Home front heroism: Civilians and conflict in Second World War London

By Ellena Matthews

Home front heroism investigates how civilians were recognised and celebrated as heroic during the Second World War. Through a focus on London, this book explores how heroism was manufactured as civilians adopted roles in production, protection and defence, through the use of uniforms and medals, and through the way that civilians were injured and killed.

This book makes a novel contribution to the study of heroism by exploring the spatial, material, corporeal and ritualistic dimensions of heroic representations. By tracing the different ways that home front heroism was cultivated on a national, local and personal level, this study promotes new ways of thinking about the meaning and value of heroism during periods of conflict. It will appeal to anyone interested in the social and cultural history of Second World War as well as the sociology and psychology of heroism.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Release date: Jun 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9781526162113

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Home front heroism

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Cultural History of Modern War

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Ana Carden-Coyne, Jo Laycock, Max Jones and Bertrand Taithe

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Home front heroism

Civilians and conflict in Second World War London

Ellena Matthews

MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Copyright © Ellena Matthews 2024

The right of Ellena Matthews to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Published by Manchester University Press

Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL

www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 5261 6212 0 hardback

First published 2024

The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Cover: Albert Ernest Dolphin, GC, protecting a nurse from a falling wall. By Terence Cuneo, c. 1939-1946. Reproduced with permission of The National Archives, TNA INF 3/477

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Contents

List of figures

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1 Production: factories, wartime productivity and workplace heroism

2 Danger: protection, defence and care in the metropolis

3 Uniforms: clothing, uniformity and collective heroism

4 Medals: objects of recognition, materiality and heroism

5 Wounding: aerial bombardment and the civilian war wounded

6 Death: the civilian war dead and shared sacrifice

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Figures

Every reasonable attempt has been made to obtain permission to reproduce copyright images. If any proper acknowledgement has not been made, copyright holders are invited to contact the author via Manchester University Press.

1.1 ‘Combined Operations Include You’, poster. Reproduced with permission of the Imperial War Museum.

1.2 Portrait of Ruby Loftus screwing a breech ring, by Laura Knight, 1943. Reproduced with permission of the Imperial War Museum.

2.1 A London Fire Brigade fireman, Front Line 1940–1941: The Official Story of the Civil Defence of Britain (London: HMSO, 1942), front cover. Reproduced under the Open Government Licence.

2.2 A female ambulance driver at work, Front Line 1940–1941: The Official Story of the Civil Defence of Britain (London: HMSO, 1942), p. 150. Reproduced under the Open Government Licence.

3.1 Civil Defence Day – 15 November 1942, by William Lionel Clause, 1942. Reproduced with permission of the Imperial War Museum.

4.1 Portrait of Miss Charity Bick, GM, by Alfred Reginald Thomson, 1941. Reproduced with permission of the Imperial War Museum.

4.2 Portrait of Miss Gillian Tanner, GM, by Alfred Reginald Thomson, 1941. Reproduced with permission of the Imperial War Museum.

5.1 ‘The London helps bombed widow & babe to new lease of life’, London Hospital Illustrated, Vol. 1. No. 10. (1941–42), p. 1. Reproduced with permission of Barts Health Archive.

6.1 ‘Wardens pay tribute at funeral of ARP worker’, Croydon Times (12 July 1941), p. 8. Image courtesy of Croydon Archive.

6.2 Grave of C. A. Elliman, Auxiliary Fire Service, London Road Cemetery, Mitcham (Ellena Matthews, 2023)

Acknowledgements

This book would never have been possible without support from colleagues, family and friends. I am deeply indebted to them all.

Throughout this project I used a number of archives, of which many were in London. I would like to thank the archivists and librarians at these locations including the National Archives, the British Library, the Wellcome Library, Croydon Archive, the British Newspaper Archive, Commonwealth War Graves Commission Archive, Imperial War Museum Archive, London Metropolitan Archive, Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre, Mass Observation Archive, Barts Health Archives and Wimbledon Museum Archive. I thank the staff at these locations for sharing their specialist knowledge and for directing me to relevant material.

