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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2018 Doing a Real Job: The Evolution in Women's Roles in British Society through the Lens of Female Spies, 1914-1945 Danielle Wirsansky Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES “DOING A REAL JOB”: THE EVOLUTION IN WOMEN’S ROLES IN BRITISH SOCIETY THROUGH THE LENS OF FEMALE SPIES, 1914-1945 By DANIELLE WIRSANSKY A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2018 Danielle Wirsansky defended this thesis on March 6, 2018. The members of the supervisory committee were: Nathan Stoltzfus Professor Directing Thesis Charles Upchurch Committee Member Diane Roberts Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii After the dazzle of day is gone, Only the dark, dark night shows to my eyes the stars; After the clangor of organ majestic, or chorus, or perfect band, Silent, athwart my soul, moves the symphony true. ~Walt Whitman iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am thankful to my major professor, Dr. Nathan Stoltzfus, for his guidance and mentorship the last five years throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies. Without his encouragement, I may never have discovered my passion for history and found myself on the path I am on today. His support has provided me with so many opportunities and the ability to express myself both artistically and academically. Thank you for the freedom to forge a path all my own. I express my appreciation to Dr. Roberts and Dr. Upchurch, who have both supported and guided me over the last few years as well. Dr. Roberts, thank you for helping me to find my creative voice, and thank you to Dr. Upchurch for helping me to develop a scholarly one. I am grateful to my family—both my parents and my brother, for their unwavering and unconditional support of all my pursuits. Thank you for never letting me quit and or admit defeat. And thank you for the long hours and the countless read-throughs and re-read-throughs (and re-read-throughs again) of my work. Thank you to those who allowed me the freedom to pursue my passions and create work I could be proud of. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ viii PART I- THE EXPERIENCE OF EVERYDAY WOMEN IN BRITISH SOCIETY, 1914-1945 ... .................................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................2 CHAPTER 1- THE EVOLUTION OF EVERYDAY BRITISH WOMAN’S ROLES IN SOCIETY FROM WWI THROUGH WWII ...................................................................................3 CHAPTER 2- THE EVOLUTION OF THE EVERYDAY BRITISH WOMAN’S ROLE IN SOCIETY FROM THE INTERWAR YEARS THROUGH WWII: THE GOVERNMENT’S MEDDLING AND USE OF PROPAGANDA..............................................................................17 PART II- THE EXPERIENCES OF FEMALE SPIES FOR THE BRITISH, 1914-1945 ............48 CHAPTER 3- DESERT QUEEN AND THE WHITE MOUSE: HOW THE SUCCESSES OF EVERYDAY BRITISH WOMEN & FEMALE SPIES IN WWI PAVED THE WAY FOR THE FEMALE AGENCY IN WWII .....................................................................................................49 CHAPTER 4- SETTING EUROPE ABLAZE: IMPEDIMENTS TO THE AGENCY OF FEMALE BRITISH SPIES OF WWII ..........................................................................................73 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................102 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................104 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................112 v LIST OF FIGURES 1 Women workers in the New Gun Factory Woolwich WWI ......................................................3 2 Suffragettes, England, 1908 .......................................................................................................6 3 Women Munitions Workers, Britain, 1940 ..............................................................................15 4 Magazine Ad Exhorting Women to join the WAAF ...............................................................19 5 The Inside Cover of " Manpower: the Story of the Mobilisation for War " ............................27 6 The Inside Back Cover of "Manpower: the Story of the Mobilisation for War" .....................28 7 The Back Cover of " Manpower: the Story of the Mobilisation for War" ..............................29 8 The Front Cover of the "Manpower: the Story of the Mobilisation for War " Pamphlet dispersed by the Ministry of Information ................................................................................30 9 An Image from “Front Line: The Official Story of the Civil Defense of Britain” depicting a doctor examining a woman at Westminster Hospital ..............................................................30 10 An Image from “Front Line: The Official Story of the Civil Defense of Britain” depicting washing day .............................................................................................................................31 11 "Up housewives and at ‘em" poster designed by cartoonist Yates-Wilson .............................32 12 A poster from the “Careless Talk Costs Lives” poster campaign by Fougasse .......................34 13 Another poster from the “Careless Talk Costs Lives” poster campaign by Fougasse.............35 14 "Keep Mum, She’s Not So Dumb!” Poster from 1942 ............................................................36 15 Another "Keep Mum, she's not so dumb!" poster created by the Ministry of Information .....37 16 “You forget - but she remembers” poster disseminated by the Ministry of Information ........38 17 A still from the film "Miss Grant Goes to the Door" ...............................................................45 18 Gertrude Bell in Iraq in 1909 ...................................................................................................54 vi 19 Gertrude Bell (1st on the left in the 2nd row) at the 1921 Cairo Conference ..........................58 20 Nancy Wake in 1945 ................................................................................................................62 21 Spy Andree Borrel, 1942, executed at Natzweiler Camp ........................................................71 22 WAAF members performing maintenance on RAAF airplane, 1943 .....................................75 23 British Army ATS women at Shoeburyness in WWII.............................................................78 24 Women's Auxiliary Air Force, 1940 ........................................................................................79 25 Spy Hannah Szenes ...................................................................................................................83 26 Spy Yvonne Cormeau ..............................................................................................................86 27 Spy Diana Rowden, 1942, executed at Natzweiler Camp .......................................................88 28 Spy Sonia Olschanezky, executed at Natzweiler Camp ..........................................................89 29 Spy Madeleine Damerment, executed at Dachau Camp ..........................................................90 30 Spy Eliane Plewmann, executed at Dachau Camp ..................................................................92 31 Spy Yolande Beekman, executed at Dachau Camp .................................................................93 32 Spy Noor Inayat Khan, executed at Dachau Camp ..................................................................95 33 Spy Violette Szabo, executed at Ravensbruck Camp ..............................................................97 34 Spy Denise Bloch, executed at Ravensbruck Camp ................................................................98 vii ABSTRACT The first half of the twentieth century was in many ways a watershed era for women and their role in British society. The world wars ushered in a time of unprecedented change. The wars opened positions for women outside of the home, making it a more accepted practice; the government recruited and drafted women not just for work but for active service. Looking at these changes, the shifts in women’s roles in British society can be reflected by the more extreme cases of this shift, focusing on the experiences of female spies. This paper serves to demonstrate that the involvement of female spies in WWI and WWII is a useful indicator in the shift of women’s role in British society during this span of time. Alongside the goals of the government, this paper aims to analyze the broader shift in gender roles. Focusing in on the micro-history of spies, this study explores the