Jennifer Ryan's Blog
February 24, 2021
The Kitchen Front: Simply Irresistable
My tantalizing new novel, The Kitchen Front, came out on February 23rd, 2021. It is a fun, fascinating tale of a cooking contest, using only rationed food in Second World War Britain. Four different women cooks battle through three tests: starter, main course, and dessert, with the winner set to become the first female co-host of the BBC radio show, The Kitchen Front. For young widow Audrey, it’s an escape from a life in debt, battling to keep a roof over her children’s heads. For kitchen maid Nell, it is her one chance to find freedom from servitude. Lady Gwendoline, a wealthy manufacturer’s wife, is gripped by hopes of escaping her abusive husband. A trained head chef, Zelda needs to prove herself in a profession dominated by men, while also dealing with an unexpected pregnancy.
Drama, loss, and plenty of friendship, heartbreak, and love make up this delectable book, notwithstanding the fascinating food tips and real Second World War recipes.
I love the fabulous new cover, for which I have to thank the wonderful design team at Ballantine Books. I think this one is going to be flying off the shelves, a real treat for a cozy evening by the fire or to enjoy with book clubs.
July 29, 2019
Declassified MI5 Documents
A few years ago, a number of files were “declassified” by the British spy agencies, including some from MI5 covering the spies infiltrating underground fascist groups within Britain during the war. I duly went to the National Archives in London to see them.
It was astonishing! These were the real documents that the spies typed up every evening. They covered every meeting, who was there, where it was held, and then index cards on each person present and what threat they posed, or how they could otherwise be used by the British spy agency to gain access to Nazi secrets.
Incredibly, the main spy reported that many of the fascists liked to meet in cellars and disused antique shops—it added a suitable air for clandestine meetings, appealing to their romantic notions of espionage. They also favored the use of invisible ink, even though it wasn’t necessary. It was clearly suggested that the majority of fascist supporters had some form of mental illness, which created a toxic, unstable espionage environment. From these accounts I was able to recreate the underground group and their meetings.
Biographies and memoirs of agents in the Second World War provided another fascinating source. As all British spies had to sign the Official Secrets Act, they were unable to divulge their exploits. But one woman’s memoir, that of Joan Miller, was published posthumously by her daughter—in Ireland, and even then MI5 fought its publication all the way. Joan Miller was an undercover agent infiltrating a Nazi network.
The incredible danger and insane situations these spies found themselves in must have given them nerves of steel. I read of more than one account of an agent having to kill someone—quickly and on the spot, often by strangulation—in order to keep their cover.
One subject that I didn’t cover in the novel is the undiagnosed PTSD that many agents of this era had for the rest of their lives. I could read within their accounts deep-seated feelings of paranoia. They had a pit of fear that left them always looking over the shoulder, waiting for someone to recognize them, or the ghost of someone long dead come to make their own gruesome revenge.
It was astonishing! These were the real documents that the spies typed up every evening. They covered every meeting, who was there, where it was held, and then index cards on each person present and what threat they posed, or how they could otherwise be used by the British spy agency to gain access to Nazi secrets.
Incredibly, the main spy reported that many of the fascists liked to meet in cellars and disused antique shops—it added a suitable air for clandestine meetings, appealing to their romantic notions of espionage. They also favored the use of invisible ink, even though it wasn’t necessary. It was clearly suggested that the majority of fascist supporters had some form of mental illness, which created a toxic, unstable espionage environment. From these accounts I was able to recreate the underground group and their meetings.
Biographies and memoirs of agents in the Second World War provided another fascinating source. As all British spies had to sign the Official Secrets Act, they were unable to divulge their exploits. But one woman’s memoir, that of Joan Miller, was published posthumously by her daughter—in Ireland, and even then MI5 fought its publication all the way. Joan Miller was an undercover agent infiltrating a Nazi network.
The incredible danger and insane situations these spies found themselves in must have given them nerves of steel. I read of more than one account of an agent having to kill someone—quickly and on the spot, often by strangulation—in order to keep their cover.
