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).

Greatest Generaton vs Snowflakes – Covid 19 edition

Over the last few weeks chances are you’ve heard someone say something along the lines of:

‘We’d be screwed if this was World War Two!’ 

or

‘If the snowflakes were the greatest generation, we’d be out of lockdown already!’

Or this great tweet by Lord Ashcroft

And lets be real, using the idea that society was way better in the Second World War, to back a half baked idea isn’t new. For example, during the Brexit campaign, my Facebook was awash with people pointing out that under Winston Churchill we weren’t part of the EU and that was the golden age of Britain! Which completely overlooks the idea that both the world economy and society as a whole is er, slightly different now…but I could see where they was coming from, so you know; you do you Aunt Karen and I’ll see you at the next family wedding/funeral.

BUT this new ‘Greatest Generation’ argument is really getting under my skin. Mainly because it is categorically and catastrophically incorrect from the beginning. 

Ok so lets break this down. The main line of the argument is that the country is crumbling because people are breaking lockdown rules, hoarding and generally being very moaney. And that in the Second World War, when faced with huge lifestyle changes everyone just buckled down and did them. Which is why we won that war and are losing this one.

Here’s the thing. That didn’t happen. 

Ok, lets use rationing as our first example. When rationing was announced in January 1940, The Daily Mail immediatly went on the warpath. They did side by sides of British rations vs German rations, bemoaning the amount the British were getting. They even ripped William Morrison, the Minister of Food, a new one, comparing his rationing plans to if: “Dr Goebbels were asked to help-to devise a more harmful piece of propaganda for Great Britain.”

As time went on, the majority of people got behind rationing. It wasn’t fun, but it was necessary. However, there were a minority of people who didn’t, which is why there was a thriving black market. As with breaking lock down rules, there were fines for breaking rationing and going to the black market. But people still did it. So much so that we have gone on to romanticise the black market ‘spiv’ as a loveable rogue (like Private Joe Walker in Dad’s Army) 

Private Joe Walker – kind of a dick

Now lets quickly score off some of the other parts of the argument:

In WW2 nobody criticised how the government were doing things like we’re doing now – Sorry to burst your bubble, but people are people… of course they criticised the government! And often they well within their rights to!

For example, in the early stages of the war people were understandably not thrilled that Britain had equipment shortages and machinery that kept breaking. Loudly questioning why the hell the government hadn’t ensured they had stockpiles and a better equipment plan before the bussed a load of boys to the front line.

People were stronger. None of this ‘anxiety’ business! – The idea of the Blitz spirit has really been mythologised. Did those city dwellers living under constant threat of bombing keep on? Of course! But did they just merrily bounce out of bed each day after a night of bombs falling. No.

In 1941 after a series of bombings on Hull, a team of psychiatrists surveyed just over 700 people. They found that under the blitz people were drinking more, as well as experiencing extreme low moods, bouts of crying, and even loss of bladder control. Mental Health was a real issue, but it wasn’t something that was talked about to the level it is today.

Nobody would have broken the government guidelines to take a silly risk – Once again, it was a minority. But yeah no they totally did. For example, Writer Vera Brittain has talked about how young people would go party hopping during air raids, which became known as ‘Playing No Man’s Land’.

Were those who lived during The Second World War amazing people. Oh god yes! But were they perfect? No. We’re they better than todays people? Well they’ve been remembered as better, but not necessarily.

I’d be surprised if history remembers us as failures. It seems more likely this time will remembered much like the greatest generation. For people who kept going, joined together and clapped for the NHS and supported each other however they could.

So next time you see someone say we’d be screwed if this was World War Two. Well, first off, tell them the facts on that! But also remind them that just like World War Two, we’re all in this together. So maybe it’s time to stop trying to score points and instead realise that we need each other to get through this. After all, we’re stronger together.

The true story of Anna May Wong

If (like me) you’ve been binging Netflix’s new show, Hollywood, then you’ll have met Anna May Wong. The show introduces us to her as the ‘great ghost’. An early victim of ‘yellow face’ she lives alone in her lush complex, waiting for a studio call that will never come. But, Hollywood is an alternative look at history. So without to many spoilers, there is a happy ending for this Anna.

But real Anna? She didn’t get a cut print sunny ending and her story that Hollywood shows – well it’s not even half of it.  Because although Hollywood does an amazing job of giving the broad strokes of who Anna May Wong was, it also takes away a lot of her autonomy and grit. This is a woman who wasn’t only a glamorous film icon turned walking lesson in racisim, but a hero whose story should be shouted about.

