all this twisting and mythologising?

Well, the answer is simple and very bleak (this is the Holocaust after all).

Women in Auschwitz II, 1944

Surviving sexual abuse

To understand the root of this ever twisting tale we need to talk about the sexual treatment of women during the Holocaust.

The Nazi’s kept virtually no records of the rape and sexual abuse that went on inside concentration camps, however we now know that it happened. And it did so with horrifying frequency.

To be in a concentration camp meant you were immediately stripped of your human rights, made more vulnerable than you could ever have believed. For women, this also meant they were vulnerable to sexual attack and abuse.

One of the most notorious abusers was Josef Schillinger. 

Schillenger was by all accounts sadistic beyond even SS standards. Teaming up with his mate Wilhelm Emmerich, to wreak all kinds of horror on the prisoners under his watch.

And if you were in any doubt whether or not both men were the literal worst, here’s a quote from Wieslaw Kielar (a polish resistance fighter also imprisoned at Auswitchz) about what led the pair to Franceska Mann and the other women on that fateful October night:

‘Both of them slightly drunk, accompanied the transport to the crematorium. They even entered the changing room, guided either by thoughts of a little stealing or in anticipation of the sadistic enjoyment of watching the timid, defenceless, undressed women, who moments later were to die a painful death in the gas chamber.’

So it’s understandable then that the news of Schillinger’s death was met with celebration, especially when prisoners found out a woman had killed him.

The vulnerable had become ferocious. They’d bitten back and shown that there was a price to pay for the abuse dealt out to them. To women living not only with the constant threat of death, but of sexual assault too, this was hope beyond hope.

It’s no wonder, that in the subsequent game of Auschwitz whispers, the tale of Francesca Mann was not only embellished, but tailored into countless shapes that could be clung onto by each woman. She was hero when one was needed most.

Which is why it’s so important that this is all remembered when we tell the story of Francesca Mann and her resistance. Because what made her a legend wasn’t just her act of bravery, but the desperate hopes of thousands of others. And none of those women should ever be forgotten.

Further reading: Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust, by Sonja M. Hedgepeth and Rochelle G. Saidel. This book is incredible and really worth a read. Shedding light on this too often undiscussed chapter of history.

 

More like this: 

• The comfort women, the fight for the rights of WW2’s forgotten sex slaves 

• Hans Scholl: The Nazi poster boy turned resistance fighter 

• Meet the badass WW2 heroines you didn’t even know existed

 

 

 

How show girls bolstered the blitz

In September 1940, when bombs first fell on London, there were forty two theatres in the city’s West End. But as the dust settled, only one remained, its lights on, the show still going.

The Windmill Theatre, known for its show girls, fan dances and naked tableaux, was the capitals unlikely Blitz stalwart. But what made this little strip show that could even more incredible was that it not only positioned itself as London’s go to wartime theatre, but actively worked to make itself a key player in the allied fight to win WW2.

Press photo of The Windmill Theatre and its infamous ‘We Never Closed’ signage

In the early 1930’s, Laura Henderson (more commonly known as ‘Mrs Henderson’) bought The Windmill Theatre. Previously a cinema, she had it totally pulled apart and transformed into a tiny theatre that she hoped would celebrate Britain’s many storied variety acts.

Sadly for Mrs Henderson, variety was on its last legs. The audience were nowhere to be found, and down and out variety performers far outnumbered those in work.

So Mrs Henderson roped in entertainment maestro, Vivian Van Damm (more commonly known as VD) to think up a way of making her variety theatre a sell-able form of entertainment.

VD re-branded the theatre as an all British home for a truly British art form and its homegrown British acts (can you see a theme here?). Alongside the patriotic love fest, The Windmill was also sold as a sort of charity, after all, Mrs Henderson was giving previously unemployed performers work, which if you squint hard enough, could technically be counted as charity.

But all of this wasn’t enough to put the theatre in the black. You see, no matter how much you re-branded it, at its core The Windmill just wasn’t doing anything different. It was still just another theatrical revue.

So, with rival revues running all over London, ones that offered tons of acts and ran all day long, why pick the Windmill over anything else?

Answer: Naked Tableaux

A 1934 tableaux, entitled, My Pearls

The brainchild of VD, the idea of naked women on a London stage was at once, new, taboo and a must see ticket.

Sure the idea of half dressed women creating a picture on stage, had clear roots in regency era theatre, BUT it hadn’t been done to the level that The Windmill was offering.

Which is exactly why The Lord Chamberlain took such an interest in The Windmill girls.

The Lord Chamberlain was the censor for all theatrical pursuits and thus the person who could license The Windmill’s use of nudity to this level. But, a stiff upper-class Lord, licensing erotic theatre in the 1930s? Doesn’t seem likely right?

Enter Mrs Henderson… who just happened to know Lord Cromer, the current Lord Chamberlain. Mrs Henderson hounded Cromer, showing him how The Windmill ran and that everything was above board, crucially arguing that her show wouldn’t be titillating audiences, but would in fact be a true artistic endeavour.