I would like to thank my mentor Julie Anderson. Her enduring enthusiasm for my work helped me to find my way out of the most challenging writing ruts and research holes, and her support and advice always pushed me to strive that bit further. I am incredibly grateful for her time and friendship over the years.

To former colleagues at the University of Kent, for their friendships as well as their academic support. I would particularly like to thank Natasha Silk and Richard Guille for welcoming me into their home every time I visited Canterbury, for acting as a sounding board for new research findings and for their continued friendship. I would also like to thank Oliver Parken, Sarah Klein, Jak Allen, Russell Moul and David Peace for sharing the journey as I juggled research with other commitments. Thanks also go to Emily Bartlett, Chloe Trainor, Becky Kearney, Georgia Haire and Eilis Boyle, whose engagement with my research during our weekly writing group helped to push each chapter draft forward.

Other people whose care and insight provided invaluable help on this project include Juliette Pattinson, Mark Connelly and Lucy Noakes, whose enthusiasm for this research and considered feedback provided me with fresh perspectives and new directions to explore.

I have presented aspects of this research on many occasions at conferences and workshops, including the Social History Society Conference, Society for the Social History of Medicine Conference, The Hero and Heroism: Then, There, Now Conference and New Directions in Second World War Studies Workshop. I thank everyone who engaged with my work at these events.

To my editor at Manchester University Press, Meredith Carroll, for guiding me through every step of the publication process. I would like to express incredible gratitude to the editors of the Cultural History of Modern War series, Ana Carden-Coyne, Max Jones, Jo Laycock and Bertrand Taithe, for including this book in their series, believing in my work and for their words of encouragement. I am so honoured to have my book sit alongside titles which have enhanced my own work so deeply. I would like to thank the series editors and anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on my manuscript, whose feedback has strengthened the final result. Any errors are mine alone.

To my family, who cultivated my passion for history from a young age and always encouraged me to ask ‘why’. In recent years, the generosity and hospitality of family, who took care of the smaller things in life so I could just write, helped me to finish this book. And to Daisy, whose happy demeanour never failed to put a smile on my face, even during the most challenging re-drafts.

And, finally, to Chris, who lived alongside this research for many years and who provided encouragement every step of the way.

Introduction

On Sunday 2 February 1941, J. B. Priestley spoke to the nation as part of his weekly Sunday night BBC ‘Postscripts’ radio broadcast. He declared,

I need hardly tell you that this is a most peculiar war; it breaks all the rules; thus while millions of trained and heavily armed young men have hardly heard a shot fired, short-sighted middle-aged men with a perpetual cough and flat feet earn medals for valour, and old ladies turn aside from feeding the canary to putting out fire-bombs.

¹

In the broadcast, Priestley recognised how modern conflict had reconceptualised the nature of wartime heroism, as in this new war, ordinary civilians of all ages and abilities were able to behave heroically and be recognised for acts of home front heroism. Priestley's statement is particularly illustrative as it highlighted not only that civilians were being celebrated for heroic deeds but also how heroism was inextricably linked to wartime duty and contribution. Total war altered the relationship between the civilian and the State, and as civilians fulfilled central roles in manufacture and production, and the defence and protection of cities, towns and villages, they were offered opportunities to behave heroically. As Priestley reminded listeners, wartime participation enabled men and women, including the medically unfit male and the elderly female, to be cast as heroic figures of the home front. War shone a heroic spotlight on the British public, and Priestley's broadcasts, which were widely listened to and which struck a chord with millions, ensured that the public were reminded about the heroism of ordinary civilians.

Celebrating the heroism of everyday people was not a new phenomenon. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, civilians were hailed as heroic for acts of life-saving on land and at sea, from rescuing survivors during storms offshore to saving individuals trapped in burning buildings and going to the aid of those drowning in canals, lakes and rivers. During this time, the heroism of ordinary civilians was publicly commemorated on memorials and recognised through a range of official and unofficial medals and awards. However, the Second World War intensified the number of times civilians found themselves in situations which demanded heroism and, as a result, many more civilians were celebrated for acts of everyday heroism in wartime than in periods of peace.

