Gender Under Fire: Interrogating War in South Africa, 1939-1945
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Gender Under Fire: Interrogating War in South Africa, 1939-1945. Suryakanthie Chetty Supervisor: Dr Catherine Burns Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Programme of Historical Studies, University of Natal, Durban. December 2001 The financial assistance of National Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the National Research Foundation. Declaration This study represents original work by the author and has not been submitted in any form to another university. Where use has been made of the work of others it has been duly acknowledged in the text. ________________ Suryakanthie Chetty December 2001 ii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible was it not for the dedication of my supervisor, Dr Catherine Burns, who went above and beyond. The interest she has shown in me through the years and her continuous encouragement has allowed me to grow as a person. I am deeply in her debt. My great appreciation goes to everyone else at the Programme of Historical Studies – the enthusiasm and dedication of Professor Guy, Dr Breckenridge and Dr Du Toit have been instrumental in expanding my horizons and demonstrating all the positive aspects of university life. Sandi Thomson deserves a special mention – she has uncomplainingly and patiently assisted me with innumerable difficulties and I am extremely grateful for all her efforts. I wish to thank Campbell Collections for financial assistance. I wish to extend my appreciation to all those at the Documentation Centre, Department of Defence Archives in Pretoria, who made my research far less of a chore and went all out to assist me in every way possible. My heartfelt gratitude goes to those who started it all – my teachers: Mrs P. Chetty for encouraging my to write; Mr L. Naidoo for building my confidence; and, most of all, Mr F.H. Khan who instilled in me a love for History. All my thanks to my friends – Elaine Binedell who helped me immeasurably with research and moral support and is the only one who sees method in my madness; Dinesh Balliah who went all out for me in Pretoria, particularly at the archives and constantly encourages me to reach new heights; and Riashnee Pather who always provides a welcome distraction from the grind of academia. I am deeply indebted to those who have inspired me – my heroes: Brixton Karnes for encouraging me to follow my dreams and Tim Abell, who personifies honour and duty and has enhanced my love for all things military – Rangers really do lead the way! And last, but not least, to the strong women in my life – the mother who gave birth to me and the mother who sacrificed so much to raise me and give me every opportunity. Your lives and the adversities you have overcome have been an inspiration to me and are responsible for the person I have become. I dedicate all that I have achieved thus far, and all that I hope to achieve, to my parents. iii Contents List of Photographs and Cartoons v Abstract viii Preface xi List of Abbreviations xvii Chapter One – Soldiers and Mothers 1 - “The sexes became, to a degree, victims of the roles they had invented” - “The sacrifice of youth in the cause of freedom” - Mothers and Soldiers - Patriotic Motherhood - The South African Experience - Conclusion Chapter Two – Mobilization 49 - Propaganda - Schisms - The Home Front - Women Heed the Call - The Florence Nightingale Syndrome - Men at Arms - Conclusion Chapter Three – War 107 - Fighting Men - The Unknown Force - Women in Service - The Internal Threat - War Weariness - Conclusion Conclusion 154 - Aftermath - Conclusion - The Consequences of World War II: Interrogating Gender and War in the last decades of the Twentieth Century Bibliography 176 iv List of Photographs and Cartoons Mother holding child during bombing raid in England. p33 Picture taken from Vera Lynn, Unsung Heroines – The Women who Won the War. London: Sidgwick and Jackson Limited, 1990. Scene from Saving Private Ryan showing Tom Hanks carrying wounded comrade. p33 Picture taken from Don Schiach, The Movies – An Illustrated History of the Silver Screen. London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2000. Red Cross poster of nurse cradling a wounded soldier. p33 Picture taken from S.M. Gilbert, “Soldier’s Heart: Literary Men, Literary Women, and the Great War” in Speaking of Gender. Showalter, E., ed. New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall Inc, 1989. Reproduction of Madonna and Child. p33 Picture taken from Gentile da Fabriano. Madonna and Child, c.1422. In: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection 1939.1.255. http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pimage?399+0+0 (4 December 2001). Recruiting poster for the WRENS. p62 Picture taken from Lynn, Unsung Heroines. Recruiting poster for the SA Medical Corps. p70 Picture taken from J. Crwys-Williams, A