After all, you wouldn’t argue that the Venus Dimilo put her boobs away. So much like a statue, if the naked windmill girls didn’t move, they couldn’t possibly be considered ‘vulgar’ public pornography.

And so, The Windmill not only got their license, but censorship backing that prevented morality groups from forcing them into closure.

Programme from a 1930s-production at the Hammermsith Lyric direct from the Windmill Theatre

Throughout the 1930’s, The Windmill ran under the banner:

‘Naughty specialities, gorgeous girls and comics who are destined to go places’

Female dancers, singers and show girls, were sandwiched between male comedians sets, with the highlight of each show being the multiple nude tableaux’s, offering depictions of art, historical events and fiction all told by nude female live statues.

Suddenly The Windmill ticket office was buzzing! But if you thought that audience inside the theatre would be the same, you’d be wrong.

Audiences to the show were often deathly quiet. And as one former Windmill Girl, Doris Barry remembered, much of the audience were:

‘Men with raincoats over their knees, half of them playing with themselves’

It was far from a good experience for the girls on stage. Many of whom were young and wanted to perform, not be openly masturbated at.

Then WW2 hit and everything changed.

Staged photo of Windmill dancers performing in gas masks

After the blitz truly started in 1940, The Windmill found fame as one of the only theatres not to close up shop. Dubbed the ‘Great little windmill’ by press.

But just staying open when there was no bomb insight, wasn’t good enough for VD. He wanted The Windmill Theatre to never close.

The theatre’s layout meant that -hypothetically- bombs could be raining right outside it’s doors, but those in its theatre would still be safe.

The way VD saw it, The Windmill could and should be the one place in London that could keep its lights on during those hellish nights and do it with laughter and a healthy dose of nudity – it was a hell of a way to give Hitler the middle finger!

And so, VD militarised The Windmills workforce. Staff were put on bomb and fire watching rotas and they strengthened the theatre exterior with sandbags.

Most of the company moved into the theatre itself, both to be able to take on extra shows and for safety, with an emergency bunker being installed.

Shows were altered to include wartime themed numbers and tableauxs. With VD ensuring around 500 free tickets per week were given to soldiers. Soon the brigade of creepy mac wearers were gone and The Windmills audience were allied soldiers from all over the world.

The girls became pin ups, not only during performances but in the everyday. With staged pictures of their ‘daily lives’ in their new underground dorms being released to the public. Catipulted into a strange type of duel celebrity, the Windmill Girls became postcard pin ups for soldiers a long way from home. But they also served as a type of propaganda on the home front, providing Britain with a much needed reminder that life, laughter and fun could still go on.

Staged photo of Windmill performers sleeping

And this really cannot be overstated: The Windmill girls, were risking their lives to do their jobs.

They were working right in the middle of the blitz, in a target area. Members of The Windmill’s staff died whilst working there.

A bomb actually landed on the doorstep of The Windmill and though it did not explode, it lay there, a ticking time bomb. Upon seeing the bomb, VD purportedly proclaimed:

‘Get this bloody bomb off my doorstep! I’ve got a show to put on’

Often the girls on stage could hear the bombs falling right outside. Yet only a few times did a girl make any movement whilst in their tableaux. Once when a bomb dislodged a dead rat from the rafter and it fell at her (who wouldn’t have moved for that, to be fair)

On another occasion, a bomb hit a hotel in the same street. At the sound of the enormous impact, one of the women performing supposedly turned her head ever so slightly in the direction of the bomb and thumbed her nose at it.

Windmill girl, Sonia Stacpoole walks the corridors of the windmill with both her costume and helmet

An example of just some of the immense bravery shown by these women, is the story of Margaret McGrath. Who was one of the Windmill’s most beloved performers (in 1942, she was actually named The Windmills no1 girl, by Life magazine!)

In addition to her work on stage, Margaret took turns on fire watch, looking out from the theatres rooftop to ensure that no spreading blaze was coming close. Then in October 1940, Margaret was thrown into action when a bomb hit a cafe, which sat just opposite the theatre.

Bodies and debris were strewn across the street. Worse still, The Windmill staff quickly realised that someone was missing, a teenage electrician who’d been by the cafe at the time of the explosion. He was also the brother of one of Margaret’s fellow showgirls.

Someone needed to go out into the street, walk amongst the pile of bloodied and mangled bodies and identify if their boy was one of them. Margaret stepped up.

Almost immediately after, she was back at work. Which was fortunate for those around her, as pretty soon after, a fire bomb hit some stables right by the theatre.

Margaret put on her metal helmet and rushed to the blaze, along with fellow Windmill girl, Annie Singer.

The fire was ferocious, killing several people. None the less, Margaret and Annie managed to rescue six horses.

They then led the panicking horses through Piccadilly Circus, singing the whole time to calm both themselves and the horses. Until another bomb hit. The horses bolted, but Margaret and Annie stayed firm, despite the very obvious continuing danger. Going after the terrified animals and eventually leading them to safety.

All this and still, when she was aged 97, Margaret told the Daily Mail:

‘The war years at The Windmill were the best of my life. And boy, have I had a life!’