One subject that I didn’t cover in the novel is the undiagnosed PTSD that many agents of this era had for the rest of their lives. I could read within their accounts deep-seated feelings of paranoia. They had a pit of fear that left them always looking over the shoulder, waiting for someone to recognize them, or the ghost of someone long dead come to make their own gruesome revenge.
July 3, 2019
When Women Became Spies
Prior to WW2, the only reason women might be seen as useful to an espionage unit was as a honeypot: a woman gaining secrets from the enemy through sex. By the beginning of the Second World War, this notion had expanded to include… back office clerical duties. Even women outperforming as secretaries and codebreakers were rarely applauded; the praise was given to their male counterparts or bosses, the invariable subtext being that a woman couldn’t possibly be behind anything important.
Then a few women began to stand out. Sometimes it was a man recognizing their potential. Sometimes it was chance: a male superior missing or fired, a space for a woman’s undercover role, or the fact that they had insider knowledge. But mostly it was because they ruthlessly looked for the opportunity and grabbed it.
Gradually, the men in charge of some organizations began to actively seek women for espionage work. In Britain, the Special Operations Executive, the agency Churchill charged to send operatives into occupied territory to ”set Europe ablaze,” was light years ahead of the more stuffy, conservative MI5 and MI6. Occupied countries were often populated by women, all the men fighting or captured, so women agents wouldn’t stand out.
Women also had the advantage of not being suspected. The Nazis themselves wouldn’t countenance that women could be spies, and it took them a few years to realize that, actually, some were doing it very well indeed, to their expense. Waitresses, maids, and companions could eavesdrop on conversations. Apparently harmless farmhands cycling to work past their parading grounds and air stations could track troop movements. Women naturally spent more time at home, so why would it raise alarm if a woman sat in her room all day waiting for a wireless transmission?
Some chiefs in espionage believed women were naturally more secretive and better at acting alone. Women were seen as having better social skills with the predominantly female occupied population, and the empathy and caring nature increased their ability to recruit and mobilize local spy networks. In many ways, it was their social force that put the female spies above the others. They had an instinct for predicting how others would behave, an adeptness for acting quickly and casually.
In my research for my latest book, THE SPIES OF SHILLING LANE, I came across an interesting comparison of British advertisements aimed at women before and then during the Second World War. The conclusion sums it up: before the war, women were treated as whimsical, fearful creatures that like being pampered and looked after. By the middle of the war, women are depicted as strong, independent, and most of all, resourceful. While a growing part of the world of espionage was embracing women into their workforce—especially those with fluent European languages—many of the traditional, often elite espionage clubs, such as MI5 and MI6, were keen to maintain the status quo.
All except for one man. Maxwell Knight, formerly an active member of the British Union of Fascists himself, was recruited in MI5 through unusual channels—usually MI5 agents were family friends of existing agents. From the beginning, Maxwell Knight was a maverick. He worked slightly outside the main MI5 framework, infiltrating anti-government groups, such as the fascists and the communists. He quickly saw the potential in using female infiltrators. They blended in and got on with other women. People didn’t suspect them. Some of them had a knack for deception: they easily took on a new name and persona. They became their cover.
Joan Miller was one such woman. “Plucked” out of the MI5 secretary pool for her quiet looks and ability to fit in, a few interviews proved her to be quick-thinking and rather brilliant at making up lies to fit the circumstance. He had a particular task for her. A middle-aged woman was very powerful in one of the fascist groups that he was tracking. He wanted this woman to take Joan under her wing. It was an elaborate, long-term plan, but paid off immeasurably when Joan was able to intercept the exchange of documents that could blow up the Allied union. Following this, women were “plucked” with greater frequency.
Meanwhile in France, the resistance had women in its ranks, so why not in its leaders? Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was incredulous when she was asked to be a deputy to WWI hero who was in charge of Alliance, one of the largest resistance networks in France. Yet when he was arrested a year later, she stepped into his place as undisputed leader without hesitation. Codename “Hedgehog,” she kept her gender secret from MI6, her British contacts, and when they finally met her and her deputy, they were convinced that it was a prank: surely the male deputy was the real “Hedgehog?”
