new exhibition fashion on the ration · campaign. the emphasis was on patching, improvising and...

Despatches£4 Free to Friends of IWM

FASHION ON THE RATION:

New exhibition

1940s Street Style

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Fashion on the Rationby Julie Summers,published inassociation with IWM,is available from IWM Shops, £16.99. Friends receive a 10% discount.www.iwmshop.org.uk

Author Julie Summerswrites about the background to her book and IWM London’s exhibition

When I was asked to write an article forDespatches, I thought it might beinteresting to take the title of this bookand exhibition very literally and talk about‘fashion’ and ‘ration’. Fashion, in thisinstance, is represented by the outerwear;and ration by the government’slimitations on all clothing, once Utility wasintroduced in 1942, but particularlyunderwear.

As I began working through the fashionmagazines of the 1940s, it becameevident that some editors regarded thewar years as stagnant for clothing design.‘Fashion… is now out of fashion’ wrote theeditor of Harper’s Bazaar in the summer of1942, and the following year the focus forwomen’s magazines was thegovernment’s ‘Make Do and Mend’campaign. The emphasis was on patching,improvising and making clothes last.Coats could be altered to become dressesand pyjama tops to become blazers.

In April 1943, Vogueadvised its readersto purchase a grey flannel suit which couldbe dressed with scarves and differentblouses to make nine different outfits: ‘ofcourse, for it’s Utility, if not austerity, all theway now’, the editor rued. It was inventive,but not necessarily stylish. For womenwho were tired after four years of war, itmust have at times been depressing notto have been able to refresh theirwardrobes as they would have wished.

Counting precious clothing couponsand mending clothes became a way of life.Muriel Redman, who worked for the BBC’s

Paris on the world stage, as France wasunder occupation. Held in 1941 andshowcasing Britain’s finest couturiers, itwas an outstanding success.

It is recorded in theHistory of CivilIndustry and Trade by Hargreaves andGowing that Britain’s fashion exportsincreased well over five-fold during theSecond World War, from £98,000 in 1938to £507,000 in 1946, which latter amountis equivalent to approximately £20 millionin 2015. The designers came together atthe suggestion of Harry Yoxall, themanaging director of Condé Nast and theoriginal founder of British Vogue(established in London in 1916), to formthe Incorporated Society of LondonFashion Designers (IncSoc). IncSoc’s aimwas to support and promote British fashionabroad and was considered a success bythe fashion press, but was neverthelessunpopular because the clothes were notavailable to the general public.

The introduction of clothes rationing inJune 1941 was followed in 1942 by Utilityand then austerity restrictions on design,which led the fashion editor of Vogue toremark in the November 1944 issue: ‘Onehas only to see a collection designed forexport, and the same collection toneddown to comply with austerity at home, torealise how much fashion value has beenlost in the process.’

Two years earlier, members of IncSocwere engaged by the Board of Trade todesign clothes for the Utility programmethat was rolled out over that year (and ➜IW

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FASHION ON THE RATION1940s Street Style

The Listenermagazine and who kept adiary throughout the war, wrote of herstockings on 27 November 1942: ‘Many ofthem I would have thrown away threeyears ago, but today their price is aboverubies’.

But was fashion really ‘out of fashion’? I was not so sure, and it was with a sense ofexcitement that I discovered the oppositeto be true, even if the British public couldnot benefit from it in the way that theymight have expected. Given that one’simpression of the government during thewar is to some extent of a hugebureaucratic machine that hadunprecedented control over people’s lives,two somewhat surprising things happenedmid-way through the conflict.

The first was that London’s top designers,which by the end of 1940 included some ofthose who had been working in Paris in the1930s, were invited to design a collectionfor a fashion show in South America. Thereasons for this were first to bring in much-needed foreign currency, but secondly toshowcase British fashion in the absence of

Four youngladies enjoy astroll in thesunshine along ashopping streetin the West Endof Londonduring 1941.

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only ended in 1952). In what can onlybe described as a highly imaginativemove, designers Edward Molyneux (whohad escaped from France in 1940), HardyAmies, Norman Hartnell, Bianca Moscaand others were each asked to create fourgarments to be unveiled in the autumn of1942.

These outfits would have to conform tothe strict limitations set by the Board ofTrade for the length of skirts, the numberof pleats and buttons, the amount ofmaterial for men’s shirts and socks, andeven down to the detail of turn-ups. Thebanning of the latter was exceptionallyunpopular and Hugh Dalton, president ofthe Board of Trade, found himselfdefending trousers without turn-ups bothin parliament and in the press: Permanent turn-ups on trousers have

been prohibited since May 1942. This wasdone to save an entirely justifiable wasteof cloth. In making this and other clothingregulations I was advised by the trade. Theeconomy of materials due to theprohibition of turn-ups runs into themillions of square feet per year. Even if thesaving were less than it is, it would still beour duty to make it.