Pin up postcard of Margaret McGrath

Margaret was not a rare case! All The Windmill girls stepped up and risked a lot, many being only being in their late teens or early twenties.

They witnessed horrors right outside their front door and went on stage minutes later. They met and fell in love with soldiers by the stage door, who were killed just days later. And yet no matter what, these women acted as the positive, cheerful, sexy, fun face of the war effort.

And of course, they did all this whilst being publicly put on trial by the morality police.

And still, STILL, they got up every day and did it all again. That is bravery.

This was interesting! Where can I find out more? – check out Nights Out: Life in Cosmopolitan London, by Judith R Walkowitz. It’s a fantastic read and contains so much more info on The Windmill

Natasha Tidd is 1/3 of F Yeah History. She’s worked at museums and heritage sites across the UK. A huge history nerd, she will happily talk your ear off about women’s history, over several glasses (be real, bottles) of wine

Mary Ellis: The Fierce Female Flyer of WWII

Mary Ellis lived an extraordinary life. She was an active flyer and British ferry pilot during the second world war. Later flying jet engines for the RAF, a claim only a handful of women would ever proudly hold.

Mary would put her life on the line to do what she loved. Completely fearless she knocked down whatever barriers faced her. Refusing to let anything, be that sexism or enemy fire, stop her from getting in her plane cockpit:

“I am passionate for anything fast and furious. I always have been since the age of three and I always knew I would fly.”

Pilot Mary Ellis in her cockpit.

Born Mary Wilkins, in February 1917, to a farming family in rural Oxfordshire, Mary’s passion for aviation was clear from the get go. Growing up close to Royal Air Force bases in Bicester and Port Meadow. She never missed a flying demonstration and her father, keen to fuel her dream, took her to as many shows as he could.

When Mary was 11 years old a flying circus came to town and her father paid for her to have a ride on a biplane (a thing you could totally let children do then…oh and if you were wondering, the plane was a de Havilland DH.60 Moth)

Like that, she was hooked. Mary was determined to become a pilot and spend the rest of her life in these magnificent flying machines. 

So, when she was 16 she started flying lessons and pretty quickly had her very own pilots license.

Hardly out of puberty AND already owning the skies – nice work Mary

In 1941 a call went out from the UKs ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary) for pilots to help transport planes across the Chanel to the WWII front line. Naturally, Mary wanted to help the war effort in any way she could, so signed up and with 167 other brave female pilots who flew aircraft from Britain over to the front line flying squadrons. As well as transporting planes from factories to airfields over the UK too.

During the war Mary flew an estimated 1000 planes made up of 76 different types of aircraft, including 400 Spitfires, which were Mary’s favourite. She said of them:

“I love it, it’s everybody’s favourite, I think it’s a symbol of freedom.”

But, no matter her flying prowess, Mary didn’t always get the respect from others around her – sexism was a daily part of her life. 

Once when she flew a Wellington bomber to an airbase, the crew there refused to believe she’d been the one who flew the plane. They even searched the cockpit for the ‘real’ pilot. Mary remembered:

“Girls flying aeroplanes was almost a sin at that time.”

And it wasn’t just the troops. The press were very against the idea of women pilots seeing it as unbecoming and ‘unfitting of their sex’.

Mary’s mother also had her reservations about her daughter flying these monster machines. BUT, Mary refused to let anyone’s opinions stop her.

She loved being in the air. She loved to serve her country. And nothing could stop her from doing what she loved. 

Get it girl!

The job Mary, and the dozens of other women just like her, were doing was a dangerous one. Often the women had to fly a plane new to them, with no chance for test flights. They just had to rely on pilot’s notes to get the landings right.

And if they were taking a plane to the front line, the risks of getting shot down were high. In all 15 female pilots were killed while working for the ATA during WWII.

After the war Mary continued working with the RAF becoming one of the first female pilots to fly a Gloster Meteor Jet Engine, which had speeds of up to 616 miles per hour (991km/h)! They were absolute BEASTS!

In 1950 Mary moved to the Isle of Wight so she could take over running Sandown airport, she became the first woman air commandant, in charge of an airport in Great Britain!

While working there she met her future husband Don Ellis, a fellow pilot and they married in 1961, living in a house next to the Sandown runway. Now, Mary never needed to be away from her planes.

She managed Sandown for 20 years and founded the Isle of Wight Aero Club during that time too.

Mary with one of her beloved Spitfires

When Mary turned 100 (!) she was recognised for her contribution to aviation by RAF base at Brize Norton by a plaque celebrating her achievements.

Then in 2018 the Isle of Wight gave her their highest honour, the Freedom of the Isle of Wight.

Mary Ellis passed away this year on July 24th at the amazing age of 101, she was remembered by her family as being an amazing, warm and driven woman. Her story shows that courage and determination can get you so very far.

That was interesting, where can i find out more? Well there’s a magnificent biography on Mary: A Spitfire Girl: One of the World’s Greatest Female ATA Ferry Pilots Tells Her Story by Mary and Melody Foreman

Sara Westrop is passionate about making history accessible (and fun!) for everyone. A disabled, queer writer from just outside London, who loves writing about the unsung chapters of history.