Making use of female agents, her network excelled in intelligence gathering, mostly from eaves dropping, watching Nazi movements, and befriending Nazis and submarine-base workers. One such agent, Jeannie Rousseau, armed with a secret knowledge of fluent German, played on German officer’s propensity for showing off to a naïve country girl. She enticed out of them details about the development of the new V2 ballistic missiles, including the precise location of where they were being built. The British bombed it shortly after.
Toward the end of her tenure, a new threat faced women spies in France: “the Butcher of Lyon.” Klaus Barbie was a Gestapo functionary who enjoyed torturing Allied spies, renowned for burning female spies’ breasts with a cigarette. By 1943, the British discovered through decoding German messages that the Nazis were to crack down on spies, and with the use of radiowave detectors and ruthless torture of captives, they were able to bring in large numbers. Never did any of Fourcade’s women give her away, a fact for which she was proud and grateful. Fourcade worked for the resistance for an unprecedented two-and-a-half years before escaping to London; most leaders only lasted six months before their cover was blown.
It was groundbreaking. Ever since those first women spies entered the Second World War, their value as undercover operatives has widened. Today they play central roles in espionage throughout the world, with Gina Haspel actually heading the CIA since 2018.
Then a few women began to stand out. Sometimes it was a man recognizing their potential. Sometimes it was chance: a male superior missing or fired, a space for a woman’s undercover role, or the fact that they had insider knowledge. But mostly it was because they ruthlessly looked for the opportunity and grabbed it.
Gradually, the men in charge of some organizations began to actively seek women for espionage work. In Britain, the Special Operations Executive, the agency Churchill charged to send operatives into occupied territory to ”set Europe ablaze,” was light years ahead of the more stuffy, conservative MI5 and MI6. Occupied countries were often populated by women, all the men fighting or captured, so women agents wouldn’t stand out.
Women also had the advantage of not being suspected. The Nazis themselves wouldn’t countenance that women could be spies, and it took them a few years to realize that, actually, some were doing it very well indeed, to their expense. Waitresses, maids, and companions could eavesdrop on conversations. Apparently harmless farmhands cycling to work past their parading grounds and air stations could track troop movements. Women naturally spent more time at home, so why would it raise alarm if a woman sat in her room all day waiting for a wireless transmission?
Some chiefs in espionage believed women were naturally more secretive and better at acting alone. Women were seen as having better social skills with the predominantly female occupied population, and the empathy and caring nature increased their ability to recruit and mobilize local spy networks. In many ways, it was their social force that put the female spies above the others. They had an instinct for predicting how others would behave, an adeptness for acting quickly and casually.
In my research for my latest book, THE SPIES OF SHILLING LANE, I came across an interesting comparison of British advertisements aimed at women before and then during the Second World War. The conclusion sums it up: before the war, women were treated as whimsical, fearful creatures that like being pampered and looked after. By the middle of the war, women are depicted as strong, independent, and most of all, resourceful. While a growing part of the world of espionage was embracing women into their workforce—especially those with fluent European languages—many of the traditional, often elite espionage clubs, such as MI5 and MI6, were keen to maintain the status quo.
All except for one man. Maxwell Knight, formerly an active member of the British Union of Fascists himself, was recruited in MI5 through unusual channels—usually MI5 agents were family friends of existing agents. From the beginning, Maxwell Knight was a maverick. He worked slightly outside the main MI5 framework, infiltrating anti-government groups, such as the fascists and the communists. He quickly saw the potential in using female infiltrators. They blended in and got on with other women. People didn’t suspect them. Some of them had a knack for deception: they easily took on a new name and persona. They became their cover.
Joan Miller was one such woman. “Plucked” out of the MI5 secretary pool for her quiet looks and ability to fit in, a few interviews proved her to be quick-thinking and rather brilliant at making up lies to fit the circumstance. He had a particular task for her. A middle-aged woman was very powerful in one of the fascist groups that he was tracking. He wanted this woman to take Joan under her wing. It was an elaborate, long-term plan, but paid off immeasurably when Joan was able to intercept the exchange of documents that could blow up the Allied union. Following this, women were “plucked” with greater frequency.