The fashion editors were pleased withthe Utility range designed by London’sfinest couturiers. The Daily Mail cheered:‘Suburban wives and factory girls will soonbe able to wear clothes designed andstyled by the Queen’s dressmaker.’ TheNews Chronicle was equally impressed:‘Before long the society woman who pays30 guineas for a frock will share her dressdesigner with the factory girl who pays 30 shillings.’ Once the general public had

got used to the idea of Utility clothing, theytoo were generally happy with it.

While the outerwear available under theUtility scheme was by and largeacceptable, undergarments and stockingswere a problem. In fact, the silk stocking,banned from sale to the public in October1940, became one of the most missedarticles of women’s dress during the war.The rayon stockings which replaced themwere never produced in sufficientnumbers and the lisle Utility stockingswere hardly a worthy replacement. Thesewere loathed with a vengeance. RoseCottrell, a young woman working inLondon, wrote to her sister in Switzerlandin December 1941: The papers warned us that they would

wrinkle round the instep, would not befashioned and what not else. I saw some ofthem on a model in Medhursts and myword they are awful. If they can’t look niceon a stocking model in a shop window, youcan bet they don’t stand much chance on aleg.

Lisle stockings were the bugbear ofwomen all over Britain. They sagged at theankle and lost their shape at the knee. FloHyatt, another correspondent whoseletters to her aunt are stored in IWM’sDocuments Section, wrote in September1943: ‘Utility stockings make you shudder.They bag everywhere they shouldn’t andthe heels have a habit of showing a linewhere the lisle joins the rayon of a lightershade which gives a very ugly effect.’

The influx of American servicemenbringing gifts of nylons later in the warhelped some way in assuaging the thirstfor silken elegance, but they never met theneeds of every woman who requiredthem. The number of tales of woerecorded in diaries, letters and memoirsattest to this. It is hard to imagine fromtoday’s perspective what an enormousimpact the lack of stockings had onwomen at almost every level of society. Togo without, initially at least, was deemedshocking in the same way as trousers forwomen were considered eccentric.

However, the fashion editors soonrealised that the shortages meant that acreative solution would have to be found.Voguemagazine, in an article entitled‘Sock Shock!’ advised women it wasacceptable to go bare-legged and wearankle socks with flat shoes. Some womenbought creams advertised in the women’spress. One, manufactured by Cyclax and

advertised in Vogue in July 1940, madeextravagant claims to be ‘so incredibly realin its likeness to the sheerest, mostluxurious stockings that only touch canreveal the illusion!’ Others opted forhome-made solutions such as tea or gravyto stain their legs.

Not everyone was prepared to be broad-minded about bare legs. The chancellor ofLeeds University told the tradepublication The Drapers’ Record in June1941: ‘There is a strong feeling thatwomen students should not be permittedto attend the university withoutstockings’. A year later, Hugh Dalton wasin more conciliatory mood. He hadreceived a letter from the Archbishop ofCanterbury, William Temple, complainingthat there had been a two-thirdsreduction in the amount of materialsupplied to the church furnishing houses.Dalton agreed to look into the problem ifthe archbishop in turn would agree toannounce that women could go to church‘without impropriety, hatless andstockingless’.

This was a major concession, and to getsome idea of how sensitive a question itwas, a civil servant called Metford Watkinswas named in the Daily Herald as ‘The ManWho Upset Whitehall’ because he advisedgovernment departments in the autumnof 1941 that they should allow theirwomen staff to wear slacks ‘so that theycould economise on stockings’.

That the government should take suchan interest in what people wore undernext to their skin is extraordinary. But thefact is that there were civil servants taskedwith specifying weights andmeasurements to the most precisedegree. William Buller Fagg was a civilservant at the Board of Trade withresponsibility for the distribution of 200million clothing coupons in 1941. Hisremarkable archive and personalcorrespondence, which is now in the careof IWM’s Documents Section, shows thehuman face of the monumentalbureaucracy around clothes rationing andunderwear in particular.

One of his files deals with the question ofcorsets. These were a constant source ofshame and concern for the Board of Trade.Only 9 to 10 million were manufacturedper year during the war, while by theboard’s own figures at least 18 millionwomen in the country wore corsets. It wasnot, as one might imagine, just women of

middle years who relied on corsets tokeep their figures in shape. The War Officeannounced in 1940 that women who hadenrolled in the Auxiliary Territorial Service(ATS) ‘must be corseted and corsetedcorrectly’. This applied to women in theWomen’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), theAuxiliary Fire Service (AFS) and theWomen’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS,known popularly as Wrens) as well.

Frederick R Burley was asked to design acorset that would, as the Picture Postreported in March 1940, ‘preserve thefeminine line, and at the same time bepractical under a uniform’. The new‘Berlei’ design dispensed with metal andwas made of elastic, firm lace, net, satinand cotton batiste to give directionalcontrol. This was an ideal undergarmentfor those young women whose uniformshad skirts.