So, lets chat the real Anna May Wong.   

Oh and prepare to become OBSSESED

Born Wong Liu Tsong (黄柳霜) in January 1905, in LA. She had the pretty standard ‘early life’ narrative for a budding starlet. One of seven kids to a pair of hardworking parents, the family lived above her dad’s laundry business, where she and her siblings were all expected to work when they weren’t at school. But a life of laundry wasn’t what she dreamed of.

As a kid she’d fallen in love with movies and decided she wanted to be an actress. By 11 she’d picked out a stage name, Anna May Wong, and was cutting class to either hang out on location shoots in China Town or spend her lunch money on Nickelodeon Movie Theatres.  Going home afterwards to practice the scenes she’d just seen in the mirror for hours on end.

So far, so standard. Anna had even started to make a name for herself. After all, she was constantly hanging around film sets and begging the crews to let her take part – that’s going to get you noticed! Soon enough film crew’s soon dubbing her ‘Curious Chinese Child’. And that there is where Anna’s story becomes markedly different from every other starry-eyed starlet wannabe – she was Chinese. And in early 1900’s Hollywood that was a big deal.

This wasn’t a great time to be Chinese and living in America. Even if, like Anna May Wong, you were born into a second-generation Chinese American family. Racism was prevalent and Anna knew this all too well. At school Anna was called a ‘chink’, a classmate regularly stuck her with needles and she was jeered at in the street.

But racism doesn’t just pop up out of nowhere. To understand why this was happening to Anna, we need to do a little bit of background digging.

Back in 1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law. This law aimed to stopped Chinese people from immigrating to the US and was the first (but not the last!) time America put a significant ban on people of certain ethnicities immigrated to the country. Many (mainly white) Americans believed that Chinese workers were taking their jobs, even though these workers made up just 00.2% of the population (Sorry Greg, I think you might be the problem here.)

Still, when people decide on a scape goat for their problems, they tend to stick with it, no matter the obvious facts. And when this happens, things escalate in the worst possible ways.

In 1885, white miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming, rioted against Chinese miners, who they believed had not only taken their jobs, but under the new Chinese Exclusion Act, had no right to be in America. What happened next was a massacre – at least 28 Chinese miners were murdered and over 70 homes burnt down. This wasn’t an isolated incident. Two years later in Oregon, the Hell Canyons Massacre took place. Thirty-four Chinese goldminers were murdered.

It wasn’t just out and out murder either. Around the time Anna May Wong was born, San Francisco’s China Town was in the midst of a bubonic plague outbreak. That’s right…a plague outbreak in America in the early 1900’s. Obviously the San Francisco government did everything they could to stop this…nah of course not! They denied it was happening, before eventually quarantining the neighbourhood.

Depiction of The Rock Springs Massacre

All of this gives us a picture of the world Anna May Wong was born into. But it also explains why she had such an uphill battle ahead of her when it came to being a film star.

Racism was rampant and people were not going to accept a Chinese woman as a leading lady. AND YET there was a demand for ‘oriental’ films. Despite the inherent racism of The Chinese Exclusion Act, throughout the 1800’s America had developed a love for the ‘oriental’; an overly exoticized fantasy of Asian culture. These stories turned women into sex objects and played up stereotypes of opium addicts and gangsters. It was a weird juxtaposition of

‘we don’t want you here but we would like to bastardize your culture for entertainment’.

It was these ‘oriental’ films that Anna May Wong watched on location in LA’s China Town. Understandably, when she told her parents she was trying to get a gig as an extra in one of these films, they weren’t thrilled. But she was determined and when she was determined to do something…she’d do it.

At 14, Anna landed her first job, as an extra in 1919’s The Red Lantern. Her dad knew he couldn’t stop her, so instead he made sure there were male extra’s around to keep an eye on his daughter.Anna stood out in the sea of lantern holding extra’s, soon landing more work and by 1921 she was having roles written for her, with her first credited debut in Bit’s of Life.

Then at just 17 she scored a leading role, in 1922’s The Toll Of The Sea. It was a loose retelling of Madame Butterfly (but set in China) and Anna played Lotus Flower, who falls in love with an America man. The pair marry and he promises to take her to America -he doesn’t- he leaves and she gives birth to their son. Like any good fuck boy, he returns to Lotus Flower, but with his new wholesome American wife in tow. She decides to give her son to this new woman, so he can have a ‘better’ life in America and the film ends with Lotus Flower walking into the sea.