The Second World War promoted a new model of everyday heroism. Home front heroism, as it will be defined in this book, was a model of everyday heroism that developed directly out of the wartime context. In wartime, as in the Victorian and Edwardian periods and in the decades leading up to the Second World War, life-saving continued to be viewed as distinguished conduct and remained a core value that constituted home front heroism. Perilous achievement and rescue against the odds were highly admired as they were in the previous century. However, in wartime, other qualities were also framed as heroic. In addition to life-saving, home front heroism consisted of productivity, courage, bravery, duty, self-sacrifice, fortitude, expertise, endurance, caregiving and mental resolve, which allowed for a spectrum of heroics to be commended in men and women of all ages. As this book will show, the nature of home front heroism was depicted as both active and passive, which allowed for quiet endurance to be celebrated as well as the heroics of action. Yet this study will illustrate that whilst both active and passive heroism were encouraged, heroic qualities were conceptualised against a hierarchy of heroism which was adjusted in relation to age, gender and occupation, and the demands, turning points and different battles that were experienced throughout the war.

The everyday heroism that was celebrated and manufactured in wartime was life-saving and life-risking. Over the previous century, ordinary civilians were recognised for life-saving and life-risking heroism when placing their own life in danger to save someone else, though in wartime a large proportion of these acts occurred as a result of the dangers and effects of bombardment. Significantly, in contrast to the everyday heroism celebrated before the war, civilians on the home front were often celebrated for life-risking heroism which did not directly involve life-saving. For example, civilians were celebrated for life-risking heroism for remaining at posts in industry and manufacturing despite the risk posed by aerial attack, disposing of unexploded bombs, delivering messages during raids, moving highly explosive cargo or farming whilst bombs continued to fall. This heroism involved life-risking actions for the public good, and its life-saving implications were far more indirect than purposefully going to the aid of someone in danger.

Stories of anonymous, real and fictional heroism appeared throughout the war. The public were frequently exposed to tales which recounted the actions of specific individuals or groups of people who had behaved in a notable manner. Across the home front, the public were informed of how their fellow citizens had displayed everyday heroism in both life and death, including children who had cycled through falling bombs to relay messages, men who had defused unexploded bombs and women who had placed their lives in danger whilst attending to the wounded. On a collective level, mass loss of life, wounding, quiet endurance and fortitude were communicated as honourable and valued. Tales also recounted the productivity of factory workers, the dedication of agricultural labourers, the fortitude of civilians who had been injured by enemy action and the continuing good citizenship of the nation.

The visibility of home front heroism served a powerful purpose. In many ways, tales of home front heroism acted as inspiration during wartime, and stories which recounted heroic acts captured notions of model behaviour and provided guidance during times of hardship. Throughout the conflict, the existing discourse of everyday heroism was put to work within the unique circumstances of wartime, and as stories of home front heroism were used as representative of civic responsibility, the virtues that were celebrated came to embody national values and were used as a propagandistic tool to motivate and inspire. Heroes were used to anchor society and orient individual choices.² Therefore, stories of heroism form a central part of this book. Each chapter is filled with tales of heroic acts. In wartime, civilians were informed about what constituted good citizenship, yet this study will argue that when individual civilians were given awards for heroism, they became not only markers of good citizenship but icons of ‘exemplary citizenship’.³ Through examining individual stories of heroism, this book examines how heroism was framed in the public domain and which cases of heroism received the greatest levels of attention and why. In contrast to everyday heroes of the nineteenth century, which often celebrated the remarkable and, in the case of Victorian heroine Grace Darling, the extraordinary and unexampled, in wartime the heroic civilian fulfilled a critical role as representative of the archetypal everyday citizen.⁴ Whilst heroic women such as Grace Darling were reported as unique, in wartime it was paramount that constructions of civilian heroism reflected notions of not only exceptionality but also normality. Depictions of home front heroism aimed to reassure civilians across Britain that heroic potential resided in the hearts and souls of each citizen. Building upon the scholarship on heroism, including John Price's study Everyday Heroism: Victorian Constructions of the Heroic Civilian, which explores acts of Victorian heroism undertaken by ordinary individuals in the course of their daily lives, this study examines how the concept of everyday heroism was put to work in the wartime context, and what this can tell us about continuities and changes in the way that the heroism of ordinary civilians was produced and how the concept of home front heroism was sustained.

