Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

“Playing the daft lassie with them”: Gender, captivity and the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War

Pattinson, Juliette S (2006) “Playing the daft lassie with them”: Gender, captivity and the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. European Review of History, 13 (2). pp. 271-292. ISSN 1350-7486. E-ISSN 1469-8293. (doi:10.1080/13507480600785955) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:54012)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13507480600785955

Abstract

This article examines the gender-specific experiences of female prisoners, using SOE agents arrested by the Nazis during the Second World War as a case study, in order to contribute an understanding of the complex interaction of the identities of ‘woman’, ‘soldier’ and ‘prisoner’. Using oral history, as well as information gleaned from auto/biographies and SOE reports, it is argued that many female captives resorted to gender stereotypes by ‘playing the daft lassie’, that they experienced punishment with distinct sexist and sexual overtones and that gender was significant in their accounts of incarceration within concentration camps. Examining the gendered experiences of captivity casts light on the male chauvinistic nature of the Nazi regime, illuminating the SS and Gestapo response to being confronted with women who overstepped traditional gender boundaries by undertaking paramilitary roles.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1080/13507480600785955
Subjects: D History General and Old World
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Depositing User: M.R.L. Hurst
Date Deposited: 04 Feb 2016 15:58 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:22 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/54012 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Pattinson, Juliette S.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6726-4727
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.