It was a typical ‘oriental’ fantasy film, but Anna stood out and was praised for her acting. She got the kind of rave reviews that normally launched a starlet to a full-fledged leading lady. But, of course, this didn’t happen for Anna.

Anna May Wong in 1922’s Toll of the Sea. Note the American wife actually doing a full on ‘give me your baby’ gesture – subtlety I do not know thee.

Her next major role was as a stereotypical ‘Dragon Lady’ in 1924’s The Thief of Baghdad. Once more, Anna shone in a hit film, but again she was playing up to these oriental fantasy types. She’d now played both the naïve victim who understands that they are beneath the western ideal and the vamped up ‘exotic’ villain.

Nobody knew what to do with her next. She was a great actress and audiences liked her, but no studio was going to put her in a film that wasn’t ‘oriental’. Plus, Californian law meant that she would never be able to kiss a western actor on screen. Which effectively nixed any chances she might have had at scoring a ground-breaking lead – after all what’s a big blockbuster without that final happy ending kiss? All of this meant that for the next few years, Anna was doomed to ping back and forth between the victim and villain roles.

And it wasn’t only the studios that didn’t know what to do with Anna, the press didn’t either. Anna was now a certified name, so fan magazines and newspapers needed to write about her. But they had no idea how. Anna was a paradox – both American and Chinese at the same time, a fact that flummoxed the press. So much so that it was almost always what they ended up leading with in their articles on her.

Anna May Wong in a 1932 edition of New Movie Magazine

The write ups weren’t much better. For example, one fan magazine wrote:

‘Anna May Wong symbolizes the eternal paradox of her ancient race…she reminds us of cruel and intricate intrigues, and, at the same time, of crooned Chinese lullabies. She brings to the screen the rare comprehension and the mysterious colors of her ivory-skinned race.”

Here’s another:

‘Anna May Wong has never even been to China, and you might just as well know it right now. Moreover, she has seen NY’s Chinatown only from a taxi-cab, and she doesn’t wear a mandarin coat … her English is faultless. Her conversation consists of scintillating chatter that any flapper might envy. Her sense of humor is thoroughly American. She didn’t eat rice when she and I lunched together, and she distinctly impressed it upon the waiter to bring her coffee, not tea.’

Why yes Anna, that BS does deserve some serious side eye

Anna’s ethnicity was always the main talking point, never her acting; despite her being arguably one of the strongest actors of her day. And Anna didn’t let this slide. She regularly spoke out about how shitty casting was, saying

“Rather than real Chinese, producers prefer Hungarians, Mexicans, American Indians for Chinese roles.”

But she wasn’t going to just complain. In 1924, Anna started her own production company. She planned to cash in on the public’s interest in her ethnicity, by creating films about Chinese culture and traditional myths. However, by making these films herself, she hoped she could break some of those ‘oriental fantasy’ stereotypes. It was a canny plan and it could have been truly pioneering…if Anna’s business partner hadn’t turned out to be corrupt. Her company was sunk before it had even begun.

Anna was officially over Hollywood. In 1926 she’d had to watch on at the opening of Graumans Chinese Theatre (ironic name right there) where she’d been invited to help put in the buildings first rivet, but was barred from putting her hands and feet in the theatre’s famous walk. It didn’t matter how hard she worked or how good she was, she’d never get a fair shake in Hollywood. She was firmly pigeon holed as the ‘exotic other’ and as she put it, the actress who:

‘Died a thousand times’

Because interesting though Hollywood found her characters, the ‘exotic other’ was never allowed to live to see the end credits.

Anna wanted more. So in 1928 she packed up and set off for Europe.

Anna May Wong in 1929’s British film, Picadilly. She played a supporting role, but famously stole the entire film

European cinema was much more open to casting Anna as more than just a villain. She could get meatier roles and finally show off her acting to its true poteintial. Yes, many of her parts were at least somewhat rooted in Anna’s ethnicity, but that wasn’t all they were. In one 1933 interview, she highlighted why she felt her move away from Hollywood was so important:

“I was so tired of the parts I had to play. Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain of the piece, and so cruel a villain—murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass. We are not like that.’

Anna didn’t just want better acting roles; she didn’t want to personify racist stereotypes anymore. By doing that, she was only feeding the narrative and making it more toxic. So she went somewhere where she could make movies that would help change people’s perceptions. It’s a ballsy move and one that’s often overlooked. And Anna did the work to ensure these films were widely viewed.