⁵

Heroes and heroism

Firstly, it is important to identify how we can define heroes and heroism. As Geoffrey Cubitt has outlined,

A hero is any man or woman whose existence, whether in his or her own lifetime or later, is endowed by others, not just with a high degree of fame or honour, but with a special allocation of imputed meaning and symbolic significance – that not only raises them above others in public esteem but makes them the object of some kind of collective emotional investment … The concept of reputation is thus central to the understanding of the heroic … and reputations are understood here not as the vapour trails of natural glory that the great and the good leave behind them, but as cultural constructions reflecting the values and ideologies of the societies in which they are produced.

⁶

Heroes, according to Cubitt, are a social construction. They can be men or women, the young or old. The selection, promotion and celebration of heroic figures is manufactured through a number of formal ways, through ‘honour systems, decorations and citations, canonisation procedures, state funeral and pantheonisations, centenary celebrations, erections of public statuary, namings of streets and cities, imagery on stamps and banknotes, as well as more obvious forms of official propaganda’ ⁷ as well as less formal practices of ‘storytelling and entertainment, through gossip and news reporting, and through the circulation of literature, visual images and artefacts’.⁸ Moreover, the hero that is celebrated does not have to be truly realistic and can be an exaggerated and embellished version of reality. Rather, the heroes that society celebrates are those that capture the imagination and act as platforms through which ideals and values are expressed.⁹ Clearly then, displays of heroism or being considered a hero fulfil a social, cultural and political purpose as heroic individuals embody ideal qualities, serve as markers of distinguished conduct and create a model for others to strive for.

The Victorian period, as Craig Barclay has detailed, was an age of heroes. In the first half of the nineteenth century, statues and monuments celebrated Britain's leading men and the accomplishments of its soldiers, sailors and politicians, with the heroic achievements of the ordinary person going largely unrecorded in the public sphere.¹⁰ The main exception to this was the Royal Humane Society's (RHS) Silver Medal, which was created in 1775 and which was the first award to recognise life-saving heroism. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the recognition of heroism amongst the civilian population grew and acts of everyday heroism were recognised across multiple facets of Victorian life.¹¹ Rather than being framed as insignificant when compared with the heroism of the military or of society's explorers and conquerors, by the mid-nineteenth century the everyday heroism of working-class people was more widely and publicly commemorated.¹² Displays of heroic self-sacrifice celebrated Victorian ideals of hard work, kindliness, modesty, duty, selflessness and self-sacrifice, all of which were considered integral to British national identity.¹³ Everyday men, women and children who undertook life-saving acts of heroism were particularly celebrated. During this time, the mass media, as Simon Wendt has detailed, were the main ‘hero makers’, although charitable organisations, local communities and the government helped to spread news of heroic civilians as well as communicate the idea that the heroism of common people was as commendable as that of soldiers.¹⁴ Newspaper reports of heroic behaviour, the publication of books dedicated to everyday heroism including Laura Lane's Heroes of Every-Day Life (1888), the creation of the Sea Gallantry Medal in 1855 and the Albert Medal in 1866, as well as unofficial awards for life-saving such as the RHS Stanhope Medal in 1873 and Bronze Medal in 1837, life-saving medals issued by the Society for the Protection of Life from Fire and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and the creation of memorials including George Frederic Watts's Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice, which was unveiled in 1900, thrust Victorian everyday heroes into the public domain. During this period, the heroics of ordinary men and women which occurred in and around the houses, streets and workplaces where people lived were positioned as separate from the heroism of the military, as well as the heroics of inventors and explorers.