Meanwhile in France, the resistance had women in its ranks, so why not in its leaders? Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was incredulous when she was asked to be a deputy to WWI hero who was in charge of Alliance, one of the largest resistance networks in France. Yet when he was arrested a year later, she stepped into his place as undisputed leader without hesitation. Codename “Hedgehog,” she kept her gender secret from MI6, her British contacts, and when they finally met her and her deputy, they were convinced that it was a prank: surely the male deputy was the real “Hedgehog?”
Making use of female agents, her network excelled in intelligence gathering, mostly from eaves dropping, watching Nazi movements, and befriending Nazis and submarine-base workers. One such agent, Jeannie Rousseau, armed with a secret knowledge of fluent German, played on German officer’s propensity for showing off to a naïve country girl. She enticed out of them details about the development of the new V2 ballistic missiles, including the precise location of where they were being built. The British bombed it shortly after.
Toward the end of her tenure, a new threat faced women spies in France: “the Butcher of Lyon.” Klaus Barbie was a Gestapo functionary who enjoyed torturing Allied spies, renowned for burning female spies’ breasts with a cigarette. By 1943, the British discovered through decoding German messages that the Nazis were to crack down on spies, and with the use of radiowave detectors and ruthless torture of captives, they were able to bring in large numbers. Never did any of Fourcade’s women give her away, a fact for which she was proud and grateful. Fourcade worked for the resistance for an unprecedented two-and-a-half years before escaping to London; most leaders only lasted six months before their cover was blown.
It was groundbreaking. Ever since those first women spies entered the Second World War, their value as undercover operatives has widened. Today they play central roles in espionage throughout the world, with Gina Haspel actually heading the CIA since 2018.
June 19, 2019
The Movie Cast for Spies of Shilling Lane
Today I'm sharing a piece that I wrote for a blog about my dream (or fantasy) cast should The Spies of Shilling Lane be made into a movie. My agent in Hollywood is selling the option right now, so fingers crossed it'll become the next blockbuster!
The Spies of Shilling Lane is about female spies in Second World War London. It combines a thriller with the devastation of London in the Blitz, with British humor and warmth woven throughout. It’s with this in mind that I created my fantasy cast.
Mrs. Braithwaite has to be played by Julie Walters (Donna’s friend Rosie in Mamma Mia, the Weasley’s Mom in Harry Potter). I think she could convey the blend of bombastic yet loveable, the bumbling un-self-consciousness of the middle-aged mom.
Betty Braithwaite, the young, fearless spy, would of course be Emma Watson (Hermione in Harry Potter). She has the perfect blend of astuteness and quiet confidence. She could, in fact, be her!
Betty’s landlord, the timid accountant Mr. Norris, should be played by Ralph Fiennes (Monsieur Gustave H. in The Budapest Hotel, Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, Justin Quayle in The Constant Gardener). He would be master of the pensive, stilted turns and deep heart.
Good-looking and raffish, Mr. Baxter would be Matt Smith (Prince Philip in The Crown), for his continual smirk and all that intensity packed inside.
Florrie, the pretty and hairbrained roomie of Betty’s, would be played by the striking Lily James (the young Donna in Mamma Mia 2, Lady Rose in Downton Abbey). She combines sweetness and chaos all in one.
For Betty’s other roommate, the beautiful, haughty Cassandra, I see the wonderful Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary in Downton Abbey). Her proud, condescending manner would be perfect for the role.
Please let me know who you think would be perfect for the roles.
The Spies of Shilling Lane is about female spies in Second World War London. It combines a thriller with the devastation of London in the Blitz, with British humor and warmth woven throughout. It’s with this in mind that I created my fantasy cast.
Mrs. Braithwaite has to be played by Julie Walters (Donna’s friend Rosie in Mamma Mia, the Weasley’s Mom in Harry Potter). I think she could convey the blend of bombastic yet loveable, the bumbling un-self-consciousness of the middle-aged mom.
Betty Braithwaite, the young, fearless spy, would of course be Emma Watson (Hermione in Harry Potter). She has the perfect blend of astuteness and quiet confidence. She could, in fact, be her!
Betty’s landlord, the timid accountant Mr. Norris, should be played by Ralph Fiennes (Monsieur Gustave H. in The Budapest Hotel, Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, Justin Quayle in The Constant Gardener). He would be master of the pensive, stilted turns and deep heart.