The time the Red Cross tried to fix WW2 with doughnuts & dames

Taking part in any active duty during a war is tough, but when you’re hundreds of miles from home in a totally different country hounded by the constant threat of death, it’s gonna make you miss home comforts. Which is why during WW2, The American Red Cross came up with, erm… a truly innovative way to give their boys overseas a taste of back home (and by innovative, we of course mean batshit)

America joined the war effort in December of 1941. And pretty soon, The good old US of A was getting reports back that their overseas troops were miserable. Unsurprising, considering war is an utter horror!

So the American Red Cross decided to try and bring US home comforts to Europe. They set up clubs and lounges in a blitz torn London and at some surrounding army barracks, where there were dances, coffee, food and good times all round. But what about the boys about to be shipped off to France? After all, they were feeling the fear most of all!

The Army asked The Red Cross to step in again and help. New York banker Harvey. D Gibson, happened to be the American Red Cross Commissioner to Great Britain and he had an idea! What if they could give the American’s the same home comforts, but on wheels! Thus, the Clubmobile was born.

A hot cup of coffee would be easy enough to serve up. But what about classic American food? Now obviously, they couldn’t serve up hamburgers from a tiny wagon on wheels that was parked next to a battlefield. So they came up with a close second, something that would surely bring a tear of joy to every traumatised soldier – doughnuts.

Me too… 🍩

A prototype Clubmobile was quickly pulled together, from an adapted Ford truck with a 10 horsepower engine that was dubbed the ‘St Louis’. Inside the truck was a little kitchen complete with doughnut maker and a hob to boil up water for coffee. 

Next they had to staff it. So a call was sent out across America for Clubmobile Girls. You had to be between the ages of 25 to 35 (so, hardly a girl then) and have some college education or work experience. You also needed to be ‘healthy, physically hardy, sociable and attractive.’

They were inundated with applications from women who wanted to help with the war effort and have an adventure overseas. These girls were quickly recruited and trained up on how to use the doughnut machine and make coffee by the bucketload…I guess they hoped that dodging bullets would hopefully just come naturally. 

A trainee Clubmobile girl Rosemary Norwalk  wrote to her family in 1943 that

“The biggest surprise to me has been the girls – almost without exception they‘re a cut above, and for some reason I hadn‘t expected that. There‘s not a dull one in the bunch.”

Group K Clubmobile girls in Leicester, England 1944

The initial pilot Clubmobile was a roaring success! So the Red Cross adapted a handful of London Green Line Buses to become Clubmobiles. These ones even had a small lounge, complete with a victrola, records, and paperback books!

The ‘girls’ also fought to get more useful items added to their clubmobiles, asking for gum, cigarettes, candy and (of course!) first aid kits for the soldiers. These women were looking out for their boys.

But these women were about to need A LOT more than first aid kits, because the Allied Army was cooking up something big: The Normandy Invasion of 1944. And, of course, for such a big fight, they wanted the Clubmobiles along to follow the army and keep troops morale up.

These brave women didn’t hesitate to say yes. But they couldn’t take the buses overseas. So the super hardy armoured Clubmobile was born. Made from converted 2 and a half ton GMC trucks. They had the kitchen and the lounge room (that doubled as bunks if the women couldn’t get to the base) and they even adapted one as a mobile cinema.

The Clubmobile girls would be driving these trucks and were trained on how to maintain them throughout their time overseas. Suddenly these women were learning new skills and being given responsibilities some of them never dreamed they could have.

Advert for Clubmobiles. Because of segregation there were seperate ones for white & black troops.

100 Clubmobiles were made, and then after the Normandy Invasion, 10 groups of Clubmobile girls and 8 Clubmobiles were initially sent over to follow the Army through their retaking of allied territory.

These women were in the thick of war and experienced the hardships and horrific injuries the soldiers faced every day. They took their role as relief from the fighting seriously.

Most of the women were single, with a few exceptions. Eleanor Stevenson, worked as a Clubmobile girl so she could follow her new husband, soldier William Edward Stevenson, through enemy territory and keep involved in the war effort.

That right there, is true love

It was hard work operating the Clubmobiles, shifts started at all hours and women did regular shifts from 8pm to 7am. The conditions were hellish and they were expected to stay open through all weather. Not all of the women could do it.

Mary McLeod from Oregon lasted 6 months on the Clubmobiles before ill health had her request to be sent back to a land club, she was in her early 30’s during her stint as a Clubmobile girl. She wrote home in 1944 that working took a:

“―terrific toll… you have to be the Amazon type and on the young side, and I am neither.”

Mary Metcalfe Texford was in the first group of women to land on Utah beach after the invasion and she wrote about her experiences following the Army. The devastation they saw and even on one occasion having to stay up all night because the threat of Nazi’s launching an attack was a very real possibility. They witnessed horrors too, with Mary recalling she saw a:

“boy get blown up by a mine while eating his doughnut and coffee.”

But Mary had to continue serving and got on with her work.

