Debs At War: How Wartime Changed their Lives, 1939-1945

by Anne de Courcy

An extraordinary account - from firsthand sources - of upper class women and the active part they took in the War

Pre-war debutantes were members of the most protected, not to say isolated, stratum of 20th-century society: the young (17-20) unmarried daughters of the British upper classes. For most of them, the war changed all that for ever. It meant independence and the shock of the new, and daily exposure to customs and attitudes that must have seemed completely alien to them. For many, the almost military regime of an upper class childhood meant they were well suited for the no-nonsense approach needed in wartime.

This book records the extraordinary diversity of challenges, shocks and responsibilities they faced - as chauffeurs, couriers, ambulance-drivers, nurses, pilots, spies, decoders, factory workers, farmers, land girls, as well as in the Women's Services. How much did class barriers really come down? Did they stick with their own sort? And what about fun and love in wartime - did love cross the class barriers?

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Biography, Historical, War, British Literature

306 pages, Paperback

First published May 4, 2006

About the author

Born in 1927, Anne de Courcy is a well-known writer, journalist and book reviewer. In the 1970s she was Woman’s Editor on the London Evening News until its demise in 1980, when she joined the Evening Standard as a columnist and feature-writer. In 1982 she joined the Daily Mail as a feature writer, with a special interest in historical subjects, leaving in 2003 to concentrate on books, on which she has talked widely both here and in the United States.

A critically-acclaimed and best-selling author, she believes that as well as telling the story of its subject’s life, a biography should depict the social history of the period, since so much of action and behaviour is governed not simply by obvious financial, social and physical conditions but also by underlying, often unspoken, contemporary attitudes, assumptions, standards and moral codes.

Anne is on the committee of the Biographers’ Club; and a past judge of their annual Prize. Her recent biographies, all of which have been serialised, include THE VICEROY’S DAUGHTERS, DIANA MOSLEY and DEBS AT WAR and SNOWDON; THE BIOGRAPHY, written with the agreement and co-operation of the Earl of Snowdon. Based on Anne’s book, a Channel 4 documentary “Snowdon and Margaret: Inside a Royal Marriage”, was broadcast.

Anne was a judge for the recent Biography section of the Costa Award in 2013, and is also one of the judges on the final selection panel judging the best of all the genres.

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

A barrel of laughs. Women doing their bit for the national effort is the theme and of course most serious. Keep Calm and Carry-on. Keep a sense of humour. It's all in here. During the upheaval of these more tender-skinned ladies, as I'm sure you must imagine, it did change the attitude of more than a few toward those of less privilege.

Definitely, a bedtime read. I put my head on the pillow and dreamt of being there.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author suggests: Debs (Debutantes) were members of the most protected, not to say isolated, stratum of 20th-century society: the young (17-20) unmarried daughters of the British upper classes. Anne de Courcy (née Barrett) was herself a Deb by the end of the war. For this rather jolly read, she interviewed some 40+ 'gals' who themselves had navigated their way through those times.

A bedtime read, full of trails, tribulations: what a kitchen looks like and what actually happens within.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a biography of Diana Moseley by Anne De Courcy (in I think 2010) – so knew to expect a well written book full of fabulous social history. ‘Debs at War’ is an enormously readable work full of fascinating historical detail, brilliantly set in context and well researched. We get a real flavour of the times, through the voices of the women who Anne De Courcy interviewed. She explores the differences between the classes, with the innocence of these gently raised young women exposing them to one or two awkward situations. Beginning with the childhoods and then the first seasons of these plucky young women Anne De Courcy highlights how different were their lives to that of the general populace.
During the years of the Second World War the people of England found themselves having to adapt to all sorts of privations and really pull together. The glamorous young debutants of the upper classes were just a much a part of the patriotic fervour that swept the country. Far more used to never having to lift a finger, and leading a heady social life of frivolity and glamour, suddenly these young women were propelled into very different situations. Many took up nursing; others donned the uniforms of the ATS, Wrens or WAAFS. While others found themselves working in factories alongside women of very different backgrounds, others preferring the outdoors to factory work worked on the land. The aristocratic backgrounds and upper class accents were sometimes a hindrance however as some women found themselves given all the dirty or hard jobs to do out of spite, while some debs were regarded with suspicion, others were a source of fascination to the working class women they worked alongside. Some colourful tales include young women who were subject to strict curfews sneaking out to dance the night away at the 400 club before hitching back.
I did find myself smiling rather at some of the small snobberies of the women interviewed by Anne De Courcy – as they explained how relationships developed between themselves and people of “lower classes” that included in one case a doctor – who when taken home quite obviously just didn’t fit in. Anne De Courcy gives us a marvellous taste of a very different time to that in which we live now. This was a time, which had clear dividing lines between social classes that were rarely crossed. What it also shows us brilliantly however, is how during these extraordinary and dangerous times the people of this country really stepped up to the mark. For that we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