Country at War 1939 – 1945 – The Mood of a Nation. Rivonia: Ashanti Publishing, 1992. Poster of war musical. p70 Picture taken from South Africa’s Yesterdays. Joyce, P., ed. Cape Town: Readers’ Digest Association of South Africa, 1981. Axis recruiting posters. p70 Pictures taken from South Africa’s Yesterdays. Photo of “Ouma” Smuts and her “boys”. p74 Picture taken from Margot Bryant, As We Were – South Africa 1939 – 1941. Johannesburg: Keartland Publishers, 1974. Recruiting poster for Native Military Corps. p81 Picture taken from J. Phelago, “The South African State and African Political Response to Participation in the Second World War (1939-1950)”. University of Natal Durban: Unpublished MA dissertation, 1999. Photo of Black men training with assegais for gas warfare. p82 Picture taken from Ian Gleeson, The Unknown Force – Black, Indian and Coloured Soldiers Through Two World Wars. Rivonia: Ashanti Publishing, 1994. “The Raw Material” and “The Final Product”. p84 Pictures taken from Gleeson, The Unknown Force. v Photo of Durban’s South Beach. p86 Picture taken from South Africa’s Yesterdays. Photo of J.J. Pienaar. p89 Picture taken from The Women’s Auxiliary. September 1940, Issue 1. Painting of war hero Lucas Majozi. p120 Picture taken from Readers’ Digest Illustrated History of South Africa – The Real Story. Oakes, D., ed. Cape Town: The Readers’ Digest Association of South Africa, 1995. Communist Party poster calling for the arming of Black men. p120 Picture taken from Readers’ Digest Illustrated History. Photos of parades in Johannesburg and London. p124 Pictures taken from Gleeson, The Unknown Force. Photo of Smuts inspecting the WAAS in Pretoria. p125 Photo courtesy of Documentation Centre – Department of Defence Archives. Photo of women in ATS fixing tyre. p127 Photo taken from Lynn, Unsung Heroines. Cartoon of Winnie the WAAF – “Coiffure”. p137 Taken from Documentation Centre – Department of Defence Archives, BE/1/A/2. March 1943, Vol 2, No 11. Cartoon of Winnie the WAAF – “Camouflage”. p137 Taken from Documentation Centre – Department of Defence Archives, BE/1/A/2. April 1943, Vol 2, No 12. Cartoon of British women in military dress. p137 Taken from Lynn, Unsung Heroines. Cartoon – “What is an Amazon anyway?” p138 Taken from Documentation Centre – Department of Defence Archives, BE/1/A/3. October 1944, Vol 4, No 6. Cartoon of Winnie the WAAF – “Ace Pilot”. p139 Taken from Documentation Centre – Department of Defence Archives, BE/1/A/1. June 1942, Vol 2, No 3. Cartoon – “Striking an Officer”. p139 Taken from Documentation Centre – Department of Defence Archives, BE/1/A/3. February 1944, Vol 3, No 10. Photo of scene from Aliens. p170 Photo taken from Shiach, The Movies. vi Photo of scene from G.I. Jane. p171 Photo taken from Movie Web. Failure is Not an Option. Copyright: Millennium Internet Corps, August 1997) http://movieweb.com/movie/gijane/co3.jpg (7 December 2001) Reproduction of Gladiator poster. p171 Image taken from Allposters.com. The Gladiator Movie Posters and Movies. Copyright: Arturo Design.com, 2001. http://www.movies-and-posters.com/The-Gladiator.html (7 December 2001) Advertisement showing woman in camouflage gear. p174 Image taken from Empire. Cochrane, E. ed. London: January 2001. vii Abstract Warfare in the twentieth century – with few exceptions as the century closed – provided a theatre for the consolidation of gender roles. The gender roles of "soldiers" and "mothers" in particular were remarkably uncontested during war years. Through the last century – as in many other eras of human history – "soldiering" was seen as pre-eminently masculine activity and "mothering", even more firmly, as women's calling. The gender roles of soldiers and mothers allocated to men and women are deeply hegemonic and colour the way in which the two are viewed. Despite the contrasting activities of soldiers, involved in wars and killing, and mothers, who are given the role of nurturers and the bearers of life, the two roles have many common elements such as acting defensively to preserve life, engaging in roles which are life-changing and the underlying notions of sacrifice and duty. Despite this clear categorisation of the two roles the boundaries are blurred – this is most evident in the case of patriotic motherhood where the nurturing and life-preserving role of the mother is given new significance as one of the sacrifice of sons in war. "Mothers of Soldiers" during war periods came to represent a complex web of patriarchal state and civic interests – and women across classes, ethnic groups, nations and regions often participated in "Patriotic Motherhood". War in the twentieth century was also more centrally controlled and directed than warfare in previous centuries. Technologies of mass communication available by the 1930s played at least as crucial a role as weaponry in mobilizing and waging warfare. One element of this mobilization centred around hegemonic gender "drilling".