And it wasn’t just the boys they served who lost their lives. Clubmobile girl, Elizabeth Richardson lost her life in 1945, whilst transferring to join the troops in Germany, when her Red Cross plane crashed.

Elizabeth Richardson with her clubmobile, just a few months before her death

The Clubmobiles and the women who ran them, stayed with the Allied Army Forces through until the end of WWII on the 2nd of September 1945. A small number of Clubmobiles stayed behind in occupied Germany and some in London to keep the American troops who stayed behind in doughnuts and coffee.

In fact, the Clubmobile was such a success that a variation was used during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

That was interesting, where can I find out more? Well some of the Club Girls have memoirs! Mary Metcalfe Rexfords’ Battlestars & Doughnuts and Slinging Doughnuts for the Boys by historian James H Madison on the experiences of Rosemary Norwalk are both a look back at life as Clubmobile Girls.

Sara Westrop is passionate about making history accessible (and fun!) for everyone. A disabled, queer writer from just outside London, who loves writing about the unsung chapters of history.

4 Badass WW2 Heroines (you probably haven’t heard of)

The role of women in World War II was huge. From the Bletchley Park Codebreakers to the brave nurses that took to the battlefield to save lives by the thousand. Yet it’s only now that we’re discovering many of these stories.

That includes the lives of the 4 women we’ll be looking at today. Women who overcame thanks to their bravery, smarts and a unending determination. Seriously, these women’s stories, it’s inspirational badassery on steroids, that will have you shouting ‘why isn’t this a movie!?!’ 

So, Lets get started!!

*warning: This does get pretty intense and bleak in place…because.. well, it’s war.

1. Faye Schulman: The girl who would not be silenced

When Faye Schulman was 22 her entire family were murdered in a liquidation of a polish ghetto.

Faye alone was spared; thanks to her skills as a photographer, Which the Nazis made Faye use, by forcing her to develop pictures of their atrocities – including the murder of her family.

Determined to make sure people would know what happened to her family, Faye secretly kept a copy of the pictures.

Then she resolved to escape and do everything she could to fight the Nazi regime.

Faye Schulman

Faye miraculously managed to escape and she joined a band of partisan fighters, made up of escaped prisoners of war.

But, the group weren’t exactly convinced they wanted Faye around. Partly because she was the sole woman and partly because Faye had no military experience and was afraid of blood and guns.

Not exactly the ideal rebel fighter.

But Faye refused to give in. She worked her arse off, learning to shoot and training in combat.

Then when she realized that the nobody in the group had medical training, she overcame her fear of blood to self train as a nurse!

Faye with her fellow resistance fighters

Throughout her time with the partisans Faye saved countless civilian and military lives, thanks to her new medical skills. She also took part in dozens of missions and raids, to slow down the Nazi’s progress and rescue Jewish people.

However Fayes greatest accomplishment was her pictures.

Over 2 years, Faye took hundreds of pictures. She developed pictures under blankets, even burying her camera and film in the woods, to keep it out of enemy hands.

She was determined that people see the the atrocities being carried out and the resistance fighting back. As Faye put it:

‘I want people to know that there was resistance. Jews did not go like sheep to the slaughter. I was a photographer. I have pictures. I have proof.’ 

After the war Fayes pictures helped the world understand the atrocities of the Nazi regime and the unsung work of the resistance.

She continued working as a photographer and speaking out about her war experiences.

Faye with her camera that helped change the world

 

2. Noor Inyat Khan: The Spy Princess

In 1943, Noor Inyat Khan became the first female secret radio operator sent to Nazi occupied France. It was an incredible achievement, which was somewhat lessened by two things:

1. The average survival rate for the job was 6 weeks
2. Gentle, emotional and a children’s author, Noor was the last person you’d expect to take on such a deadly role…and survive. 

   

   Noor Inyat Khan

Noor had a lot of things going for her that made her the perfect spy! She was:

• ridiculously smart
• Bilingual
• Able to quickly work and adapt

BUT...she was also:

• Very sensitive and emotional
• Clumsy and scatterbrained
• Really visible for the enemy; a literal Indian princess…she kinda stuck out from the crowd

Not to mention that as a firm pacifist Noor refused to tell a lie or use any form of violence…both pretty vital skills for a spy!

So it’s not exactly surprising that British Intelligence weren’t desperate to get Noor in the field. But then the Nazis occupied France and everything changed for Noor.

Having spent her childhood in the France she was determined to do everything she could to protect its people.

So she did a complete 360; trained even harder, built up her skills and soon proved herself to be one of the most whip smart and focused people on the books of British Intelligence.

Yes Noor!!!

When Noor was dropped into Paris in 1943 she was ready; which was good…because within days of her arrival in Paris every other radio operator was captured by the Nazis.

Noor was now completely alone on enemy soil. But Noor stuck it out, knuckled down and to everyone’s surprise she fucking nailed it!

She ran an entire radio network solo, intercepted messages and passed along vital intel – all whilst constantly on the run from the Nazis.

When the British offered to evacuate Noor, she refused. Twice. Despite all the danger, she just wouldn’t leave her post unmanned.