Good-looking and raffish, Mr. Baxter would be Matt Smith (Prince Philip in The Crown), for his continual smirk and all that intensity packed inside.
Florrie, the pretty and hairbrained roomie of Betty’s, would be played by the striking Lily James (the young Donna in Mamma Mia 2, Lady Rose in Downton Abbey). She combines sweetness and chaos all in one.
For Betty’s other roommate, the beautiful, haughty Cassandra, I see the wonderful Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary in Downton Abbey). Her proud, condescending manner would be perfect for the role.
Please let me know who you think would be perfect for the roles.
June 4, 2019
LAUNCH DAY!
THE SPIES OF SHILLING LANE began life a few years ago, when I interviewed a twinkly-eyed old lady, Mrs. Underwood, about life in Britain during the Second World War.
"I hate to confess it, but it was the best time of my life," she said with a mischievous half-smile. "The freedom we girls had! I went to London and took a job that in any other time would have been done by a man. But they were needed for fighting, you see."
I asked her what work she did.
Her eyes gleamed. "I worked for one of the big spy agencies, MI5. I can't tell you what I did, as I had to sign the Official Secrets Act."
No matter how much I assured her that seventy years after the end of the war, it was unlikely that anyone would imprison a ninety-year-old woman for sharing her wartime experiences.
But she only did that coquettish zipping her lips motion, again with that amused half-smile.
Had she been a spy?
"My mother hated me working," she said, trying to change the subject. "I came from a well-to-do family, and she thought I should stay at home and get married in case there weren't enough men to go around after the war--that happened in the First World War, you see."
"But you stayed in London, working." I tried to get back to her work.
She grinned. "We girls had a lot of freedom. There were a lot of dances, parties, bombs, nights in the shelters. Life was a chaotic mixture of fear and hedonism."
Suddenly, behind her lively pale blue eyes, I saw her as a young woman, vibrant, ready for anything, willing to give her all to save the country from the Nazis. And as she gave me her half-smile, I began to imagine what kind of spy she had been.
She became Betty Braithwaite, and of course, her mother became the one and only Mrs. Braithwaite.
And today, after years of research, writing, editing, printing, and general worrying, the book is in stores around the country. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I loved researching and writing about these brave and fearless women.
"I hate to confess it, but it was the best time of my life," she said with a mischievous half-smile. "The freedom we girls had! I went to London and took a job that in any other time would have been done by a man. But they were needed for fighting, you see."
I asked her what work she did.
Her eyes gleamed. "I worked for one of the big spy agencies, MI5. I can't tell you what I did, as I had to sign the Official Secrets Act."
No matter how much I assured her that seventy years after the end of the war, it was unlikely that anyone would imprison a ninety-year-old woman for sharing her wartime experiences.
But she only did that coquettish zipping her lips motion, again with that amused half-smile.
Had she been a spy?
"My mother hated me working," she said, trying to change the subject. "I came from a well-to-do family, and she thought I should stay at home and get married in case there weren't enough men to go around after the war--that happened in the First World War, you see."
"But you stayed in London, working." I tried to get back to her work.
She grinned. "We girls had a lot of freedom. There were a lot of dances, parties, bombs, nights in the shelters. Life was a chaotic mixture of fear and hedonism."
Suddenly, behind her lively pale blue eyes, I saw her as a young woman, vibrant, ready for anything, willing to give her all to save the country from the Nazis. And as she gave me her half-smile, I began to imagine what kind of spy she had been.
She became Betty Braithwaite, and of course, her mother became the one and only Mrs. Braithwaite.
And today, after years of research, writing, editing, printing, and general worrying, the book is in stores around the country. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I loved researching and writing about these brave and fearless women.
May 28, 2019
The Original Bond Girl
Daughter of a wealthy Polish Count, Krystyna Skarbek was a society beauty and headstrong outdoor girl. She was in Africa with her diplomat husband when World War II broke out. Deciding to help the British free occupied Poland, she approached them with a plan. She wanted to return to Poland through Hungary in order to set up a line of communications. British Intelligence were impressed with the "flaming Polish patriot," and in 1939, Skarbek worked to organize Polish resistance groups and smuggle Polish pilots out. In 1941, she was arrested by the Gestapo, but they let her go after she faked a case of tuberculosis by biting her tongue to make it bleed.