It also had the added benefit of a pocketwhere loose change for a bus fare or ahandkerchief could be kept. Women inthe services were not allowed to carryhandbags, nor were they allowed to wearjewellery or accessories to enhance theiruniforms. It was not considered safe tocarry loose change in jacket pockets asthey could be easily picked, especially in the blackout, so the pockets were popularas they were hard to reach without thewearer noticing.

The main issue for the manufacturers ofcorsets was that they required a skilledworkforce, many of whom had switchedto war production in areas such asparachute manufacture. Furthermore,three of the constituent materials forcorsets – rubber, steel and cotton –wererendered rare by the exigencies of war.The issue of corsets was not resolved untilalmost the end of the war and was almostas knotty a problem for women asstockings.

Underwear was regulated and exactproportions of leg width, gusset anddesign were carefully specified, whetherfor French knickers or close-fitting briefs,bras or corsets. By 1942, women’sunderwear producers were permitted towork on only six templates for knickersevery year, and although colour was notrestricted, economies of scale meantthere was little choice other than peach,cream, white or green for briefs anduniform shades such as khaki, blue or greyfor over-knickers made of wool or flannel.These last were hated by the young

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Although certain designdetails were forbidden asthey were a waste ofvaluable raw materials,wartime austerityfashions were not drab, as this purple, green andmauve dress (whichrequired seven clothingcoupons), designed byNorman Hartnell,testifies. The model isstanding on a windyrooftop in Bloomsbury,London. Senate House,the headquarters of theMinistry of Information, isclearly visible behind her.

An ARP ambulancevolunteer appliesher lipstick betweenemergency calls.

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‘It is hard to imagine fromtoday’s perspective whatan enormous impact thelack of stockings had onwomen at almost everylevel of society. To gowithout, initially at least,was deemed shocking inthe same way as trousersfor women wereconsidered eccentric.’


new First World War Galleries andrejuvenated atrium spaces. The intent forFashion on the Ration’s exhibition spaceand graphic design was to create anexperience that rudders the narrative andobjects in a bright and energetic approach.

The curatorial team delved throughIWM’s incredible collections, mostespecially our vast store of uniform andcivilian clothing. Only a small portion is ondisplay across our branches at any onetime, so this was an excellent opportunityto surprise our visitors with the richnessof what we have. The collectioncontinues to evolve and IWM will displaythe highlights of a notable donation ofwartime civilian clothing from thecollectors Frederic and Jean Sharf, neverbefore seen on public display.

The exhibition makes the most of ourdocuments, photographs, oral historyand film archives, together with an arrayof library-held fashion magazines as wellas our art section’s paintings and posters.Audiovisual elements provide a strikingvisual dimension to the story of wartimeclothing.Fashion on the Rationalso draws upon

several loan items from institutions likethe V&A, with its prestigious collection oftextiles, to private lenders with deeplypersonal stories revealed throughclothing or accessories. Our Director-General Diane Lees has also passed on afamily treasure in the form of a braceletmade in the spirit of ‘Make Do and Mend’.

It was owned by her great aunt, MarjorieGilman, who worked in an aircraft factory.The factory’s female workers sought outscraps of plastic to turn into accessories.With a dash of panache, Marjorie’shusband Jack later replaced the rivetdetailing with glass stones and she worethe bracelet into the 1960s.

The exhibition follows the developmentof fashion from the war’s beginningthrough to its end, split into six main areas.The first of these, IntoUniform, shows howBritain’s visual landscape immediatelychanged as people took on roles withinthe military, auxiliary and civilian voluntaryservices. New roles meant the issue ofuniforms to signify responsibility, from fullregalia to simple armbands.

The style of military dress was ofinterest to the fashion conscious. Of thewomen’s services, the Women’s RoyalNaval Service uniform was the mostadmired and this no doubt helpedrecruitment. Petty jealousies erupted,with a soldier’s practical but dowdyuniform comparing unfavourably to theRAF uniform with its dash of style. Airmenwere dismissively known as the‘Brylcreem boys’, thanks to their lavishuse of the hair product.

For those not in uniform, the war stillchanged how they dressed at work and athome. Functional Fashion reveals thatpracticality was essential for wartimeclothing, but also how it was still possibleto retain an air of elegance. A range of

Second World War clothing provides anextraordinary insight into everyday lifeand the struggles of a nation throughoutthis turbulent time for the British

population. This is the focus of IWMLondon’s headline exhibition

for the spring and summer,Fashion on the Ration: 1940sStreet Style. Through the

prism of clothing, theexhibition gives a fresh take on

what life was like for those atwork or at home during the war,

or for those in the military orcivilian voluntary services.

Fashion on the Rationexploresintensely personal of aspects ofwartime life: what did peoplewear and how did it shape theirsense of identity? How wasfashion constrained by war?How did men, women andchildren cope with thedemands and deprivations ofshortages and austerity? It maycome as a surprise to see how

fashion survived and even flourishedin wartime, as British peopledemonstrated remarkable ingenuity inrenovating, recycling and creating theirown clothes. Creativity and coping inadversity are integral to Fashion on theRation’s narrative.