The sweet gentle Princess that nobody thought would last a week, had proved herself to be a badass with bravery and smarts beyond comparison.

I’m just so damn proud

5 months after Noor started her work, her cover was blown after she was sold out. And so Noor found herself imprisoned by the Nazis.

But in typical Noor fashion, she refused to let that stop her doing her work.

Within hours of her capture, she snuck out her cell and was soon leaping across rooftops to freedom.

Sadly the escape bid didn’t work. She was caught and dragged back to her cell where she underwent intense interrogation. When she refused to say anything, the interrogation became merciless beating.

Still Noor said nothing.

So, she was kept shackled and barely fed in solitary confinement.  Her only contact, the soldiers who provided her with daily beatings.

This was Noors life for 10 months. Eventually Noor and three other agents were transferred to Dachau where they were to be executed.

Whilst the other agents were quickly dispatched, Noor was kept alive for one more day of torture, a last attempt at getting information.

Again she refused to give up any information. And so on the 13th September 1944, Noor was executed.

The last words of the woman that defied so many and saved even more:

‘Liberte’

 

3. Suzanne Spaak: mother of the resistance

Suzanne was one of those women who was just born to be a mum. A proud mother of 2, she lived for her children; filling their Paris home with laughter and love.

And then World War 2 hit…

Suddenly the world wasn’t so bright. Her home had been invaded and all around Suzanne, families were being torn apart by the new Nazi regime.

Suzanne found it harder and harder not to do anything. So in 1942 this housewife and mother joined the French Resistance.

Suzanne Spaak

The other members of the resistance weren’t overly thrilled at their new addition of a housewife and mother with no military experience. Sure she would be at best a failure and at worst another body for them to clean up.

They couldn’t have been more wrong.

Suzanne was fearless. She refused to back down from any assignment and when operations went tits up it was Suzanne coming up with intelligence solutions to save thr day.

And Suzanne didn’t stop at proving the resistance wrong.

Determined to get as many Jewish people to safety as possible, she risked everything to get ration cards and fake IDs for Jewish families.

Then using skills she picked up as a Mum, she firmly reminded Paris’s religious elite and hospitals, that actually they were morally bound to protect and house those in need…so could they please get their shit together, do their damn job and start housing Jewish refugees! (basically ‘do your homework’ on a whole new level)

Suzanne still wasn’t done though.

She helped lead an operation to save more than 60 Jewish children who had been marked for deportation.

Hiding several in her own home, Suzanne risked her own families lives. Not only that, but she convinced others to do the same until all 60 children were saved.

I mean, just the definition of a badass mum

In 1943 Suzanne got wind that her arrest was imminent. She stayed calm (again, mum skills!) and passed along names for all the Jewish children and families she was yet to save, so that her work could continue.

Suzanne was arrested and in 1944 she was executed.

But her legacy lived on and thanks to her, countless Jewish children and families got out of Paris alive.

 

4. Nancy Wake: The fearless mouse

Nancy was a constant thorn in Hitler’s side. A glamorous gun toting spy with buckets of smarts and sass, she was soon no1 on the Gestapos most wanted list.

Nancy Wake, taking better pictures than you since 1942

Born in poverty in New Zealand, Nancy showed her steely determination from a young age.

She doggedly worked to make something of herself, training as a journalist and eventually marrying a French man and moving to Paris. There Nancy was forced to watch in horror as her new found home was taken by the Nazis.

Nancy immediately moved into action.

You see in her work as a journalist she’d witnessed Hitler’s rise first hand. Once on a trip to Vienna Nancy had seen Hitlers’ brown shirts mercilessly beat men and women in the street.

Nancy knew one thing – she sure as fuck wasn’t letting that shit happen – not in her home!

So Nancy risked it all and joined the French Resistance. Working as a courier and also rescuing RAF pilots, sheltering them and then at night getting them across the boarder and the fuck out of dodge. 

Soon Nancy had the nickname ‘the white mouse’, for her ability to run rings around the Gestapo. Sadly for Nancy they soon caught up with her.

The game of cat and mouse was over and the Gestapo were all set to capture Nancy… but then Nancy got word of the imminent arrest.

So she kissed her husband goodbye and went on the run.

Nancy never saw her husband again.

The Nazis raided their home, tortured her husband and after he refused to give her up, they executed him.

This only served to make Nancy pissed off and even more determined. She later said:

‘In my opinion, the only good German was a dead German, and the deader, the better. I killed a lot of Germans, and I am only sorry I didn’t kill more.’ 

Ok…maybe a little intense there Nancy

Nancy traveled to Britain where she became a Special Operations Executive. She was trained in guerrilla warfare and dropped back in France.

Here she lead thousands of Resistance fighters in successful battles to reclaim occupied towns. She raided supply lines, cut train lines and once cycled over 300 miles in 70 hours to replace lost wireless codes!

Basically Nancy did everything she could to piss of the Nazis and stop their progress; she even claimed to have killed an SS with her bare hands!By the end of the war Nancy was the most decorated allied woman. Dripping in medals from multiple countries!