The British gave Skarbek a new identity, and as Christine Granville she was smuggled out of Poland to Turkey.
Trained as a radio operator and paratrooper, she was dropped into France after D-Day. As her resistance area was overrun with Nazis, she escaped, hiking 70 miles to a safer area in the Alps, where she helped turn Axis fighters. Her success rate was incredible, the risks she pulled off extraordinary. On one occasion, she gave a rousing speech to 3,000 Polish men fighting for the Nazis; at the end she told anyone who was with her to take off his Nazi jacket, and as one 3,000 men threw their coats into the air.
Her most famous caper was when she rescued two colleagues by outing herself as a spy to French officials working for the Gestapo and then arranging a prisoner release with the use of retaliation threats and promises of money. Granville and the prisoners made it out alive, and her reputation as a legendary spy was secured.
After the war and used to the adrenaline rush, she lived a frenetic life and was murdered in 1952 by an obsessed lover. Rumor has it that she had an affair with Ian Fleming and was the inspiration for his first Bond girl, Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.
The British gave Skarbek a new identity, and as Christine Granville she was smuggled out of Poland to Turkey.
Trained as a radio operator and paratrooper, she was dropped into France after D-Day. As her resistance area was overrun with Nazis, she escaped, hiking 70 miles to a safer area in the Alps, where she helped turn Axis fighters. Her success rate was incredible, the risks she pulled off extraordinary. On one occasion, she gave a rousing speech to 3,000 Polish men fighting for the Nazis; at the end she told anyone who was with her to take off his Nazi jacket, and as one 3,000 men threw their coats into the air.
Her most famous caper was when she rescued two colleagues by outing herself as a spy to French officials working for the Gestapo and then arranging a prisoner release with the use of retaliation threats and promises of money. Granville and the prisoners made it out alive, and her reputation as a legendary spy was secured.
After the war and used to the adrenaline rush, she lived a frenetic life and was murdered in 1952 by an obsessed lover. Rumor has it that she had an affair with Ian Fleming and was the inspiration for his first Bond girl, Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.
April 12, 2019
The Queen does her bit in WW2
When the Queen turned 16, the nation was in the midst of the Second World War. Women from the ages of 16 to 45 had to sign up for war work, and Princess Elizabeth considered that—royalty or no royalty—she should be treated no different from everyone else.
Her father, King George IV, was against it at first, but she was adamant and gradually changed his mind. Just as an ordinary woman would have done, she registered with the Labour Exchange, which was the wartime employment office that attached available workers to war positions. Soon she had been accepted into the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, called the ATS for short. Essentially, the ATS women stepped in to fill non-combat jobs in the Army, so that the men could be free to fight.
Trained as a military truck mechanic—her number was 230873—she was given the honorary title of Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor, although within five months she was promoted to honorary Junior Commander. Her uniform comprised a khaki woolen skirt suit, with dark coveralls to be worn while working.
Taught how to change a wheel, deconstruct and rebuild different types of engine, she was expected to drive all sorts of military vehicles, including trucks, and ambulances. She was based at the Mechanical Transport Training Section, just outside London, although unlike her colleagues who slept in dorms, she went home to the comforts of Windsor Castle every night.
One day in 1945, her parents and sister came on a royal visit to the center, and she stood in line along with the other women to meet them. She is the only female member of the royal family ever to have entered into the military forces, and she is the only remaining living head of state who served in the Second World War.
By all accounts, she adored her job and the important role she was playing in the war. One of her major joys was to get dirt under her nails and grease stains in her hands and display these signs of labor to her friends. Always keen not to put herself above the ordinary woman, when she was married, she famously saved clothing coupons for her wedding dress as clothing was heavily rationed.
In 1992, Queen Elizabeth gave an interview where she said, “Training is the answer to a great many things. You can do a lot if you're properly trained.” And I often wonder if she was thinking back to her Second World War days, rubbing shoulders with the other ATS women and mending ambulances and military trucks.
