Harriet Wheelock MA

Wheelock H (2006) 'Angels in Battledress': Second World War Nurses and the War, Gender and Social Change Debate.  University of Lancaster

Contact: Ms Harriet Wheelock, wheeloch@hotmail.co.uk

 This dissertation will look at how the nursing profession during and immediately after World War II fits into the debate about war, gender and social change. Nursing presents an interesting case study as unlike other examples of women’s wartime work nurses were not taking on new masculine roles but fulfilling an essentially feminine one. In addition this period saw a huge increase in the number of men in nursing, which allows many of the themes in the war, gender and social change debate to be explored with the gender roles reversed. The three models that historians have developed to illustrate the processes of gender and social change will be explored. It will be argued that these models are not alternatives, but can all be seen at work at the same time.

 Firstly the context of this study will be outlined through a discussion of the history of the nursing profession and how this affected gendered representations. The argument will then move on to look at the profession during and immediately after the Second World War. The image of both genders will be examined together in order to show the interactions and interdependence of the two, although the profession will be split into civilian and military categories. This is done because the roles of two parts of the professions, as well as the way in which they were represented were so different. Having examined the dominant representations of nurses and how they fit into the debate, the discussion will move onto look at representations that contested this view and how they challenged and nuanced it.