1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:24,636 Speaker 1: Pushkin isy Aronson is losing his patience. It's the third 2 00:00:24,676 --> 00:00:29,076 Speaker 1: time today that American soldier Private John Waters has pitched 3 00:00:29,116 --> 00:00:33,316 Speaker 1: up at the dress shop looking for Aaronson's employee, Doris Staples. 4 00:00:34,156 --> 00:00:38,636 Speaker 1: Seems just Doris is also sick of the constant intrusions. 5 00:00:39,076 --> 00:00:41,316 Speaker 2: What does he want now? I'm better go out and 6 00:00:41,356 --> 00:00:42,556 Speaker 2: see that. 7 00:00:42,996 --> 00:00:46,396 Speaker 3: Doris steps out into the street. Perhaps she can get 8 00:00:46,476 --> 00:00:46,836 Speaker 3: rid of. 9 00:00:46,756 --> 00:00:50,596 Speaker 1: Waters once and for all. She tells him she won't 10 00:00:50,636 --> 00:00:53,436 Speaker 1: be going out with him tonight and hopes this will 11 00:00:53,556 --> 00:00:54,516 Speaker 1: end the conversation. 12 00:00:55,356 --> 00:00:57,436 Speaker 2: Go away, Johnny, I've got work to do. 13 00:00:57,996 --> 00:01:01,676 Speaker 1: It's four thirsty in the afternoon, but Water's breath smells 14 00:01:01,796 --> 00:01:05,076 Speaker 1: of drink. Doris has been going on dates with him 15 00:01:05,076 --> 00:01:09,876 Speaker 1: since February, but now it's mid July, and singly finds 16 00:01:09,916 --> 00:01:15,276 Speaker 1: Waters a drag. The American is jealous and possessive. 17 00:01:16,156 --> 00:01:22,196 Speaker 2: Aaronson calls out, I'm going in after all, he pays 18 00:01:22,236 --> 00:01:22,876 Speaker 2: me my money. 19 00:01:23,516 --> 00:01:26,836 Speaker 1: Doris turns her back on the soldier and steps into 20 00:01:26,836 --> 00:01:29,516 Speaker 1: the shop, but jamming his foot in the door to 21 00:01:29,676 --> 00:01:39,116 Speaker 1: stop her closing it on him, Waters barges his way inside. 22 00:01:44,836 --> 00:01:45,396 Speaker 4: This is the. 23 00:01:45,476 --> 00:01:48,956 Speaker 1: Seldom told story of women in World War Two. Who 24 00:01:48,956 --> 00:01:52,516 Speaker 1: were killed not by the enemy, but by husbands, lovers, 25 00:01:52,516 --> 00:01:56,316 Speaker 1: and strangers wearing the uniform of their own side. 26 00:01:57,676 --> 00:02:00,676 Speaker 3: It's also the tale of a particular string of murder 27 00:02:00,756 --> 00:02:04,916 Speaker 3: victims that history has swept from view. I'm Halle Rubinhold 28 00:02:05,316 --> 00:02:08,756 Speaker 3: and I'm Alice Finds, and you're listening to Bad Women 29 00:02:09,356 --> 00:02:46,956 Speaker 3: the Blackout Ripper. We'll return to the bloody sequence of 30 00:02:46,996 --> 00:02:51,036 Speaker 3: events that unfolded at Izzie Aronson's dress shop later, but 31 00:02:51,276 --> 00:02:54,116 Speaker 3: it will come as no surprise that, once the gunsmoke 32 00:02:54,156 --> 00:02:57,596 Speaker 3: had cleared, the shattered glass had been swept up, and 33 00:02:57,676 --> 00:03:00,596 Speaker 3: the bodies of the dead and injured removed from the scene, 34 00:03:01,196 --> 00:03:06,916 Speaker 3: public sympathy sided firmly with private John Waters. No one 35 00:03:06,956 --> 00:03:09,356 Speaker 3: had a good word for Doris, but everyone spoke well 36 00:03:09,396 --> 00:03:13,996 Speaker 3: of Johnny. Women, particularly those who wish to live and 37 00:03:14,076 --> 00:03:17,356 Speaker 3: love as they please, have long been condemned for making 38 00:03:17,476 --> 00:03:21,796 Speaker 3: choices that run counter to societies rigid and restrictive expectations 39 00:03:21,796 --> 00:03:24,836 Speaker 3: of them. This was as true for women alive in 40 00:03:24,876 --> 00:03:27,956 Speaker 3: the nineteen forties as it had been fifty years earlier 41 00:03:28,036 --> 00:03:29,916 Speaker 3: for the women who were murdered by Jack the Ripper. 