[Graceann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne de Courcy takes the stories of several privileged women and shows us how the War affected their lives - in most cases, it improved them immensely.

The Debs of the title were high born and well off financially. In most cases, they never lifted a finger unless it was to have someone else give it a manicure. The flipside of this is that everything, and I do mean everything, in their lives was decided for them by others. From the food they ate, to the activities in which they took part, to the clothing they wore, to the men with whom they'd be allowed to associate, to the marriages that were arranged for them. It was a life set out by the numbers, and for these young ladies, the War provided a freedom and a chance to be useful that most leapt into with great gusto.

The book leaps about a fair amount, and you lose track of which Deb is which, and that's okay, because we're learning about various episodes rather than specific personalities. Besides, before the War, they were fairly interchangeable anyway. Some discovered talents they didn't know they had; some were finally able to display the gifts they'd had all along. There's one particularly amusing episode where a former Debutante was asked to sweep a hospital floor. As she stood with the broom in her hand and with no idea what do with it, one of the female patients called her on her lack of knowledge. It was an excellent icebreaker and, as she said, she learned quite quickly.

Class distinctions remained, for the most part. Very few of these ladies married outside of their set even after getting to meet men from other walks of life. The stories of the Duchess who marries the car mechanic seem to have only happened on movie sets. Even so, after the War was over, most of the Debs didn't want to return to their old lives, and went on to do fulfilling work, whether they ended up being Lady so-and-so or not.

[MsAprilVincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's amazing how women who were at the top both socially and financially were willing to pitch in to help their countries during the war. It's kind of an indictment of present-day selfishness--and I'm not blameless either. The book and the women profiled here are giving me a lot to consider.

[Lisa of Hopewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. Interesting choice of people--I assume it's the debs who responded to her request. One of the Queen's best friends (Fortune Smith), Princess Diana's Aunt (Lady Anne Spencer) and a few others. All very interesting--wish they'd have said more about how the coped AFTER the war.

[Chrisanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars. I felt like some of the sections were poorly organized, which led to some repetition. But it was a nice tribute to the human spirit during trying times.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I often have a harder time getting invested in non fiction but this was gripping from the very beginning. I loved hearing the first hand stories from the women and the organization of the chapters was helpful for keeping everything straight.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fun and definitely worth keeping. Great to re-read in the winter when snuggled up with a bottle of plonk.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something of a sequel to 1939: The Last Season - one of the first books I ever added to my Goodreads shelves.

Debs at War was a fascinating read. Organised by topic - mostly by individual women's services - rather than chronologically, which made it a little less easy to follow: I think I prefer my history to be at least mostly chronological. (I also could have done without the occasional treatment of 'lesbianism' as though it was an odd, exotic sort of tropical disease...)

That said, the insight into the various women's services during WWII - and there were many - is wonderful to have, and has clarified more than a few misconceptions. It's given me all sorts of ideas for wartime backstory for various characters that I enjoy reading about, and some solid information for the Air Transport Auxiliary. I was quite stunned to read about the bombs hitting the Cafe de Paris, as I'd never read about that before. And the down-to-earth-ness of the women's descriptions of just about everything was refreshing, and really let me feel as though I could understand something of what they went through.