Work began behind the scenes in late2013 and continued at pace throughout2014 as IWM London reopened with our

Creativity andcoping in the faceof adversity

Laura Cloutingand Amanda Mason, historians at IWM London,reveal how this extraordinary exhibition was created

women in the forces, many of whomadmitted only wearing ‘passion-killers’ forkit muster inspections or their annualmedical check.

Very occasionally a woman was luckyenough to acquire a piece of celanese or,even better, real silk. One such young ladywas Miss Patricia, later Countess,Mountbatten. While serving as a nineteen-year-old Wren in 1943 she was given (by aboyfriend in the RAF) one of the silk mapsissued in case of being shot down overEurope. She had the map made up into abra and pants set, with the Gulf of Veneziaon the front of the beautifully hand-stitched cami-knickers. As there was noelastic available, both garments had smallcream buttons and a tiny 22-inch waistsize.

Eileen Gurney made bras for herneighbour and decorated her ownunderwear with bits of leftover lace tomake them less Utility. Eileen’s letters toher husband John form an importantcollection in the Department ofDocuments and give a picture of anindustrious and inventive woman typicalof many of the era. She wrote on the daythat clothes rationing was announced inJune 1941: I’ve got heaps of materials and all sorts of

old things I can renovate. Although I can’tbe as well dressed as a girl who spendslots of money on her clothes, I’msecond to none when it comes todressing for nothing, and lookingwell turned out in renovation,wangles and oddmentspinched from your old suits.

This spirit of inventivenessand determination not to bedefeated by the limitations ofclothes rationing was the clearmessage that came through all thediaries, letters and memoirs I read forFashion on the Ration. I came to theconclusion that if fashion on the homefront stagnated during the war, creativitydid not; and creativity is the spirit offashion.

I enjoyed researching and writing thisbook. I had very generous help from IWMand also from the donors of importantcollections to the archives. Withoutthese vitally important diaries,letters and documents, thesocial history of the SecondWorld War would be verymuch the poorer.

Switch Off ThatLight. A home front-themed Jacqmarscarf, featuring justsome of the manymessages andinstructions aimedat the British publicduring the SecondWorld War.

Below: Thisphotograph, takenin 1943, shows amodel wearing ablack woollen Utilitydress made byAtrima. Purchasingthis dress required11 clothingcoupons. IW

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Making your own clotheswas usually cheaper andneeded fewer couponsthan buying ready-madegarments. This two-piece suit in a fabricprinted with images ofknitting needles andwool was made by askilled home sewer.

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could now only buy the equivalent ofaround one new outfit a year. Theallocation reduced as the war went on.Rationing forced people to be painfullymathematical in working out how tospend their clothing coupons – and tofind shrewd ways to avoid doing so.

The ‘Make Do and Mend’ campaignencouraged people to make theirexisting supplies of clothes last longer.Imaginative use of materials, as well asrecycling and renovating old clothes,meant people could save their preciousclothing coupons. Old blankets andunrationed blackout curtains weretransformed into dresses. Suits leftbehind by serving soldiers became theirwives’ skirts and jackets.

When people did go to the shops to buynew clothes, from 1942 they werepresented with a range of efficientlyproduced, quality- and price-controlledclothing. The exhibition section devotedtoUtility Fashions is dominated by adramatic open-plinth display of a colourfularray of this attire. The aim of the Utilityscheme was to improve the efficiency ofclothing production, and to make price-regulated clothing from a range of strictly-specified fabrics affordable for all.

There were fears over the inelegant-sounding Utility. But leading designerslike Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnellwere recruited to design prototyperanges. Celebrity endorsement was lentby the likes of Deborah Kerr to prove howstylish and varied these clothes could be.Its key selling point, however, was itsdurability and robustness at a time whenclothes had to last.

Arguably, the clean, simple chic of1940s clothing – the popularity of whichendures today – owed its existence toscarcity of supplies. Designers had towork within austerity regulations thatrestricted the amount of fabric that couldbe used in any garment. This limited theuse of pleats, pockets, trimmings andtrouser turn-ups. Men particularlysuffered as a result of scarce supplies of

waists and long, full skirts, the style was atodds with continued austerity and itimmediately divided opinion. Buteventually the New Look transcendedthe British high street as civilians, irritatedand exhausted by austerity, soughtescape from fashion on the ration.

The exhibition ends on a note ofreflection. Experts on fashion and thehistory of dress give their thoughts onthe legacy of 1940s fashion in a large-scale audiovisual film. The designerWayne Hemingway and the BBC’s GreatBritish Sewing Bee judge Patrick Grantare just some of the talking heads whodiscuss the legacies, similarities – andsome of the stark differences – betweenfashion then and now. This feature marksthe end of an exhibition that shows howwartime clothing can tell us so muchabout what it was like to live through oneof the most challenging and trying timesin British history.

Fashion on the Ration: 1940s Street Style isat IWM London until 31 August 2015, opendaily (except 25, 26 December) 10am to6pm, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ.

rubber, with many bemoaning the 1943ban of elastic in all garments exceptwomen’s corsets and knickers.