During the early twentieth century, the heroism of ordinary civilians continued to be recognised. The Albert Medal and RHS Stanhope, Silver and Bronze medals continued to be awarded in the years leading up to the First World War, and a further award, the Edward Medal, was instituted in 1907 to recognise the life-saving heroism of miners and quarrymen. These awards were issued in the lead-up to 1939, and although the number of medals awarded peaked during the First World War, and fell during the 1920s and 1930s, life-saving heroism on land and at sea continued to be publicly awarded.¹⁵ A notable example of this was the case of Richard Landry, a Cornish farmer, who was uniquely awarded the RHS Silver Medal on two separate occasions: in 1915, for rescuing a boy from a cliff, and again in 1917, when he rescued two people from the bottom of a cliff whose exit had been cut off by the incoming tide.¹⁶ Prior to the First World War, conflicts were largely fought overseas, although the strategic bombing of Britain between 1914 and 1918 changed the relationship between civilians and war, and thus also called into question the eligibility requirements for specific medals. The Zeppelin and Gotha raids on towns and cities across Britain marked the first time that the civilian population had been exposed to the dangers of conflict and, as civilians were placed in danger, increased opportunities for heroic conduct materialised. This raised debates in parliament on the eligibility of recipients of the Victoria Cross, particularly since the traditional bounds of the battlefield had extended into the civilian realm and air raids created conditions that could be interpreted as meeting the requirements of the Victoria Cross.¹⁷ Changes to the wording of the Victoria Cross in 1918 confirmed that it would remain an award for heroism in the presence of the enemy and, consequently, distinctions between the wartime heroism of the armed forces and the heroism of ordinary civilians remained prominent.¹⁸ It was concluded that the existing Albert Medal was more than sufficient to recognise civilian heroism in wartime.¹⁹ These parliamentary discussions marked a critical moment in the way that everyday heroism in wartime was conceptualised as, although the ordinary heroism of civilians was identified as notable, it remained markedly separate from the heroism of the forces.

During the Second World War, as battlefield lines extended to encompass the home front, the heroism of ordinary civilians was thrust into the public consciousness. As war altered everyday life, the familiar concept of everyday heroism was modified to account for the extreme pressures, demands of war and loss of life that was experienced by the civilian population. Life-saving continued to be widely celebrated, and as heroism was recognised both formally and informally, by official and non-official bodies, ordinary civilians remained in the public limelight. However, as other forms of conduct were also positioned as heroic, the population was reminded that workplace productivity was valued, as were life-risking heroics and loss of life from enemy action. Home front heroism, as this book defines it, centred upon celebrating an array of heroics and was a powerful construction that was used to motivate and inspire the population through documenting examples of exemplary behaviour. As this study investigates, whilst the wartime idea of home front heroism stemmed from traditional concepts of everyday heroism that had come before, the concept was remodelled so that it reflected the changing character of modern warfare. The value of this traditional concept centred around the fact that during the nineteenth century, everyday heroes were a stabilising force and were especially popular during times of crisis as they reflected a sense of community and hope.²⁰ In Victorian society, everyday heroes were produced by the middle classes as role models of respectable behaviour for working-class men and women. These role models, which served as a middle-class construction of a working-class ideal, addressed social anxieties of the day by reflecting an image of the working classes as peaceful and respectable men and women.²¹ During the Second World War, this continued as heroic civilians were used to reflect solidarity and provide inspiration and guidance although this book argues that, in wartime, the heroism of ordinary people was put to work to a greater extent than ever before. Home front heroes were ordinary individuals living in extraordinary times, and the heroism that was manufactured during wartime not only reflected the adversity of the period but was a targeted construction, created by the elite for ordinary people, which reflected the humble, modest and unassuming nature of civilian heroism.