It was also wonderful to read this *after* I returned from London, as I now have a very different (and far more accurate) image of London in my head.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abounding in acronyms, interesting, but very bitty. The book is based on the recollections of nearly fifty women who were debs just before the war, a number which allows the author to look at all the ways in which women contributed to the war effort, and to get several perspectives on most of them. She has made sense of the material by arranging it largely thematically, with the themes ordered in a way that allows for a certain amount of chronological development, but there is inevitable back-tracking and repetition as a result. While I enjoyed reading what the women had to say I was frustrated by not being able to keep track of them, and the author's voice wasn't strong enough to compensate. It was as if she'd cut up the transcripts of all of the interviews, shuffled the strips, and pasted them into chapters rather like they did at Bletchley. I was left feeling that there must be a less frustrating way of distilling such a range of experiences; leaving people with their voices but highlighting the themes that link them, while telling of their journey. On reflection, I believe it's called a novel.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written history lesson about the lives of the 1938 English debutantes who pitched in to help with the War effort. Very enjoyable read.

[Bittersweet]

i am reading this tonight ...

[Katie Bleathman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the lives of pre-war debutantes during the Second World War. Very readable.

[Paul French · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different slant on the experiences of women in wartime - this time posh women who found themselves thrown in among the rest of us!

[Andrea Barlien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another interesting look at what women did during WW2 in Great Britain. This time debs - so a bit stuffy but well worth reading.

[Joyce A. Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

So interesting to read the experiences of these 'debs' as they joined the war effort. Their stories, often in their own words, both in diaries and in post-war reflections, give a vivid picture of the day-to-day experiences during the war. Especially interesting in how they show the all-too-human reaction of trying to create a "new normal" under extraordinary circumstances.
What really grabbed me was an underlying message: these women were brought up to be nothing. Literally. Their sole function was to produce offspring, preferably male, to inherit titles and wealth; if, unfortunately, the offspring was female, then the focus was to raise another uneducated, uninformed, pampered breeder. A striking detail came from the story of one of these women assigned a janitorial job: she had no idea how to use a broom--sweeping a floor was beyond her ken.
Before the war, all of them were only trained to attract and please men: their patriarchal society had no other use for them. What this book shows is how the war allowed them to become themselves--to discover their own interests, strengths, weaknesses, opinions: against the inhumanity of war, they become fully realized humans, something that would, otherwise, have been forever out of their reach--not even a possibility in their insulated, tiny worlds. This is idea is underscored by remarks from the women themselves, after the war: some are embarassed to admit that they enjoyed the war and even missed--not the violence, fear, and deprivations, but the freedoms they finally discovered. After reading about their journeys of discovery, I understand completely what they meant by their admissions.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debs at War reads like an anthropology text (and given that the only library copies I could find in the entire state were at large universities, it likely is), but is a fascinating account of the work the young women of the aristocracy (formerly debutantes, or debs, in the pre-war years) did during the war. There is nursing, of course, but the range of jobs these women held is incredibly varied from assembling aircraft in factories to running homes for evacuated children to breaking German codes in the deepest secrecy. Many, like the future Queen Elizabeth, drove and maintained ambulances and other critical motor vehicles. (Princess Diana's aunt, Lady Anne Spencer, worked for the navy, plotting convoys of ships.)

Debs at War also provides a stark look at war life across Great Britain: the rations, the air raids, the daily grind of relentless war. Although in style it's much more academic than many non-fiction books that detail episodes from the same era (for example Operation Mincemeat or Lost in Shangri-La), it is still well worth reading for anyone with even a passing interest in World War II, and doubly so if that interest extends to how all the Lady Sybils reacted a generation after Sybil Crawley.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, these girls really mucked in and would get teased for their accents but some were kinder when they said, that is how their families talked. Living in freezing, unheated ancestral homes and boarding schools was a good preparation I would think, for the rest there was a lot to learn like how to boil a kettle. My mother was in the Motorised Transport Corps, not mentioned here but the army girls did much what she did, driving ambulancies and army big wigs and for mum, lorry loads of Italian prisoners.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful compendium based on interviews of dozens of British debutantes who served during WWII.

Early chapters covered their privileged lifestyle before the war, and these were almost as fascinating as their war work.

