Gay affairs, transgender Spitfire pilots: the true lives of the men who fought WW2

The true identities of many of the men who fought and died in the Second World War, in all their wonderful diversity, may well have been forgotten.

And, according to a new book, it's because of passed-down tales of daring-do, Hollywood's tendency to get things wrong, and our own propensity to envisage the idealised war hero.

But now, author Luke Turner puts that right with a fascinating look at the lives of some of Britain's finest sailors, soldiers and airmen from World War Two.

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His book is called Men At War and, alongside the eyebrow-raising details of illicit affairs between RAF officers, straight soldiers sharing sexual favours, and generals airing concerns that the men signing up to fight were too soft, Turner's work includes evidence that hyper-masculine ideas of the perfect war hero are somewhat different from the truth.

"Men at War is about masculinity, sexuality, and how we remember the Second World War," Turner told Forces News.

"All these men were thrown together, with nothing in common in their lives, and were forced to get on in very close physical proximity and I do think that's a very rare situation, that doesn't happen in civilian life in the same way, because of the intimacy, and because of life and death being such a fine margin."

Throughout the book, Turner offers case studies on individuals who prove that the men who fought were more like the generation of today than we perhaps give them credit for. 

It includes individuals who, after the war, went on to lives and careers a world removed from the grittiness of fighting from trench to trench or participating in some of the most extensive bombing raids in history. 

And, accompanying his recounts of heroic transgender service personnel, or his tale of two officers engaged in a passionate gay affair while training at RAF Middle Wallop, Turner has gone to painstaking lengths to research topics that offer thought-proving insights into how we tend to fight our wars.

In a chapter exploring male companionship, Turner discusses the wartime experiences of Kenneth Williams, one of Britain's most admired comedy stars, who, on the subject of male nudity, reported it was more often than not soldiers from posher backgrounds who found taking their clothes off in front of comrades easier than those who were working class. 

Turner's research revealed that in 1940, the men signing up to defend Britain were accused of being 'snowflakes', a term used today to describe individuals who deem themselves unique or special and therefore deserving of recognition or special treatment. 'Snowflake' also carries a connotation of being inherently wet and fragile.

He said: "I was writing this book and reading about Montgomery and Alan Brooke, all these top-level Army commanders sending each other these memos and letters fretting that this generation was too soft. They've got cinema, the wireless, and dancing. They're not proper killers. 

"They were genuinely worried that culture had made them soft and they were what similar sort of people would today call them 'snowflakes'."

Bringing the topic of men fighting wars to today, Turner offered his opinions on the combat potential today's generation might hold should a conflict like that of the Second World War happen. 

"I think they would cope with it. I don't have any doubt about that. You can look at Ukraine as a case study.

"All sorts of people have gone in to defend their country and are doing it very bravely and are having success against overwhelming force. 

"And I do feel that the generation here would be able to do that, too."

Men at War by Luke Turner, published by Orion, is out on 27 April.

Thank you to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for providing the filming location for Luke Turner's interview. More information about the flight's work can be found at https://www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/battle-of-britain-memorial-flight/.