In wartime Britain it becameunfashionable to be seen wearingclothes that were obviously showy. Yetthere was also real concern that a lack ofinterest in personal appearance could bea sign of low morale. The exhibition areaBeauty as Dutyexplores the decision tocontinue with the manufacture ofcosmetics, though in much-reducedquantities. With a made-up face and asmart hair style, a woman could still feelwell-dressed and stylish, even if herclothes were last season’s, her stockingsdarned and accessories home-made.People found other ways to show supportfor the war effort through personal styleby wearing fabrics and scarves featuringpatriotic slogans and motifs.

IWM London marks the seventiethanniversary of the end of the SecondWorld War in 1945 with the Fashion onthe Rationexhibition. This significantmilestone reminds us of a profoundmoment of transition between livingunder the shadow of war and thepromise of peacetime life ahead, whichis explored in the final area, Peace and a‘New Look’?

By 1945, British people had grown tiredof rationing and ‘Make Do and Mend’.Advertisements promised new styles, butoften shops remained bare. Productionof clothes and other civilian goods didincrease, but most of what was made wasexported. Clothes rationing – albeit inreduced form – continued until 1949.The best-dressed were those leaving themilitary services. Demobilised men wereissued with a full set of clothes – the‘demob suit’. Reactions varied. Althoughthere was some degree of choice, andquality could be very good, many simplyfelt that they had swapped one uniformfor another.

In 1947, the fashion world was shakenby the launch in Paris of Christian Dior’s‘New Look’. Epitomised by tiny corseted

fashionable luminous accessories werequickly produced so that people could beseen and safe in the blackout, which hadcaused a sharp rise in collisions. Handbagswith compartments to carry a respiratorwere produced as a stylish solution to thegrave threat of gas warfare.

Deadly aerial bombing raids claimedthe lives of 43,000 people during the Blitzof 1940 and 1941 alone, injuring manymore. Late night dashes to cold gardenair raid shelters could be made morecomfortable in an all-in-one garmentcalled a ‘siren suit’. At home or inindustrial workplaces, overalls andhousecoats were worn to protect clothesthat people wanted to keep in goodcondition. The trend for functionalfashion led to increasing numbers ofwomen wearing trousers and turbans.

Fashion clearly responded to the war’sexplicit dangers. But clothing, andpeoples’ entire attitudes towards dress,changed on a sweeping level as the warinvaded aspects of everyday life. Theexhibition section Rationing and Make Doand Mend explores how governmentintervention became far-reaching, inorder to commandeer resources for thewar effort and to protect the supply ofcivilian essentials. This included theclothing people wore.

Fabric was appropriated for the fighting.Its many uses included serge foruniforms and ubiquitous cotton for itemsas varied as tarpaulins and tyres. Thegovernment wanted to reduce theproduction of civilian clothes tosafeguard raw materials, and to releaseworkers and factory space for armamentsor aircraft production. Winston Churchillwas initially hostile to the idea of clothesrationing, imagining people dressed in‘rags and tatters’, but the schemecommenced on 1 June 1941.

New clothes now had to be bought withcoupons as well as money. Garments andfootwear were allocated a points valueset by how much material and labourwent into their manufacture. Every adult

Above: The Women’sRoyal Naval Serviceofficer’s uniform was asource of envy andconsidered moreattractive than thoseof the other serviceslike the AuxiliaryTerritorial Service,which was branded‘hideous’ by thenovelist BarbaraCartland.

Below: Men releasedfrom militaryservice wereentitled to a new setof coupon-freeclothes as part ofthe demobilisationprocess. This is atypical example of aman’s ‘demob suit’.

A woman modelsa Utility outfit inthis publicityphotograph.

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‘This exhibition shows how wartime clothing can tell us so much aboutwhat it was like to livethrough one of the mostchallenging and tryingtimes in British history.’

Winter 2014 Despatches ■ 3

The end of 2014 marks the withdrawal ofBritish and international combat troopsfrom Afghanistan after thirteen years ofwar. While this is a significant step, it doesnot mean a neat conclusion to theconflict or the end of British andinternational involvement in the country.

Instead it represents a transition, asAfghanistan takes more control of its ownaffairs. The future of the country isdelicately poised, with uncertainty overAfghanistan’s continued stability. Thelatest War Story display – the third in aseries exploring British experiences inAfghanistan and the nature of theconflict – provides a snapshot of

Afghanistan at this transitional point.The war in Afghanistan began in 2001,

following the 11 September attacks onthe USA carried out by al-Qaeda terrorists.The initial aims were to target al-Qaedaand remove the extreme Islamist Talibanregime in Afghanistan that harbouredthem. Both of these were achieved in arapid military campaign by coalitiontroops, predominantly from the USA andBritain. However, expanded NATO (NorthAtlantic Treaty Organisation) involvementin the conflict meant a longer-termcommitment to Afghanistan and soonafter the regime was removed, Talibaninsurgents began to regenerate.

