Men in Reserve: British Civilian Masculinites in the Second World War

Men in reserve focuses on working class civilian men, a group who, as a result of working in reserved occupations, were exempt from enlistment in the armed forces. It explores how they articulated their wartime experiences and how they positioned themselves in relation to the hegemonic discourse of military masculinity. A range of material sources are used, including fifty six newly conducted oral history interviews, as well as autobiographies, visual sources and existing archived interviews. The book considers the range of masculine identities circulating amongst civilian male workers during the war and investigates the extent to which reserved workers draw upon these identities when recalling their wartime selves. It is argued that the Second World War was capable of challenging civilian masculinities, positioning the civilian man below that of the 'soldier hero' while, simultaneously, reinforcing them by bolstering the capacity to provide and to earn high wages, both of which were key markers of masculinity. Masculinity was also validated in wartime through the exposure of men to long exhausting working hours and to heightened risks in more dangerous labour processes and work environments. Chapters explore the changing nature and meaning of reserved status, articulations of masculinity, the lived experience of work and leisure of reserved men in wartime, bodies at work (health, welfare and safety) and the memorialisation of reserved men. Men in reserve will be of interest to students and researchers working in the fields of social and cultural history, labour history, gender history, gender studies and cultural studies.