In her first talkie (1930’s, The Flame of Love), she recorded her lines in fluent French, German and English. Anna also took to the stage, appearing opposite Laurence Olivier in The Circle of Chalk, and once more showed off her German skills when she sang the title role in operetta, Tschun Tsch.

Things were going great for Anna. She might not have had the Hollywood dream she’d once hoped for, but she was making incredible work and helping break barriers whilst doing so.

It kind of makes sense then, when in 1930 Paramount called Anna, she didn’t tell them to stick it.

Paramount promised Anna that if she returned to Hollywood, they would finally give her leading roles. And, considering her success in Europe, you can see why she said yes. After all, Hollywood would have noticed how well Anna’s new pictures had performed at the box office, so maybe they were starting to rethink the kind of roles they could offer a Chinese American actress.

They were not.

Anna arrived back in Hollywood to find nothing had changed. Her first film role back was in ‘The Dragons Daughter’ where she played ‘The Dragon Lady’ type again. She co-starred with one of the only other high-profile Asian actors in Hollywood, Sessue Hayakawa. Sessue was also coming back to the studio system after a break (where like Anna he’d worked in other fields of acting so he could play less stereotypical roles) and despite being the films leads, both Sessue and Anna were paid substantially less than their white co-star, Warner Oland who appears for just over 25 minutes and is in yellow face the whole time (btw, Warner Oland basically made his entire career off of doing yellow face, so the latter isn’t really a surpirse) 

Poster for The Daughter of The Dragon, complete with Warner Oland in full yellow face standing next to Anna…apprently this wasn’t in any way awkward for him,

What made Anna’s return even worse, was that now she was being passed over for roles, which demanded a Chinese actress, because she was

‘Too Chinese to play Chinese’

Just let that sit with you.

Can you even imagine?! Not only that, but because (apparently) all Chinese actresses were to Chinese to portray Chinese people, these roles went to white actresses who were given yellow face. To top it all, magazines like Photoplay even ran features praising the actresses and the make up artists for pulling off the look:

Examples from Movie Play Magazine. Helen Hayes (piece to the left) actually was cast over Anna, for this role in The Son-Daughter.

But there was hope on the horizon. In 1935 It was announced that MGM would be making a film of best selling book, The Good Earth. The book is based in northern china and tells the story of a young farmer, Wang Lung, and his wife, O-Lan. The couple are living on the brink of famine, on land that they only have through O-Lan’s hard work and smarts. Yet things keep getting worse. Their older daughter is disabled thanks to poor nutrition and O-Lan kills their newborn daughter, unable to feed another mouth. And that’s just the first act! It’s an incredibly tragic drama and any adaptation would need the best actress possible to play the multifaceted O-Lan.

Anna knew this was her part. She’d been publicly campaigning for the role since the book came out in 1931 and not only was she the most prominent Chinese actress working in Hollywood, but she’d shown time and time again that she had the acting chops to pull this off.

So obviously MGM cast white German actress, Luise Rainer. Instead offering Anna the role of Lotus, a courtesan who breaks up the marriage of O-Lan and Wang Lung. Disgusted, Anna refused the part, which instead went to white Austrian actress, Tilly Losch. Luise won the 1937 best actress Oscar for her role as O-Lan and Anna was left with the words ‘Too Chinese’ swirling round and round her head.

Luise Rainer in make up for the Good Earth, from Talking Pictures Magazine

In 1936 Anna decided to go on a tour of China. For years she’d been called ‘too chinese’ but she’d never actually been to the country. Now she wanted to change that.

It’s often reported that Anna’s trip to China was a rousing success. It wasn’t. The Chinese press had never been kind to Anna’s acting in overly exoticized pictures and taking parts that emphasised western stereotypes of Chinese women as sex objects. Headlining pieces:

‘Paramount Utilizes Anna May Wong to Produce Picture to Disgrace China’

And going on to say, ‘Although she is deficient in artistic portrayal, she has done more than enough to disgrace the Chinese race’. It was another blow, but this is Anna May Wong we’re talking about. She didn’t give up. Whilst in China she arranged newsrell footage of her travels, putting them together in a documentary, My China. This was both a way to showcase what China was actually like and a middle finger up at MGM and The Good Earth.

Still, Anna was under contract with Paramount, so she had to go back to Hollywood. There she made her way through a succession of B Movies, playing the same characters she always had. Though the films didn’t get good reviews, Anna consistently did. However, of course, that didn’t mean she’d ever get any better roles offered to her.

Yet again, Anna was stuck doing the same stereotypical BS. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t use her voice.