From 2006 to 2012, the war increased inviolence. For British troops stationed inHelmand Province in the south of thecountry, many of the places they served –Sangin, Musa Qala, Now Zad, Nad Ali,Lashkar Gah – became bywords forintense fighting. For British troops on theground, this often involved patrollingareas threatened by Taliban fighters whocould seemingly melt in and out of theirsurroundings, as well as encountering thehidden dangers of improvised explosivedevices (IEDs). Since the beginning of theconflict over 450 British service personnelhave died in Afghanistan, the majoritykilled during this intense period. ➜

Left: View of theoutskirts of Kabul,the capital city ofAfghanistan, 2014.

Below: A Britishmentor teachestroops of the AfghanNational Army (ANA)how to use mortarsat Camp Shorabak,Helmand, 2013.

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Afghanistan: a country in transitionIWM Historian Matt Brosnan gives an overview of WarStory: Afghanistan 2014, a new exhibition at IWM London,with pictures by IWM Photographer Richard Ash.

Summer 2012 Despatches ■ 5

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612‘This war, as far as I can see, is something

specifically designed to show up myinadequacy in every possible capacity. It’sdoubtful if I’d be much good atcamouflage – in any case my repeatedrequests to join have been met with, “You’llbe called if you’re wanted.” What else can Ido?’Cecil Beaton, September 1939

Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) was a Britishdesigner, writer, cartoonist, diarist andsocialite who loved theatre in all its forms.However, he is best remembered as theleading British portrait and fashionphotographer of his day. Beaton’sglamorous, elaborately stagedphotographs of royalty and twentiethcentury celebrities reflected his theatricaltastes and were published in magazines,newspapers and books throughout theworld. The fact that he was one of Britain’shardest working war photographers duringthe Second World War is less well known. Asan official photographer for the BritishMinistry of Information, Beaton travelled farand wide to document the impact of war onpeople and places in his own unique style.In later life, Beaton came to regard his warphotographs as his single most importantbody of photographic work.

The eldest child of a prosperous timbermerchant, Cecil Beaton had a comfortablechildhood which was firmly rooted in theEdwardian era. Socially and professionallyambitious, his abilities as a photographer,artist, designer and writer were evidentfrom an early age. Beaton himselfattributed the origins of his interest inphotography and the theatre to a

Sir Cecil Beaton is best remembered as a portrait and fashion photographer, but during the Second World War he was one of Britain’s hardest working war photographers. Hilary Roberts previews a new exhibition at IWM London which looks at the work he produced as an official photographer for the Ministry of Information.

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CECILBEATON

A MaintenanceWren models thenew WRNS officialissue boiler suitand turban,Portsmouth, 1942.

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Cadets of theChinese NationalRevolutionary Armyparade at the CentralMilitary Academy,Chengtu, Szechuan,China, 1944.


Curator Hilary Robertson a new exhibition at IWMLondon showcasing thework of photographersMike Moore and Lee Craker.

Perspectives on Iraq 1991 – 2011

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The dome of Shahid Mosquephotographedagainst a backdropof oil fires. The fireswere lit by Iraqis inan attempt toconfuse Coalitionbombers. Baghdad,March 2003. Photo:Mike Moore.


Save the Wheatand Help theFleet, Hazell,Watson andViney Ltd, litho,London, 1917.German U-boatsthreatened tostarve Britain offood andsupplies.

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First World War‘On War Service’badge issued bythe Ministry ofMunitions.

Commemorating the First World War

IWM London’s new First World War Galleries will open to the public on 19 July 2014. James Taylor, IWM’s Head of Research and Information,

describes the journey from their inception to completion.

The Imperial War Museum was founded tomake sure that we never forget what it islike to live in a world torn apart by conflict.Over the coming months and years, withthe First World War Centenary upon us,IWM will be in the spotlight as never before.

Our visitors and the media are keenlyanticipating what form the galleries willtake, what objects we will show and whatwe will say about them. I know that IWMFriends will be particularly eager to learnwhat you can expect to find and I wouldlike to take this opportunity to give you anoutline of the galleries as well as an insightinto some of the thinking behind them.

We began working on the galleries overfour years ago, when a small team of IWMhistorians and curators was broughttogether to see the project through fromconcept to realisation of the galleries. Ourfirst task was to map out a storyline forthem, to give the most devastatingconflict in Britain’s history a freshperspective which has historical integrityand is relevant, engaging and illuminatingfor all our visitors. Audience researchshowed that we needed to answer fourimportant questions: Why did the warbegin? Why did it continue? How did theAllies win? What was the impact of the war?

In accordance with IWM’s remit, we setout to answer these questions from aBritish and Empire perspective. We werealso determined to ensure that the homefront story was woven into the narrative.After all, this was a conflict that was foughtby whole societies – not just by soldiers,but by the men, women and children athome who supplied and supported them.Over many weeks, we considered whatform the story should take. The fruits ofour debates and deliberations weretranslated into the fourteen main Storyareas in the new galleries, each of whichhas a number of Substories. A board ofdistinguished academic advisers, chairedby IWM Trustee Professor Sir HewStrachan, helped us to chart our waythrough some of the more difficult watersas we refined and polished our narrative.