The Spies of Shilling Lane
Her father, King George IV, was against it at first, but she was adamant and gradually changed his mind. Just as an ordinary woman would have done, she registered with the Labour Exchange, which was the wartime employment office that attached available workers to war positions. Soon she had been accepted into the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, called the ATS for short. Essentially, the ATS women stepped in to fill non-combat jobs in the Army, so that the men could be free to fight.
Trained as a military truck mechanic—her number was 230873—she was given the honorary title of Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor, although within five months she was promoted to honorary Junior Commander. Her uniform comprised a khaki woolen skirt suit, with dark coveralls to be worn while working.
Taught how to change a wheel, deconstruct and rebuild different types of engine, she was expected to drive all sorts of military vehicles, including trucks, and ambulances. She was based at the Mechanical Transport Training Section, just outside London, although unlike her colleagues who slept in dorms, she went home to the comforts of Windsor Castle every night.
One day in 1945, her parents and sister came on a royal visit to the center, and she stood in line along with the other women to meet them. She is the only female member of the royal family ever to have entered into the military forces, and she is the only remaining living head of state who served in the Second World War.
By all accounts, she adored her job and the important role she was playing in the war. One of her major joys was to get dirt under her nails and grease stains in her hands and display these signs of labor to her friends. Always keen not to put herself above the ordinary woman, when she was married, she famously saved clothing coupons for her wedding dress as clothing was heavily rationed.
In 1992, Queen Elizabeth gave an interview where she said, “Training is the answer to a great many things. You can do a lot if you're properly trained.” And I often wonder if she was thinking back to her Second World War days, rubbing shoulders with the other ATS women and mending ambulances and military trucks.
The Spies of Shilling Lane
March 3, 2019
Women: The Target of WW2 Winning Propaganda
The Ministry of Information sounds like something from 1984: a nation intent on controlling its inhabitants, and that was precisely what it was. At the beginning of the Second World war, Britain knew that getting through the war—let alone winning it—was going to be tough. Germany was a fighting machine that had been preparing for all-out war a decade. Britain, meanwhile, had been nursing its wounds and hoping never to return to war again.
The grit and resourcefulness of the population was among the few assets it had.
In leaflets, posters, newsreels, and radio broadcasts, carefully chosen words were issued about how those at home could support the men fighting on the front. Movies made during the war depicted determined souls doing everything they could to fight against an evil, machine-like enemy. News focused on individuals doing their bit—local competitions to support vegetable growing, munitions workers meeting big targets—while minimizing bad news from the front line.
Women were especially targeted by the Ministry of Information. Many of the hardships of war fell on their shoulders: extra work, food rationing, saving fuel, preventing waste, keeping the blackout rules, and allowing your children to be evacuated or having evacuated children in your home.
There were also posters and leaflets about what to do if the Nazis invaded: keep going as usual and use anything on hand to fight on and sabotage the enemy—whatever happens, do not submit to the Nazis. When France and the low countries fell to the Nazis, it was noted that had the population been more prepared, they could have done a lot more to prevent Nazi domination. Posters such as the famous Keep Calm and Carry On! were printed ready to be released in the event of an invasion to stop everyone panicking and allowing the Germans to simply take over.
One of the most insightful pieces of research I found compared the way that posters portrayed women during the 1930s, before the war, and then during the war. Prior to the war, women were treated as delicate, pretty creatures who needed to be looked after and pampered. Almost as soon as the war began, women were portrayed as hard-working, resourceful, and quick-witted individuals who could take anything in their stride.
Sadly, following the war, a reversal was made, and women once again were propelled back into their homes. But many recalled their war work, and a change had taken place: women had shown that they could do all these things, and do them very well indeed.
The grit and resourcefulness of the population was among the few assets it had.
In leaflets, posters, newsreels, and radio broadcasts, carefully chosen words were issued about how those at home could support the men fighting on the front. Movies made during the war depicted determined souls doing everything they could to fight against an evil, machine-like enemy. News focused on individuals doing their bit—local competitions to support vegetable growing, munitions workers meeting big targets—while minimizing bad news from the front line.