I did find that there was some repetition between the chapters, and the order they were presented in could have been rearranged for a more logical read. So a good editor could have helped this along.

However, the content and the subject were so interesting I could give it a pass and still give it 4 stars. An excellent read for anyone interested in the homefront effort.

[Jean Walton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting historical record of the huge impact the two world wars had on the lives of young upper class women. Though woefully lacking in practical skills due to their pampered upbringing and being very naïve due to there being no such thing as sexual education in those days, they were all very patriotic and were also determined to prove their denigrators wrong. The book did get a little repetitive at times but I really enjoyed a look at this tale of times long gone.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne De Courcy writes wonderfully of whatever she has chosen to research. This one follows a couple dozen British women through WWII. Not just any women, but debutantes - part of what you might call the class of 1939, the year that many of them “came out” in society. Their experiences varied but many of them found that their war work became the highlight of their lives, teaching them tolerance and independence that they would never have acquired otherwise.

[Susan Baranoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written from interviews with some of the most sheltered young women in Britain, this book explores how WWII and the patriotic call for everyone to be of service changed their lives. I think the most striking thing was thinking about how these young "debs" had been raised and finished speaking at least one other language fluently, for some several languages, and how that training ended up so greatly benefiting the counterintelligence services. Things you don't really think about.

[Cathy Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, well researched

I’m fascinated by the roles of women during WWII. This book manages to provide a lot of detail new to me, the sheer number of government programs that put women in fulfilling, essential positions as well as less fulfilling but no less necessary jobs for the war effort. My one criticism is that the attitudes of the women interviewed toward lesbians is quite outdated and shocking in this day and age.

[Audry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the debutantes in Great Britain Britain during World War 2. It talks about how their lives were before the war, and then what their lives were like during the war. I hope that I could have been just as courageous as those young ladies. So many stories of what they did and how they grew into themselves.

[Beth Newell · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Debs at War" by Anne de Courcy is a great story about how the Debs spent their war. They didn't just sit around and do nothing. They were nurses, land army girls, and they joined the forces. But they didn't forget how to enjoy life. They would leave their bases and head down to London to the 400 club and Cafe de Paris. The Debs show that they could also serve during Britian darkest hour.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was ok. a history of how upper middle class and aristocracy's young women contributed to the war effort in a variety of ways. each chapter deals with a section of the war effort including nursing and the womens versions of the army, navy and air force. the writing itself was a bit dry but really enjoyed that ann de courcy got interviews from the women which made it come to life.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for WWII books and for books about the English gentry so put 'em together and you've got a book I am predisposed to like. I soon gave up trying to remember who was who and just went with the flow, enjoying the reminiscences of the debs turned war workers. It's not really important to keep them straight. The book isn't about the histories of specific people, it's more a compilation of various people's memories about war jobs.

De Courcy separates the chapters into such war careers as nursing, land work, factory work, Bletchley, WRENS, FANYS, ATS, Air Force. She also has chapters dealing with class differences, wartime romances, and at the beginning chapters about the debs' sheltered childhoods and their coming out days. I found it all to be fascinating stuff.

It really is amazing, how dramatically their lives changed in such a short time span, never to return to their pre-war lives. I guess a world war does that to people, upend their lives. Even though there were a lot of struggles, hard work, and great loss, the women interviewed remembered the time fondly. They appreciated how the country pulled together & what a great sense of camaraderie there was among all the citizens. It made me sad at how America in the last few years has disintegrated into opposing camps, where each feel the other side isn't truly American like they are. America represents the opposite of camaraderie and good will. Sigh.

I think this is worth the read for anyone who enjoys reading WWII books. It will give you a perspective that is different from the usual WWII stories.

[Maggie Odey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of interesting anecdotes from those who - despite being born with silver spoons in their mouths - did their bit during WW2. I found how cosseted they were before the war absolutely fascinating, their upbringing was a completely different world from the middle and lower classes.

[Lyn Sweetapple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, however, the sub-title is unnecessary. Everyone in the UK's lives were changed. I did not know that women were drafted. It was good to read that those who had much gave much.