But being Nancy she shrugged it off, sold the medals and lived comfortably off the cash for the rest of her live; saying:

‘There’s no point in keeping them… I’ll probably go to hell and they’d melt anyway’

 

This was really interesting! Where can I find out more? Well lets break it down for each of the ladies:

Faye Schulman: Faye has continued to talk about her experiences during WW2 and you can find an amazing video of Faye doing just that, HERE!

Noor Inyat Khan: There a few really great books on Noor, one of these is Spy Princess by Shrabani Basu, I think it does a really good job of showing Noor as a full person.

Suzanne Spaak: Urgh, there are no really good further reading sources for this one! However, in October 2017 a book on Suzanne is coming out, Suzanne’s Children: A Daring Rescue in Nazi Paris by Anne Nelson. So fingers crossed guys!

Nancy Wake: You are really spoilt for choice here! Russell Braddons, Nancy Wake, is an easy popcorn read on her (in fact several people in the Amazon comments initially thought it was a novel…) theres also a Docu-Drama on Nancy (the whole thing may currently be on YouTube…just saying)

Quickie: Allotment Annies

Things were tough in WWII, but some enterprising young women in the US came up with a devious money making scheme, at the expense of some poor hapless G.I’s

See, in the US if you were married to a soldier you were entitled to a $20 a week ‘allotment’ if they were shipped overseas to fight during the War, and if they were killed in action you were entitled to $10,000!

Obviously this allotment was a godsend to wives who had families to feed whilst their husbands were at war. BUT the Army was so busy helping out with the war they didn’t keep too close an eye on who was claiming these benefits…

With such a lax system in place it’d be real easy, if you were a nefarious kinda gal, to marry a couple of soldiers, change your last name and just keep claiming that sweet sweet cash.

Making it rain with moral dubiousness!

Women that did this became known as: Allotment Annies.

‘Annies’ often racked up multiple husbands, and because of the huge death tolls during the war they didn’t have to worry too much about getting caught; since the poor schmuck they married was likely to get killed off before coming home and finding a new hubby in his place.

It goes without saying that Allotment Annies weren’t very popular people. Never mind breaking some soldier’s heart who’s been out fighting a horrendous war and is likely scarred for life – add finding out your Mrs is a bigamist; thats one mighty kick in the nuts.

The most famous Allotment Annie was Elvira Taylor. Elvira married SIX sailors during her scam and was only foiled when two sailors in an Australian pub showed each other pics of their lovely wife… only to discover it was THE SAME WOMAN!

Fisticuffs occurred, but after beating the crap out of each other, the two men banded together, went to the police and Elvira was duly hauled off to jail.

Vivian Eggers another notorious ‘Allotment Annie’

Meanwhile, Vivian Eggers from Indianapolis managed to marry a whopping 7 soldiers, including two in ONE DAY! The logistics of that must have been fun.

Viv ended up being taken to court by all 7 of her husbands; here’s what she had to say of her crimes:

“You just get to drinking and having a good time, and you meet someone that’s kinda nice and that’s the way it happens,”

BTW, thats an actual quote from Viv at her trial for bigamy & fraud; yeah… the judge was unimpressed and gave her 18 months jail time. 

But, a lot of Allotment Annies clapped back, claiming they were working for the war effort by giving the men something to fight and come home for. Grace Vivien Reinert a 22 year old Annie told press that;

“The girls figure that they’re making the boys happy, and that before the war is over the husbands will either be killed or glad to forget about their marriages.”

Incase you were wondering, Grace actually married 2 sailors and was claiming allotments for both of them. She ended up in jail because her husbands met up and realised they were married to the same woman when they noticed their allotment cheques were going to the same address. I guess her theory on the men being ok with it, didn’t really work out.  

The army soon caught onto the Annies scams, after they estimated that there were thousands of bigamist brides getting rich off the allotment scheme. BUT it was really hard to catch an Allotment Annie in the act; in the entire war only a few were ever actually caught.

So, the Army put together a plan to wise up their troops against wold be Annies. They created a series of adverts warning men to watch out for bigamists.

There was even a major film made about Allotment Annies; 1945s, Film Noir, Allotment Wives. Which stars Hollywood Queen, Kay Francis, as the ringleader of a bigamy scheme to get allotment cheques. Spoiler: It doesn’t end well for her.

AN example of an anti-allotment annie ad

After the war the Allotment Annies were finished… not because they got caught, but because the cash flow dried up when there wasn’t a war to fight overseas.

Who knows how many women scammed the US Army out of thousands of dollars. If it’s as many as the army claims then it’s kinda hard not to be impressed by that level of ingenuity.

This was interesting, Where can I find out more? Well, I’d totally check out the film, Allotment Wives, for a lovely slice of over the top propaganda noir. It’s currently available to stream on Amazon, along with several other platforms.

Sara Westrop is passionate about making history accessible (and fun!) for everyone. A disabled, queer writer from just outside London, who loves writing about the unsung chapters of history.