When we had agreed upon a frameworkfor the galleries, we began to carry out atrawl of the collections and to plot objectslarge and small into the spaces. As youknow, IWM’s First World War collections areunrivalled in their breadth and depth andthe selection process was challenging. Welooked at weaponry. We examineduniforms and equipment. We readthousands of letters and diaries. We pored

over pamphlets and posters, photographsand works of art. We watched hours of film.Our curatorial teams offered uprecommendations and stories tostreamline and guide our thinking. Thefinal selection which you will see in thegalleries comprises 1,300 items from ourcollections. They range from militaryhardware, uniforms and equipment tointensely personal items. Some objectswill be familiar to you, many of them not.What they have in common is that they allhave powerful stories to tell, not only ofdestruction and loss, but also ofendurance, innovation, courage, duty anddevotion.

As we looked at the objects, we also hadto think about how and what we would sayabout them. We had to bear in mind thatthese would be the first galleries at IWM toshow events outside living memory, andto consider what that meant for ouraudiences. When the Imperial WarMuseum opened in June 1920, KingGeorge V declared that the new museumwould remember ‘common effort andcommon sacrifice’. For the first visitors tothe new museum, the war was not historybut the recent past. The exhibits neededlittle interpretation because those ➜

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The aim of 14-18 NOW is to open updiscussions about the First World Warbeyond those individuals who arealready interested in that conflict andthe ceremonial aspects whichsurround it. Perceptions of the warhave been shaped to a great extent by the artists of the time, includingpoets, writers, painters, sculptors,photographers and film-makers,many of whom served, and whoreflected on the war and its effects.Their work had a profound and lastingimpact. So it seemed appropriate toinvite contemporary artists from theUK and around the world to explorethe resonance of the First World Warone hundred years later, as cultureand the arts played such animportant role in recording andinterpreting the extraordinary anddevastating events of the war.

Working with culturalorganisations across England, Wales,Scotland and Northern Ireland, theaim was to commission specialprojects, selected to encouragepeople from every community toreflect on how the First World War has shaped today’s world and ourattitudes to conflict now.

We could not have anticipatedsuch an overwhelmingly positiveresponse or such original and diverseideas from these artists whichrevealed both familiar and newstories. Many different forms ofexpression were represented in theprogramme, including art, film,performance and poetry. ➜


A lastingimpact14-18 NOW is a majorcultural programme takingplace across the UnitedKingdom to mark thecentenary of the First WorldWar. During the summer of2014 it launched its firstseries of events. 14-18NOW’s Director, JennyWaldman, reflects on theprogramme so far.

1 spectra by Ryoji Ikeda,2014, view fromPrimrose Hill by ThierryBal. Produced andpresented by Artangel,co-commissioned by14-18 NOW and theMayor of London.

MaryBorden

Mary Borden, extract from ‘Come to me quickly...’

I am suffocating –I cannot get away –They cling to my skirts, my armsMy hands –They clutch at my strengthThey call my name – They keep calling me.They cry to me to undo their pain and let them free – I cannot set them free.They throw themselves onto my breast, to die –I cannot even let them die –Come to me for one hour, strong, clean – whole –Their wounds gape at me –Their stumps menace me –Their bandaged faces grimace at meTheir death rattle curses me –Give me rest – Make me clean –I am stained – I am soiled –I am streaked with their blood –I am soaked with the odor of the oozing of their wounds –I am saturated with the poison of their poor festering wounds –I am poisoned – I’m infected – I shall never wash it off –But you are clean –Your face is cold and fresh and wet by the rain –Let me drink the fresh moisture of your face with my lips –Your garments are electric with the wild blowing wind –Put your gallant cloak about me –Let me breathe, Let me breathe.


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Shakespeare and Byron both had to waitover a hundred years before they had amemorial stone in Poets’ Corner, whichshows just how remarkable it is that RobertGraves was honoured there while he wasstill alive. In November 1985, a monthbefore Graves died, the then PoetLaureate, Ted Hughes, unveiled amemorial stone on which is carved thenames of sixteen poets who served in theFirst World War. Graves was among them,along with his friends Siegfried Sassoon,Edmund Blunden and Wilfred Owen.

The fact that Westminster Abbeycouldn’t wait for the last of them to diebefore installing the memorial is anindication of how the poetry of the FirstWorld War has established a unique holdon our collective imagination. In the wordsof a more recent Poet Laureate, AndrewMotion, the poetry of the First World Warhas become an almost sacred nationaltext.