During the Second World War Anna spoke out and asked for America to do more to help China. She took part in two Anti Japense propaganda films (donating her salaries to the United China war relief effort) before retiring from films in 1942, so she could dedicate herself full time to raising money and support.

She’d run Chinese war bond rallies, sign autographs in return for donations and auctioned off her enviable wardrobe. In 1943, The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed (to an extent) a move which many credited Anna for helping with. Time magazine writing:

‘Her speaking was so effective in US congress that some credit her with the repeal of Chinese exclusion laws’

Anna eventually went back to acting, though to a lesser extent. There were less jobs for her now, although in 1951 she became the first Asian-American actor to lead a TV show, with detective drama, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong.

After the show wrapped, Anna’s health started to fail. She still worked, but was getting progressively sicker. In 1961 Anna died in her sleep of a heart attack, aged just 56.

Over the years Our understanding of Anna May Wong has changed, in the past she was often dubbed a puppet of the Hollywood system who demeaned her heritage, she is now seen as a pioneer (ironically, the opposite has happened to actors like Hattie McDaniel…)

Still though, the most frequent way Anna’s story is told, is as a cautionary tale. With ‘Yellow Face’ still way to prevalent (in the past few years Emma Stone and Scarlett Johansson have both taken on parts originally written as characters of Asian heritage). And although the message of – dear white actors, stop being dicks- is important, it shouldn’t be the only thing we remember her for.

Anna May Wong was an incredible woman, who worked within an abhorrently shitty system. Yet, she still came up with ways to do what she loved – act. All while breaking down barriers and opening doors for those that came after her. Now that’s a true Hollywood legend.

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

The Comfort Women

During the Second World War, tens of thousands of women were taken from their homes and turned into sex slaves for (predominantly) the Japanese army.

Most of these women never made it home after the war.

Those that did were faced with a lifetime of shame, guilt and secrecy.

Now less than 35 of these women are alive. Yet in recent years, their story and their unending fight for an apology has sparked an international crisis.

So who were the Comfort Women? What happened to them? And why only now, decades later, are they close to getting justice?

Trigger Warning: This article contains graphic wording around sexual abuse and rape.

Footage from a rare surviving video of a comfort station (link here)

The Comfort Women programme was set up by the Japanese military during the Second World War. The main reason for its inception was as a way to ensure troops avoided venereal disease and any instances of rape, abuse and assault of local women.

So the military set up what became known as ‘Comfort Stations’.

The first known station was opened around 1931 in occupied China. This station was staffed by Japanese sex workers who had volunteered to take part in the scheme.

However as the Japanese military progressed and expanded its territory, these volunteers just couldn’t meet demand.

So the army looked to its new territories to fill the gap. Recruiting women from across Asia, in addition to some from The Netherlands and Australia. The vast majority of the women brought in to staff the stations came from Korea.

These women would all became known as, Comfort Women.

The exact number of women who became ‘Comfort Women’ is still disputed, with historians and activists estimating figures from 20,000 to more than 200,000.

What we do know, is how these women and girls became Comfort Women. A small minority joined voluntarily. Some were tricked, promised roles as cooks or maids and then forced to become Comfort Women. Some were sold into the role, and others were kidnapped.

A line of comfort women

In 2010 Dutch journalists, Jan Banning and Hilde Janssen, interviewed former Comfort Women about their experiences. 

One woman, Niyem, told how she had been kidnapped at 10, forced onto a truck with other kidnapped women and sent to Java.

There, the group of abducted women were forced to become Comfort Women.

Niyem was barely fed and slept in a tent with 2 other young girls. There soldiers would visit them and Niyem would watch as her friends were raped, before she was also raped. Niyem explained:

‘I was still so young, within two months my body was completely destroyed… I was nothing but a toy, as a human being I meant nothing, that’s how it felt during the Japanese era.”

This was not an isolated incident.

In 2015, Yong Soo Lee -now in her 80s- spoke to The Washington Post about her time as a Comfort Woman, after she was kidnapped at 14:

‘At first the other girls tried to protect me because I was so young. I saw the soldiers on them, but the girls put a blanket over me and told me to pretend I was dead so nothing would happen to me. I didn’t know what they meant. I was only 14. I didn’t know anything then.” 

But Niyem and Young Soo Lee were the lucky ones. They’d get to live to tell their harrowing stories.

You see, the vast majority of Comfort Women didn’t make it home after the war. A small minority managed to integrate themselves with the local community. But the fates of most of the women still remains unknown. It’s thought many died at the Comfort Stations.

