‘Camaraderie’, here described by wartime farmer Stewart H as a reason why he enjoyed his reserved job, was particularly important to men in reserved occupations during the Second World War. We have seen in Chapter One that research into wartime masculinity has neglected the experiences of these reserved men, focusing instead on men serving in the armed forces, and failed to explore the diversity of masculine experience in different parts of Britain. This chapter aims to fill this lacuna and explore the facets of subjectivity, including the ‘camaraderie’ cited by Stewart H, comprising the masculinities of men in reserved occupations in wartime Clydeside, examining how they relate to historical discussions of social change and to wider discourses about gender identities. The chapter will also explore the attitudes of civilian women towards working men and the extent to which their views and wartime presence in the workplace alongside men, as well as other social and official discourses, shaped the experiences of male civilian workers.

Emasculated men?

Much evidence exists to suggest that men working in reserved occupations in Second World War Britain may have felt emasculated. In particular, a number of wartime official and cultural representations of men working in reserved occupations demonstrate critical views of their roles, which may have led to feelings of emasculation. For example, Noel Coward's 1944 poem Lie in the Dark and Listen, a tribute to RAF Bomber Command, belittled their roles, referring to the sacrifices made on behalf of those sleeping at night in ‘warm civilian beds’. In contrast to frequent descriptions in Home Intelligence reports of industrial workers, particularly miners, as lazy and greedy, the ‘heroism and endurance’ of those serving in the armed forces was repeatedly remarked upon.

A number of wartime posters intended to raise worker morale strikingly did not explicitly depict the industrial worker, consequently elevating the work of men in the armed services. Two poster series produced to accompany the military campaign in North Africa in 1943 and the invasion of Europe following D-Day in 1944–5 used the captions ‘The Attack Begins in the Factory’ and ‘Back Them Up’, but show a selection of military action scenes involving soldiers in battle, as well as ships, tankers and bombers in action.