Aims

The primary aim of this study is to explore how home front heroism was constructed, represented and communicated between 1939 and 1945. It will consider how far ideals of heroism evolved and broadened during the conflict to account for civilian heroics, how far war enabled civilians to engage with established and traditional ideals of heroism, and to what extent a distinct strand of heroism emerged which was specific to the home front. In addition, this book evaluates how the diversity of Britain's home front army, which consisted of men and women of varying ages, classes, races and ethnicities, shaped the way that behaviour and actions were conceptualised by the State and the British people. In the following section, these central aims are divided into separate strands, which will allow this study to delve deeper into the origin, production and manufacture of home front heroism.

In a 2007 article, Max Jones asked, ‘What should historians do with heroes?’ The points raised by Jones in this article are especially relevant to this study and, in many ways, underpin the aims of the discussion. Specifically, Jones questioned the value of examining heroes and asked what significance such studies give historians, as well as what representations of heroes can reveal about the nature of the heroic and the role of fabrication when constructing heroic reputations.²² In 2014, in conversation with Jones's article, John Price asked, ‘What should historians do with everyday heroes?’ ²³ Reframing the question in this way, as Price detailed, would allow historians to move away from the study of military and imperial heroes and focus on what the study of everyday heroism can tell us about the types of ordinary people that society raised up as heroic. Building on these questions even further, this study asks, ‘What should historians do with the everyday heroes of conflict?’ This question encourages us to evaluate the value of ordinary heroes during periods of adversity, how they are used, their place in society, and the continuities and changes that are apparent between the everyday heroes of peace and war. Through examining a range of primary sources and drawing on an array of secondary literature, this discussion explores how the ordinary heroism of civilians was communicated, constructed and represented by the Crown, state officials, the press and media and by the people themselves. As this book reveals, when examining heroism it is vital to explore how heroism was represented and conceptualised on a national, local and, where sources allow, personal level, as heroism was manufactured not only through the way that heroics were fashioned in the public domain but also in the way that the public consumed and reproduced heroic representations.

²⁴

In order to explore how ideals of home front heroism were represented, particular attention will be placed on examining the varying virtues of heroism. This study identifies a constellation of qualities associated with heroism, principally courage, bravery, compassion, caregiving, duty, expertise, defiance, endurance, fortitude, productivity, stoicism, self-sacrifice and death. Importantly, this book considers how conflict intensified the way that everyday heroism was defined and practised. Through exploring how home front heroism existed as different virtues, some of which were intertwined, some of which ran parallel to each other and some of which were considered superior, the complexity of civilian heroism will be analysed, as some virtues, such as dying for a cause, were presented as the ultimate act of sacrifice.

The virtues of home front heroism can be imagined through a hierarchy of heroism, with life-saving and/or life-risking self-sacrifice at the pinnacle and quiet endurance and fortitude at the base. This hierarchy of heroism formed an integral aspect of how different qualities were conceptualised in wartime and was reshuffled according to gender, age, occupation and perceived public value. For example, the unexpected strength of an elderly resident was portrayed as especially remarkable when compared with the almost superhuman strength of a member of the rescue services, whose job it was to use physical strength to rescue people. Similarly, the commitment of someone who willingly placed their life in danger without any obligation to do so was often presented as different to the unwavering duty displayed by someone whose job it was to undertake a particular task. Equally, the courage of a girl who actively faced danger was often elevated in a different way to that of an adult male. As this study will show, this hierarchy was fluid and was adapted depending on circumstance, context and who was being considered heroic. What is notable when evaluating heroic representations is that heroism was not necessarily depicted as more or less impressive than that of someone else but was rather framed as noteworthy when heroic behaviour challenged or reinforced fundamental assumptions about gender, occupation or age. Moreover, through exploring the varying strands of heroism, this study contributes to discussions of active and passive heroism.²⁵ Indeed, it will reveal how, on the home front, both the heroics of action and the heroics of passive endurance were celebrated. Arguably, the heroics of action centred around specific individuals, such as members of the fire service who were placed at the top of the hierarchy, whereas the heroics of passive endurance were often constructed as an aspect of collective endeavour, which could be shown through displays of quiet determination or emotional restraint despite injury. In contrast to the century before, which predominantly celebrated the deeds of select individuals, this study argues that both collective and individual heroism were framed as valued components of home front heroism. Through the way that attention was placed on individual cases of notable conduct alongside examples where civilians had responded heroically as a collective, heroism was a carefully produced construction that extended as widely as possible into all aspects of wartime life, whether it was bombardment, manufacture or farming. Importantly, this study will also explore how civilians were positioned as heroic in both life and death, and examine how circumstances, such as being killed by enemy action whilst saving someone else's life or whilst risking personal safety to complete a task, elevated the way that heroic identities were framed.

