Download Resistance During WWII

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Women, Spies, and the Resistance Movement during WWII
No Combat For You…Ladies
 Double standard still existed in society
Women were increasingly needed to work in factories and other traditional male
centric areas of employment
However women were not allowed into combat
Only country that actively accepted women as combat personnel was Soviet
Union
Germany allowed women in Luftwaffe near end of war (out of desperation)
 However branches of the army, navy, and air force were created to help in war effort
Often doing clerical work
Also drove trucks, repaired airplanes, worked as lab techs, rigged parachutes,
served as radio operators, analyzed photographs, flew military aircraft across
country, test-flew repaired planes, and even trained anti-aircraft artillery gunners by
acting as flying targets
 Civilian organizations were also established
Women’s Land
Army
 Civilian organization first established in WWI
Re-introduced in 1939
 Women over age 18 were paid £1 12d a week after deductions (lodging and food)
 Max work hours per week
50 hours in summer
48 hours in winter
 The women were often from cities and industrial areas (Yorkshire, London), not rural
Obviously faced a culture shock
Often learned on the job
 Purpose was food production
Would be stationed to work on farms
 Result was Britain was less dependant on overseas imports of food stuffs

Factories
 Involved in production of ammunition, weapons, tanks, planes, uniforms, etc.
Also employed in creation of propaganda posters
 Skilled women made up to £2.15 a week
Men paid more, even unskilled men
 These women were essential to the war cause
Auxiliary Territorial
Service
 Part of the army
Received smaller rations (20% less than men) and were paid only 66% of a man's
pay
 Women ages 18-43 (later expanded to age 50)
 acted as drivers, worked in mess halls (peel taters), acted a cleaners and maids
 worked on anti-aircraft guns (Ack-Ack Girls)
Not allowed to fire AA guns (no pulling trigger)
tracked planes, loaded shells, and were present during firings
Believed women were too sensitive to live with knowledge that they shot down and
possibly killed
 July 1942, ATS had 217,000 women
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 July 1942, ATS had 217,000 women
Women’s Auxiliary
Air Force
 Same type of work as the ATS
 Though also worked on airplanes
 Staffed the radar stations
Tracking enemy bombers formations and movement
 Air Transport Auxiliary
120 of 820 were women
Had fewer crashed than the men
Flew planes from factories to squadron airfield bases
Not allowed to pilot during combat
Frontline Service
 Primarily as nurses
Also drove ambulances and did clerical jobs
 Responsible for providing aid
Both to civilians and military personnel
 Stationed at mobile surgical units and field hospitals
Treated whatever wounds were present
 Showed high amount of skill and ability to work under preasure in extreme conditions
 Nurses at field hospitals often libel to become casualties

Soviet Female Troops
 Approx. 800,000 women served in USSR armed forces
Roles included: snipers, machine gunners, medics, tank crew members and pilots;
alongside traditional non-combat roles
200,000 were decorated and 89 received the Hero of the Soviet Union medal
(highest honour)
 What made the Soviet Union so different?
 According to Professor Anna Krylova , of Duke University
the Soviet Union implemented a state-sponsored educational system that was fully
integrated along gender lines.
men and women received the same education and, were expected to perform the
same tasks
“What was different in the Soviet Union was the idea that men and women were
equal-and that a space had been created in the schools in which that equality could
be performed.” – Anna Krylova
 Doesn’t mean that there wasn’t gender discrimination in military based on ideas of
female inferiority
Often denied equal treatment
Relegated to rear; hard to obtain promotion
 German soldiers shot any female Soviet soldiers captured immediately
Many were snipers (were shot regardless of sex anyway)
Pilots
 Lydia Litvyak (born 1921)
Fighter pilot
Was a flight instructor before war broke out (had trained 45 pilots)
Her first combat flights were in 1942
Flew in 66 missions; shot down at least 12 German planes
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Flew in 66 missions; shot down at least 12 German planes
First woman to shoot down an enemy plane in combat; and first woman to be
called a “fighter ace”
Shot down and killed in 1943 during Battle of Kursk (21 years old)
 Yekaterina Budanova (born 1916)
Fighter pilot and friend of Litvyak
Died in 1943; shot down by ME-109
Shot down 11 enemy planes
 Marina Raskova (born 1912)
Founder of 588th Night Bomber Regiment (all female)
Became known as “Night Witches”
Flew outdated Po-2 biplanes – slow but very maneuverable
died on January 4, 1943 – plane crashed while attempting emergency landing
Snipers
 Approx. 2000 female snipers served in total (only 500 survived war)
 Lyudmila Pavlichenko (born 1916)
Was studying history at Kiev University when war began
Wounded in 1942 – sent to US and Canada as publicity visit (she was pretty famous
by this point)
309 confirmed kills (36 enemy snipers)
 Roza Shanina (born 1924)
Was offered job as sniper trainer
Refused in order to fight at front
Made commander of female sniper unit
Loved to write (left behind a diary)
““The unconditional requirement to outwit the enemy and kill him became an
irrevocable law of my hunt”
severely injured while helping a wounded officer on 27 January 1945; died
following day
54 confirmed kills
 Klavdiya Kalugina (born 1926)
One of the youngest female snipers (17 when she began military service in 1943)
Allied Secret Agents
 Women were also members of the Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.)
Created in 1940; their mission was sabotage and subversion behind enemy lines
 S.O.E. directly employed 12,000 people, 3,200 were women (55 female agents; 13
killed during war)
 Parachuted or were landed (using Lysander planes) in Occupied France
Job was to find out as much info. as possible to aid invasion of Normandy, often
making contact with or establishing resistance groups
 Trained in use of various weapons (including those from enemy nations), wireless
radio, explosives, hand to hand combat
Agents
 Nancy Wake (30 Aug. 1912- 7 Aug. 2011) – codename “White Mouse”
Born in New Zealand; raised in Australia; worked as journalist in New York and
London; settled to live in Marseilles, France
Worked for French Resistance; but had to escape to Britain in 1943
Joined S.O.E.; was parachuted back into France
Put together a force approx. 7,500 strong; communicated with London (wireless);
took care of finances; led attacks on German positions and on German HQ in
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took care of finances; led attacks on German positions and on German HQ in
Montluçon
When her communication lines were cut, she rode a bike 250 km in 72 hours in
German held territory to reestablish communication
“When I got off that damned bike I felt as if I had a fire between my legs. I
couldn’t stand up. I couldn’t sit down, I couldn’t walk. When I’m asked what I’m
most proud of doing during the war, I say: 'The bike ride’.” – Nancy Wake
 Eileen Nearne (15 March 1921 – 2 Sept. 2010) – codename “Rose”
Sister Jacqueline was also an agent
Served as wireless operator in Occupied France
Flown into France in March 1944; job was to maintain wireless link to London (in 5
months, transmitted 105 messages)
July 1944 her transmitter was detected; she was arrested and tortured (water), but
only gave false info.
Sent to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp; transferred later to another camp, which
she escaped from

