Juliette Pattinson, Behind Enemy Lines: Gender, Passing and the Special Operations Executive in the Second World War

Abstract

Pbk. ed. 'Behind Enemy Lines' is an examination of gender relations in wartime using the Special Operations Executive as a case study. Drawing on personal testimonies, in particular oral history and autobiography, as well as official records and film. Reconstructing the Special Operations Executive -- "To pass as a native" : recruiting for operations in France -- "Taught how to play a part" : training agents for undercover work -- "A jittery business" : representations of anxiousness in personal and filmic accounts -- "Living a different life" : performing "heroic" and "stoic" masculinities -- "The best disguise" : performing femininities for clandestine purposes -- "Pretending at once" : passing performances in captivity -- "So many happy memories" : demobilisation and the return to civvy street.