Comfort Women with a soldier

For those that did come home, they were met with silence. What had happened to them was not officially recognised. There would be no reparations for individuals, no help, no official apology.

Many of the women were also rejected by the lives they had been taken from.

Met with families and husbands who were now disgusted by them. It was near impossible to move forward to what had happened to them.

Even those women whose families did support them, had almost insurmountable hurdles ahead. Faced with the threat of infertility, due to STDs that were rampant at the Comfort Stations. Some women had even been sterilised, or beaten so badly they could no longer naturally have children.

Without help or acknowledgement of what they’d been through, the women struggled to move forward, to marry, build families and new lives for themselves.

So, they did the best they could. Living alone with the trauma of what had happened.

Then in the 1990s everything changed.

Meet Kim Hak Sun, one hell of a brave woman

In 1991, Kim Hak Sun, became the first Korean Comfort Woman to speak out about what had happened to her.

Kim Hak Sun was 17 when she became a Comfort Woman. She was 67 by the time she got to tell her story.

50 years after her ordeal began, she held a press conference, explaining:

‘Until now, I did not have the courage to speak, even though there are so many things I want to say.’

Kim Hak Sun filed a lawsuit against the Japanese Government, looking for the government to acknowledge what had happened to her and thousands of others:

‘Why do they lie that we don’t exist even though I am right here? This should now be straightened out.’

In 1997 Kim Hak Sun died, she never saw her acknowledgement.

BUT her bravery inspired other Comfort Women to stand up and demand that their voices finally be heard.

More and more Comfort Women from all over the world started making their voices heard and fighting for their long overdue rights.

By the mid 1990s Korea’s government was working to tell the Comfort Women’s story. School textbooks now clearly outlined what had happened and applications were opened up so the women could finally start seeking financial aid.

Then in 1995, Japans Prime Minister, Tomiichi Murayama, set up a private fund for the women.

But the Comfort Women refused the money.

You see, the money came from private donations, rather than from the Japanese Government.

As it was the government, who they believed were morally responsible for the atrocities that happened, the women would not accept money from any other body.

Former comfort women during a protest

20 years later, in 2015, Japan and Korea reached an agreement. The Japanese government would set up a fund for Korea’s Comfort Women, worth 1 billion yen (approx $8.3 million at the time)

The agreement declared that issue was:
‘resolved, finally and irreversibly.’

But just 2 years later in 2017, Korea’s new President, Moon Jae-in, questioned the deal’s validity.

Then in 2018 he argued that the current deal did not include a sincere apology. Thus failing to upheld the dignity of the Comfort Women.

What happens next in the reparations saga remains up for debate. But that’s just half of the story. The other crucial factor is:

How do we keep this chapter of history alive?

The number of surviving Comfort Women is dropping rapidly. With just a few dozen remaining.

These elderly women are spending their last years reliving the worst moments of their lives and begging history to acknowledge them.

With so many first hand accounts, in addition to pictures and video you’d think that, of course, historic bodies would take these women seriously.

You’d be wrong…

An application was made for the Comfort Women’s story to be included in UNESCO’s (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ) Memory of The World, which is a register designed to safeguard crucial chapters in history.

However, in 2017, UNESCO postponed any decision around including the Comfort Women in The Memory of the World program.

This decision just confirmed everything the women were fighting against. That what had happened to them had no significance and could be forgotten.

So what happens now?

Well, the Comfort Women continue to fight.

There are regular protests and these brave women continue to tell their stories.

Slowly but surely the women are getting more and more international attention. Pressure is growing, with monuments and projects remembering the Comfort Women starting to spring up across the globe.

The surviving Comfort Women are now in their 80s and 90s and it’s unlikely they will receive the recognition, reparations and apologies that they seek within their lifetimes. But, like Kim Hak Sun, their fight will leave an incredible impact.

These women are fighting not just for themselves, but for the tens of thousands of women who were stripped of their names, dignity and lives.

They are fighting for their right to be remembered. And that is a fight we can all help with. 

This was interesting, where can I find out more? If you can find a copy, I would suggest checking out, Jan Banning and Hilde Janssens, book:Comfort Women / Troostmeisjes. It is sold out on most online retailers, but you mind have luck via your local library or second hand book shop.

I’d also suggest checking out 2016 documentary, The Apology, which follows three former comfort women, as they remember what happened to them and fight for change.

This is an ongoing issue, so set yourself up a Google Alert, and stay on top of everything that’s going on!

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.