A 'friendly invasion' of US military in 1942 led to a boom for sex workers, pimps and women living in scarce times for cash, food and fun.
When the United States joined World War II, hundreds of thousands of military personnel arrived in England, many to bases in East Anglia. The Red Cross set up clubs where service personnel on leave could socialise, enjoy home comforts and bring guests. These well-paid men and women attracted enormous attention and admiration in what was sometimes called the Friendly Invasion.
Women who had been living rationing and scarcity of everything pretty and frivolous for several years found these newcomers irresistible. Not only cigarettes, chocolate and nylons were suddenly available but also new music and dances brightened up bombed and dingy London. For the first time in ages it was possible to have a good time, paid for by visitors flush with cash and treats. There were also service personnel from other countries passing through London at this time, creating a new cosmopolitan atmosphere.
For professional sex workers, whether independent or working for pimps, opportunities to make good money multiplied. Hundreds of streetwalkers converged in the areas of the clubs, and thousands of servicemen encountered a worldly, risqué, assertive kind of woman they had never met before. The women came to be called Piccadilly Commandos in the east, radiating out from the Circus, and Hyde Park Rangers in the west, by Park Lane.
Other women short of cash sold sex when necessary. The lines blurred between kinds of encounters, many starting on crowded streets during blackouts, perhaps in heavy fogs, amidst black-market activities and petty crime, when the only light came from flickering flames and small torches.
Both British and US authorities worried about venereal disease, which was common, but they were perhaps more concerned about Morale – keeping up spirits in depressing times.
This is the kind of history often consigned to the margins – folklore and funny stories. But for a large segment of the population these were key years in their lives. Maybe you have a mother, grandmother or great-grandmother who was there.
Laura Agustín is an historian and anthropologist interested in illuminating the lives of unnamed people in history – the ‘ordinary folk’.
The Naked Anthropologist is Laura’s longtime blog, now dedicated to historical walks that highlight issues of Gender, Sex and Class.