The Edelweiss Pirates: the teens that bought down Hitler

Gertrude Koch wasn’t like other 17 year old girls. What with her living under Nazi rule in Cologne, Germany, during WW2, that’s not exactly surprising; after all, her days were spent recovering from the latest air raid and picking her way through bombed out streets.

But that wasn’t what made Gertrude stand out.

See, at night night Gertrude would risk her life to shelter allied soldiers and escaped prisoners. Yeah… not so normal.

Don’t let the awkward teen visage fool you, she’s badass to the core

Together with other rebel teens, Gertrude rained anti-Hitler leaflets down from the roof of Colognes Train Station, helped break into food warehouses to feed the imprisoned and daubed anti-Nazi slogans on every building she could.

Gertrude was an Edelweiss Pirate and she and thousands of teenagers like her risked everything to tear down the Nazi regime in any way they could.

Yet the Edelweiss Pirates remained largely forgotten by history – until now…

Lets do this thing!

Prepare yourself for some awesome forgotten history

In the late 1930s bands of teenage resistence groups sprang up throughout Germany.

Created by teenagers who wanted nothing to do with the Hitler Youth or League of German Girls; they called themselves, The Edelweiss Pirates (which btw is a way better name than Hitler Youth!)

Almost all were working class. These teens worked in factories and mills in the day, then as soon as their shift was over they’d don their metal Edelweiss pins and head to the hills to frolic with their mates.

Now this may sound super wholesome… but it was also super illegal.

You see outside of the state sanctioned youth groups, it was illegal for teens to go outside set zones within their regions.

It was a ridiculous law and the pirates happily stuck two fingers up to it, proudly heading off on hikes, carrying guitars so they could sing anti-Nazi songs round the campfire.

I present the definition of no fucks being given.

As the Nazi regime grew, so did the law breaking pursuits of the Edelweiss Pirates.

They were soon painting buildings with anti-Nazi slogans, jokes and messages. One official reported:

‘These youths who have been inscribing the walls with the slogans “Down with Hitler”, “The OKW (Oberkommande des Wehrmacht) is lying”, “Down with Nazi brutality”.

Unsurprisingly the Nazis (not known as history’s fun-sters) wanted to crush the troublemaking teens.

Edelweiss Pirates were quickly rounded up by police; then they had their heads shaved and were thrown in prison.

But of course… that didn’t stop them.

‘Oh these? These are our about to fuck shit up short shorts’

As the war ramped up so did the Pirates.

They were now giving shelter to escaped prisoners of war, Jewish people, and even allied troops.

They didn’t stop there.

The Edelweiss Pirates started to militarise themselves and within months they were running armed raids on Nazi bases for the supplies needed to distribute food and aid.

Soon they were planning missions to destroy Nazi weapons and attack Gestapo bases.

You can imagine how happy the Nazis were about this…

Yeeeeah… just to reiterate: The Nazis. Not histories most chill guys

In one night in 1942, over 1000 Edelweiss Pirates were arrested by the Gestapo.

Gertrude Kloch was one of them. Aged just 17 she was roughly interrogated and thrown into prison.

She was lucky.

The Pirates has proven themselves to be an unceasing thorn in the regimes side and the Nazis weren’t shitting around anymore.

In 1944, 12 teens and young men were publicly hung in Cologne; at least 6 were Edelweiss Pirates.

Anecdotal evidence from former pirates suggest that many more were executed without trial, their deaths never recorded. 

Yet, despite the deaths in their ranks, the Edelweiss Pirates never stopped.

They steadfastly remained a constant pain in Hitlers arse, right until the end of the war.

Seriously. These kids – just the best god damn teens in history

After the war, the Pirates refused to take the allied side. The only thing they wanted to do with their new occupying authority was to work out a patrolling rota so they could go back to keeping their local streets safe.

See, the pirates weren’t interested in backing one allied authority over another.

They warned against making things about politics again; understandable since last time Germany had done that… you know… Hitler happened.

Sadly, however reasonable the Pirates argument, the allies were not having it.

They shunned the pirates and as such, didn’t remove their previous criminal records (from the Nazi regime) which meant any pirates with criminal records from this period remained ‘war criminals’

Yeah… don’t try to look for logic in that

It would be literal decades until the Edelweiss Pirates had their criminal records wiped and were officially (AND FINALLY) recognised as resistance fighters (this happened in 2005 for you date lovers)

Sadly many Pirates weren’t there to see their names cleared.

but 81 year old Gertrude Koch was.

Sure, Gertrude was happy to finally have the recognition the Edelweiss Pirates deserved… but she hadn’t lost her fighting spirit. So she stood up and declared to the awaiting press:

‘We were from the working classes. That is the main reason why we have only now been recognised’ 

which ya know … true

Gertrude then picked up a guitar and headed off to join Colognes surviving Edelweiss Pirates as they proudly sang their anti-Nazi anthems once more.

The last of Colognes Pirates in 2005, singing anti-nazi songs after being officially being declared resistance fighters. By 2016, Gertrude was the last surviving member of the group. She died that year, aged 92… of course one of the last things she did was recount her badass days as a pirate to a journalist, so that the Edelweiss Pirates could live on.