Short but amazing! Who knew?!
War is hell, but it was good for those able to live out their fantasies
David Smith
Sunday March 20, 2005
The Observer
For some, the Second World War provided formerly unimaginable opportunities on the Home Front. Under cover of darkness during a blackout, some men wandered the streets at night dressed in women's clothes, living out their secret fantasies or posing as prostitutes to rob unsuspecting clients.
One 39-year-old man from the Manchester area was caught in the act and sentenced to 18 months in prison in 1942. A police photograph of the cross-dresser, never before published, will this week go on display in an exhibition, 'The North at War', at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester.
Jim Forrester, Director of IWM North, said: 'This exhibition highlights the fact that the wartime blackout was dangerous in different ways - from the risk of crime to the greatly increased danger of traffic accidents. As with any unusual situation when deception is made easier, people used the blackout imaginatively for their own purposes. If someone was seeking to commit a crime or live out a fantasy, it was a good opportunity.
'The cross-dressed man impersonating a prostitute and featured in "The North at War" is just one particular manifestation of this, and it's worth remembering too that for the duration of the blackout there were also vast amounts of kindness shown and a real sense of community between people living in hardship.'
'The North at War' is the first major exhibition to examine the impact of both world wars on the North of England. It uses film, photography, art and sound and features a five-metre-long barrage balloon that was commissioned for the exhibition using original 1940s plans.
guardian.co.uk |
