A few weeks back I watched the 1970s fly on the wall doc 'Sailor'. At one point, it showed some of the crew had quite an elaborate trading/library system arranged for pornography magazines (of course, I did'nt realise these type of magazines existed actually ) This led to me thinking about how the subject was dealt with during WW2. Was it encouraged by higher command, realising it was something that was going to happen, and was needed by troops to relieve stress (err...I mean in the same way as cigarettes, music, books, etc)? Maybe it was the last thing on peoples minds during actual combat? Were the standards/morals of the time different (although pornography has been around forever)? You often hear of a killed soidiers friends 'cleaning up' the personal belongings before they were sent back to family. I assume to remove this type of thing, letters, etc? Men are men, and im sure pornography was around, but all you see are the standard pin-ups. Would that be a true depiction, or was that just moral censorship for the cameras? Can anyone elaborate on the subject?
Dave. I looked into this as part of a study of nose art about 35 years ago - The subject is greatly affected by differing views on the nature of 'pornographic'. During the second world war there was a relaxation in attitudes to what could be termed 'provocative nudity'. Sexually explicit material was rare (although available) and certainly not generally approved. A crucial turning point for Allied forces was the US Postal Service allowing such material to be sent by post (it was not technically banned under freedom of speech rules so the US Mail controlled what was deemed obscene). I can't recall the date. The debate for this is fascinating IIRC. The main reason was to encourage US servicemen to lust after wholesome girls back home rather than get involved with the locals. Also the idea of criminalising conscripts for having a copy of Esquire had all manner of ramifications. This leads to the further difficult question of officially encouraging masturbation to avoid the risk of VD. A key US publication was Esquire, the British market was served by magazines such a Lilliput. These were widely accepted. There were copycat publications and more risque smaller publications. Cheers Keith
Thanks Keith, and you are right, it is interesting. Surely young men away from home will have all kinds of thoughts going through their heads, especially of a sexual nature. How does the command deal with this? It must be a distraction , did it, or could it, cause problems with fighting efficiency? Not all the troops were 'men of the world', many were very young with I assume (especially compared to todays standards) quite conservative outlooks on life. Suddenly there they are, first time away from home, mixing with all kinds of different people, never knowing what the next day brings.
I was in the Falklands after the 1982 war. The RN guard ship ran an adult video library with payment accepted in klnd or or souvenirs. A 105mm cartridge case was the brass if not gold standard. The British and USA armies were representatives of societies with some puritanical traditions which disapproved of sex outside marriage and expected soldiers to abjure sex for the duration. From a practical point of view this is nonsense and the oldest profession inevitably followed the oldest trade. The moral impact of pornography is irrelevant compared to the sickness rates from venereal diseases. Some armies such as the French and German established licenced brothels as a matter of policy. Some of the Germasn propaganda leaflets included images that might be attractive to young men.
Can't say I saw anything pornographic in my days in the Royal Air Force but the displaying of pin up girls was widespread.Not as if there was innocence around and servicemen being servicemen were always very active in involvement with the opposite sex.The biggest fears of the authorities was VD and the loss of effective manpower when it is carried.I remember seeing the VD instructional films shown to us and the effect it had on those watching...very graphic in the cases shown and the treatment required...a few were faint hearted and the graphics of the umbrella treatment were too much for them. FFIs... never hear of servicemen referring ti it today. As said there was always the wartime German fidelity propaganda aimed at its enemies especially if they could undermine the morale of soldier at the front and generate a distaste between Allies. Apparently the SOE used photographs of nude females,might be called soft porn in these days and included these to be displayed in wallets alongside forged identity papers.The concept was that any security check might be not effective by the scrutineer paying more attention to the nude photograph than to the forged identity document.
Some of the Burma veterans I have spoken to have told me that they often found various photographs of a pornographic nature on dead Japanese soldiers. These were said to have been "more explicit, than anything we had ever seen before".
Having hosted visiting Japanese businessmen on a few occasions, I am not the least bit surprised by that. Conservative by day and crazy men after hours.
Hi canuck, The chaps from Chindit 2 used to collect as many 'trophies' as they could from dead Japanese and then sell these on to the American service personnel present in the theatre at the time. Samurai swords were much sort after, but these cards were fairly popular too.
What whas considered as Pornographic in the 1940s might not turn any heads now. Here is an extract from a memoir on the 56th Infantry Brigade; Jane http://www.skylighters.org/jane/
Thinking of this in terms of psychology. Being a young man in the prime of your life, nature being what it is drives you towards sex. Being denied that basic human need, makes you think of it more. Whats denied you, becomes stronger in the mind. In india a wealthy man put a sign on his large wall surrounding his house "No pissing on this wall". Passers by were made to think of going to the toilet, so they all would piss on the wall.
Whilst on a week's leave in Cairo one was constantly accosted by street urchins offering "Dirty pictures Johny?". Can't remember buying any Ron
These are apparently some of the more 'racy' photos that appeared in Liliput Magazine - purely for research purposes, you understand? http://www.lilliputmagazine.co.uk/page3.html CS
Mention of "Lilliput" reminded me of a poem that once appeared in it's columns and which amused me so much that I learnt it by heart to lighten some of our weary days. It went like this, and if I've misquoted any of the lines or it wasn't Lilliput then I am sure you will forgive me ! In days of old when knights were bold And ladies did as they were told Our gay crusader joined the band Of heroes for the holy land But ere he left for foreign climes The village blacksmith of those times Constructed caminicks of tin With which he locked his lady in But those were the days of chivalry Those dear, dead days of chivalry Andt it has since occured to me That if we had such thiings today And if the knights behaved that way The wives they left at home would see That someone had the master key !
You didn't need to look past the nose art from Bomber Command to find some interesting samples. These are from the RCAF:
It's not quite the same but I can remember the lads putting certain posters up inside the doors of their lockers in training as a distraction for the inspecting officer. Michael
Could have been planted by SOE psychological warfare lot...they certainly were involved in making it.