Agents Cont.
 Violette Szabo (26 June 1921 – c. 5 Feb. 1945) – codename “Louise”
Born in Paris; moved to London
Offered services to S.O.E. in 1942 after Husband was killed at El Alamein
Led road and railway bridge sabotage; sending wireless reports back to HQ about
factories producing materials for Germans
Captured after a gun battle, on her 2nd mission (day after Normandy landings)
Interrogated and tortured as Gestapo headquarters; then sent to Ravensbruck
Executed by firing squad, April 1945 (body cremated)
 Odette Hallowes (28 April 1912—13 March 1995) – codename “Lise”
Landed at Cannes in 1942
Her supervisor’s (Peter Churchill) operation was infiltrated by a spy and she was
arrested
Interrogated and tortured but stuck to her cover which was that Peter was Winston
Churchill’s cousin, and she was his wife
Sent to Ravensbruck
Survived and testified at war crimes trial against prison guards
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Resistance Movements
 Found in all Nazi occupied countries (France, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland,
Yugoslavia, Greece, Hungary, etc.) and Germany itself
Underground “armies” or partisans
Both men and women
 Set up network of communication and safe houses
 At beginning or war:
Mostly gathered intelligence for allies
Support and arms were scarce to begin with
 As resistance grew activities included sabotage (ie. communication lines), and aiding
escaped POW’s
 After German retreat began
openly attacked German forces
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openly attacked German forces
 Often worked in cooperation with the SOE
Danish Resistance
 Established immediately after German invasion
Large number of young people/teenagers; students
Also members of Danish Army
 1942 onward, resistance took on a more violent nature
Sabotage of German vehicles, fuel depots, supply lines, factories and trains
 1943, German’s declared Denmark to be “occupied territory” (gov’t had refused to
increase measures against saboteurs)
Only now was resistance movement actually seen as legitimate
 20,000 involved by 1944
 One of larger groups was “Holger Danske”
About 350 members
Took name from mythic Danish hero
Responsible for over 100 acts of sabotage
64 members executed
The Ten Commandments for Danes
 Arne Sejr was seventeen when the Germans invaded. On the first day of the
occupation, he noticed that people in his small town were friendly to the German
soldiers, and he was outraged. He went home and typed up twenty-five copies of a
list of "commandments" to his fellow Danes:
1. You must not go to work in Germany and Norway.
2. You shall do a bad job for the Germans.
3. You shall work slowly for the Germans.
4. You shall destroy important machines and tools.
5. You shall destroy everything that may be of benefit to the Germans.
6. You shall delay all transport.
7. You shall boycott German and Italian films and papers.
8. You must not shop at Nazis' stores.
9. You shall treat traitors for what they are worth.
10. You shall protect anyone chased by the Germans.
Join the Struggle for the freedom of Denmark!
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Dutch Resistance
 Resistance began from outrage over invasion and horror at treatment of Jews
 Developed slowly
Netherland was small area and SOE found it hard to drop personnel and supplies
 Widespread resistance began when Jews were arrested on mass in 1943
Began with general strikes – 150 shot by Germans
 Most important work was providing intelligence to Allies and smuggling people out of
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 Most important work was providing intelligence to Allies and smuggling people out of
country
Specialized in hiding people and forging papers
As opposed to sabotage
 Audrey Hepburn acted as a courier for resistance in 1944 (was only 15)
French Resistance
 Numerous groups existed (like other countries)
Actions included: sabotage, attacks on Germans positions/vehicles, aiding downed
allied pilots in escape
 Used guerilla tactics to harass German troops
 Approx. 100,000 members by 1944
 Became integral to Allied invasion of Western Europe
Providing intelligence reports
Sabotaging supply lines and communication
Resistance in Germany
 Ranged from non-compliance with Nazi’s, to attempts to assassinate Hitler
 “White Rose” resistance group is the best known
Group of students, led by Hanz Scholl, his sister Sophie, and professor Hurt Huber
All three arrested and executed
Campaign of anti-Nazi leaflet distribution and graffiti
 July 20, 1944, military officers attempted assassination of Hitler (led by Claus von
Stauffenberg)
Briefcase bomb placed near Hitler during a meeting about Eastern Front
Attempt failed, Hitler only slightly wounded (heavy oak table had served as
protection)
 There were over 42 assassination attempts on Hitler in total
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Homework
 Is violent resistance ever justifiable?
 When does one move from being known as a member of the resistance to being
terrorists? In other words: When does resistance become terrorism?
Is it all a matter of what side you are on, or are there objective criteria for
classification?
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