A major aim of this book is to investigate how far ideals of home front heroism remained centred upon constructions of gender. When examining the Second World War, as Sonya Rose notes, gender is a critical tool of analysis as portrayals of the home front and the heroism of ordinary people were closely intertwined with complex issues of gender.²⁶ Wartime mobilisation altered the roles of men and women on the home front, and as such civilians were able to challenge expectations of gender through new wartime roles and responsibilities. As labour demands brought women out of domestic spaces and into new spheres, gender roles were blurred and as a result behaviour was constructed both alongside and in opposition to gender ideals. Whilst some occupations such as positions in Civil Defence offered the means for both men and women to be raised to a heroic status, other occupations restricted opportunities for women to display, or be recognised for, traditionally accepted strands of heroism. For instance, some jobs, such as firefighting, remained gendered, with few women being given awards for heroism in the fire service. Therefore, this study considers how heroism was constructed as an expected or extraordinary act in association with gender and occupation. For example, representations of heroic women on the home front contrasted their role as civilian combatants with their role as wives, mothers and daughters. As this study will show, depending on an individual's gender, either the hierarchy of heroism was reshuffled or, in the case of women and children, the pinnacle was often made unattainable. This book will reveal the complexity of home front heroism and show that as women moved outside of domestic spaces, they were able to behave in ways that were not considered traditionally feminine. This leads to one of the central issues surrounding women's heroism; whether war caused heroic ideals to destabilise or whether traditional gender ideals reinforced notions of heroism. Through examining the relationship between civilians, spaces of conflict and behavioural expectations, this study will analyse to what extent civilian heroism was shaped by notions of gendered behaviour.

Exploring how heroism was both socially and spatially constructed will remain a central aim throughout this book. In wartime the creation of heroism was a complex interaction between people and places as understandings of heroic behaviour were forged through the way that an individual was perceived to interact with an environment, landscape or space. Therefore, this study examines how occupation, gender, age, class and race informed how behaviours were conceptualised in relation with landscape and space, but also how these traits impacted upon the accessibility and inclusivity of heroic constructions. It examines how unforeseen engagement with dangerous spaces prompted unexpected heroics; for instance, as peacetime spaces on the home front were transformed by war, men, women and children faced situations which tested the parameters of gendered conduct. Analysing the spatial dimensions of wartime heroism reveals that where actions were performed, when and by whom were central to the way that they were aligned with heroic ideals.

For heroism to be acknowledged and recognised, public spaces played a particularly important role. In wartime, public spaces such as streets and workplaces were sites where individuals came together and interacted; as such, they provided ideal environments for onlookers to observe heroic acts. In contrast, private spaces of the home were, by their very nature, private; therefore, we could speculate that private spaces were not conducive to the recognition of heroism. However, under bombardment, war altered the borderlines of public and private space. Bombs stripped away the privacy of homes and exposed the rooms within, and the remains of bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens became extensions of the wider cityscape. The contents of houses, which were strewn across streets, reducing material possessions to rubble and wreckage, particularly highlighted the vulnerability of the civilian population. As homes were blown apart, they increasingly became sites of heroism as the destructive nature of modern warfare brought the dangers of the front line into the domestic realm and presented opportunities for courageous conduct. Homeowners, passers-by and the Civil Defence services interacted with previously private spaces in new ways as they fought fires and protected and safeguarded those around them from the dangers of bombardment. Spaces in the community including graveyards, churches, parks and streets were also used as sites where civilians could come together to bury, remember and