When I have lectured about war poetryabroad in places such as China or parts ofEurope, students are intrigued by what theytend to see as a uniquely British literaryphenomenon. When I tell them that, afterShakespeare, the war poets can be among

the poets most likely to be studied by Britishschoolchildren, they look bemused. I thinksome of them assume that I’m going to talkabout patriotic celebrations of greatheroism; or maybe they have in mindsomething like Tennyson’s ‘Charge of theLight Brigade’. When we come to readWilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenberg and others,they’re surprised to find that these poemshave the power to fire their ownimaginations and demand their fullattention.

Graves said that he wrote his early warpoems to show the ‘ignorant’ people backhome in Britain what the war was really like.Frustrated by what he read in newspapers(‘rosy official accounts of execrablebattles’) and irritated by the unthinkingsupport for the war that he encounteredwhen he went back home on leave, hewanted to shine an ‘unofficial light’ on thehorrors he saw in the trenches. His initialresponse to the war included a rathergraphic poem describing ‘A Dead Boche’,

though as the war progressed hedeveloped a more personal and thoughtfultone. Wilfred Owen put it a different way,saying that all a poet in his situation coulddo was ‘to tell the truth and to warn’.

Poets like Graves, Owen and Sassoon aresometimes accused of having an undueinfluence on shaping the way we now viewthe First World War. It is a commonly-heardlament that schoolchildren seem moreinclined to listen to the poets rather thanthe historians, who in turn argue that thewar is more complex and more subtle thanthe one decried by Siegfried Sassoon, withhis mutinous contempt for buffoonishgenerals.

Graves would no doubt be surprised tohear that the poems he and his friendswrote in the heat of battle are stillconsidered problematic with regard tohow ‘official’ Britain considers the war inwhich they fought. But he would also, Ithink, have some sympathy with JeremyPaxman, an historian of the war who alsoloves its poetry, who recently warned thata diet that consisted only of Owen andSassoon would focus too much on anarrative of horror and pointless sacrificeat the expense of any wider and morebalanced interpretation of the conflict.

The answer to this is not to stop teachingor reading Sassoon and Owen, but toestablish a wider and more balanced viewof the poetry written during the war, as wellas a greater understanding of the men andwomen who wrote it. The attitude to thewar expressed in the best poetry written atthe front is wide-ranging, complex andfrequently ambiguous. In other words, itreflects the varied range of experience of agreat many of the people who were there.

Some of the poets were officers, whileothers were privates, nurses, medicalorderlies and chaplains. They saw the warfrom very different angles, though thereare some common themes in the poemsthey wrote to describe their experiences.There is, for example, no hatred of theenemy; rather a deep bond of compassionand humanity with others caught up in thewar. There is a great yearning for peace,friendship and the consoling beauty of thenatural world.

David Jones, for example, served as a ➜


Poems from the FrontProfessor Paul O’Preyon the poetry of theFirst World War.

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Art and conflict in a media age


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What do artists contribute to ourperceptions of war and conflict in a timewhen our general understanding ofconflict is increasingly shaped by themedia and the internet?

Working outside the pressures ofjournalism, artists can propose ideas,urging the viewer to think deeply aboutwhat war is, about its immediate impact, its long-term repercussions and how weremember it. They invite us to consider ourdefinition of conflict in a time when war nolonger has easily-defined geographicallimits. Often taking their personal history asa starting point, many artists navigate thisbroad-ranging subject matter asobservers, activists or philosophers.

At a time when there is a growingemphasis on the media spectacle and an

expectation of immediate access toevents as they unfold, our new exhibitionCatalyst: Contemporary Art and Wartakes works from IWM’s unique artcollection and explores the rich, variedand moving artistic response to conflictin a media age.

Catalyst: Contemporary Art and War is ondisplay until 23 February 2014 at IWMNorth, The Quays, Trafford Wharf Road,Trafford Park, Manchester M17 1TZ. Opendaily (except 24, 25, 26 December) 10amto 6pm (1 March to 31 October) and 10amto 5pm (1 November to 28 February)

Curator Sara Bevan gives an insight into a new exhibition atIWM North, showcasing IWM’s contemporary art collection

Opposite page:Photo Op,kennardphillipps,2007.

Above: Queen andCountry, SteveMcQueen, 2006.

Right:Cyanotype [RAFSock], AnnabelDover, 2010.

Join us today Become a Member and help us record and sharepeople’s experiences of war. Members receive awealth of great benefits, including free entry tocharging exhibitions, a Members’ magazine and more.

Member Benefits:

ACCESS MORE● Unlimited free entry to IWM London’s charging

exhibitions

● Free entry to IWM Duxford*

● Unlimited free entry to Churchill War Rooms

● Unlimited free entry to HMS Belfast

EXPERIENCE MORE● Despatches, our Members’ magazine,

delivered direct to your door

● Exclusive events

SAVE MORE● A 10% discount in IWM’s shops,

cafes and online shop

● A 15% discount at the BALTIC Restaurant**

● Exclusive shopping event

To join or to purchase Gift Membership please callus on 020 7416 5255 or visitwww.iwm.org.uk/connect/membership

*except special events and air showdays at Duxford

**Discount valid on Sunday –Thursday on a la carte menu & drinks