Women were especially targeted by the Ministry of Information. Many of the hardships of war fell on their shoulders: extra work, food rationing, saving fuel, preventing waste, keeping the blackout rules, and allowing your children to be evacuated or having evacuated children in your home.
There were also posters and leaflets about what to do if the Nazis invaded: keep going as usual and use anything on hand to fight on and sabotage the enemy—whatever happens, do not submit to the Nazis. When France and the low countries fell to the Nazis, it was noted that had the population been more prepared, they could have done a lot more to prevent Nazi domination. Posters such as the famous Keep Calm and Carry On! were printed ready to be released in the event of an invasion to stop everyone panicking and allowing the Germans to simply take over.
One of the most insightful pieces of research I found compared the way that posters portrayed women during the 1930s, before the war, and then during the war. Prior to the war, women were treated as delicate, pretty creatures who needed to be looked after and pampered. Almost as soon as the war began, women were portrayed as hard-working, resourceful, and quick-witted individuals who could take anything in their stride.
Sadly, following the war, a reversal was made, and women once again were propelled back into their homes. But many recalled their war work, and a change had taken place: women had shown that they could do all these things, and do them very well indeed.
January 21, 2019
AMERICAN WOMEN HELPING BRITISH WOMEN IN WWII
By Pearl Harbor in 1942, Britain had been fighting the war in Europe for three long years. With shipping lanes blocked or bombed by Nazi U-boats, food was rationed and so was fuel. But it was the clothes rations that brought many of the women down. The monthly coupons allowed you to buy a skirt or two pairs of stockings; you would have to save up two or three months to get a dress or a pair of shoes.
Thus, the American Bundles for Britain was a lifesaver. Housewives throughout the States gathered any good second-hand clothes they could, and together they formed bundled packages that could be distributed to British towns.
Can you imagine the joy of a new pair of shoes or a gently-used dress when you’d been wearing the same one for years. From the women on one side of the world to another, it wasn’t only clothes that were given. It was a caring understanding of how it must feel; a recognition that they were all in it together.
You can see Bundles for Britain in action in THE CHILBURY LADIES' CHOIR.
Thus, the American Bundles for Britain was a lifesaver. Housewives throughout the States gathered any good second-hand clothes they could, and together they formed bundled packages that could be distributed to British towns.
Can you imagine the joy of a new pair of shoes or a gently-used dress when you’d been wearing the same one for years. From the women on one side of the world to another, it wasn’t only clothes that were given. It was a caring understanding of how it must feel; a recognition that they were all in it together.
You can see Bundles for Britain in action in THE CHILBURY LADIES' CHOIR.
December 17, 2018
Spend the Holidays with The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
Snuggle down for a cozy read this festive season! One of my readers was in touch this morning to tell me she was sending The Chilbury Ladies' Choir to everyone she knew so that "they have a warm, witty, and intriguing page-turner to cuddle up with by the fire."
Of course, Second World War Britain wasn't quite as cozy. Heating fuel was rationed and expensive, so unless you had your own stash of firewood, keeping your winter coat on inside was the norm.
A garrison of soldiers staying in an eighteenth-century stately home went one step further: they gradually began dismantling the grand staircase to stoke the grand house's many fireplaces. The lord of the manor wasn't at all happy when he returned after the war to find it without stairs.
Favorite reading-nook treats, such as a nice cup of tea and a piece of cake, would also have been rationed. Tea became increasingly weak as the war went on, and sugar was so heavily rationed that cake was an annual treat.
So when you're cozying up with a book, remember those Chilbury ladies and relish the moment.
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
Of course, Second World War Britain wasn't quite as cozy. Heating fuel was rationed and expensive, so unless you had your own stash of firewood, keeping your winter coat on inside was the norm.
A garrison of soldiers staying in an eighteenth-century stately home went one step further: they gradually began dismantling the grand staircase to stoke the grand house's many fireplaces. The lord of the manor wasn't at all happy when he returned after the war to find it without stairs.
Favorite reading-nook treats, such as a nice cup of tea and a piece of cake, would also have been rationed. Tea became increasingly weak as the war went on, and sugar was so heavily rationed that cake was an annual treat.
So when you're cozying up with a book, remember those Chilbury ladies and relish the moment.
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