42 00:03:30,956 --> 00:03:33,996 Speaker 3: In this episode, we're stepping away from the story of 43 00:03:34,036 --> 00:03:37,756 Speaker 3: the Blackout Ripper to examine the long and contradictory lists 44 00:03:37,756 --> 00:03:41,556 Speaker 3: of charges leveled at such women. They have no children 45 00:03:41,676 --> 00:03:44,996 Speaker 3: or to many children. They stay single, or they marry 46 00:03:45,076 --> 00:03:48,236 Speaker 3: unsuitable men. They commit to a career or their own 47 00:03:48,276 --> 00:03:51,156 Speaker 3: free as they please. They have sex with men, or 48 00:03:51,196 --> 00:03:54,996 Speaker 3: they refuse to have sex with men. The approved path 49 00:03:55,116 --> 00:03:59,956 Speaker 3: of docility, domesticity and monogamy is narrow, and any woman 50 00:03:59,996 --> 00:04:04,076 Speaker 3: who crosses its strict borders can expect to be shamed, denounced, 51 00:04:04,116 --> 00:04:09,756 Speaker 3: is unnatural, a deviant, and that's in peacetime. In times 52 00:04:09,756 --> 00:04:14,436 Speaker 3: of war, the accusations are worse. Bad women undermine the 53 00:04:14,476 --> 00:04:17,956 Speaker 3: fight and aid the enemy. Bad women are as good 54 00:04:18,036 --> 00:04:20,916 Speaker 3: as helping Hitler to victory. 55 00:04:21,156 --> 00:04:25,836 Speaker 5: This is a criminal offense of the most serious character. 56 00:04:26,396 --> 00:04:30,636 Speaker 1: The prosecution at Peterborough Police Court wants the presiding judges 57 00:04:30,716 --> 00:04:34,076 Speaker 1: to throw the book at Olive Ward and Dorothy Baldry. 58 00:04:35,116 --> 00:04:37,396 Speaker 1: The court should make an example of these young women 59 00:04:37,836 --> 00:04:41,236 Speaker 1: and make the severity of their crime quite clear to. 60 00:04:41,236 --> 00:04:43,036 Speaker 5: The public at large. 61 00:04:43,116 --> 00:04:47,276 Speaker 1: Olive twenty one and Dorothy just twenty both work at 62 00:04:47,276 --> 00:04:50,876 Speaker 1: a local munitions factory and they've been charged under a 63 00:04:50,916 --> 00:04:55,196 Speaker 1: new wartime law. What they've been accused of sands almost 64 00:04:55,196 --> 00:04:59,836 Speaker 1: like treason, with consequences said to be more devastating than 65 00:04:59,916 --> 00:05:04,316 Speaker 1: Hitler's bombs. These two, the court is told, have made 66 00:05:04,436 --> 00:05:08,476 Speaker 1: casualties of men from the Allied armies, men who. 67 00:05:08,596 --> 00:05:11,156 Speaker 5: Should be engaged fighting the enemy. 68 00:05:12,196 --> 00:05:17,996 Speaker 1: Olive and Dorothy, a single parent, could face incarceration their 69 00:05:18,036 --> 00:05:22,116 Speaker 1: crime sedition, spying, sabotage. 70 00:05:22,436 --> 00:05:24,076 Speaker 3: Well, no, they've. 71 00:05:23,836 --> 00:05:30,116 Speaker 1: Both missed doctor's appointments. Defense Regulation thirty three B had 72 00:05:30,196 --> 00:05:33,956 Speaker 1: recently come into force, and it was aimed squarely at 73 00:05:33,996 --> 00:05:37,716 Speaker 1: women like Olive and Dorothy. Thirty three B made it 74 00:05:37,756 --> 00:05:40,916 Speaker 1: a punishable offense to fail to attend medical treatment for 75 00:05:40,996 --> 00:05:46,196 Speaker 1: certain transmissible illnesses, certain sexually transmitted infections. 76 00:05:46,276 --> 00:05:48,276 Speaker 3: That is, as you. 77 00:05:48,276 --> 00:05:51,156 Speaker 1: Might recall from our previous season, in the days of 78 00:05:51,236 --> 00:05:54,076 Speaker 1: Jack the Ripper, it was women who were considered to 79 00:05:54,116 --> 00:05:58,476 Speaker 1: be the vectors of dreaded venereal disease. Elizabeth Stride, one 80 00:05:58,516 --> 00:06:01,236 Speaker 1: of the women murdered in eighteen eighty eight, was locked 81 00:06:01,316 --> 00:06:04,756 Speaker 1: up in a VD hospital in her native Sweden. There 82 00:06:04,796 --> 00:06:10,516 Speaker 1: she underwent compulsory, unhygienic and humiliating examination and was threatened 83 00:06:10,556 --> 00:06:13,076 Speaker 1: with quackures involving toxic mercury. 84 00:06:13,796 --> 00:06:14,556 Speaker 2: And even though the. 85 00:06:14,556 --> 00:06:19,396 Speaker 1: Spread of venereal disease always takes two. Elizabeth's male clients 86 00:06:19,676 --> 00:06:23,156 Speaker 1: weren't subject to any such restrictions on their freedom or 87 00:06:23,196 --> 00:06:28,676 Speaker 1: forced to have medical interventions, and so it was in 88 00:06:28,716 --> 00:06:32,116 Speaker 1: the era of the Blackout Ripper two. When they announced 89 00:06:32,116 --> 00:06:37,076 Speaker 1: the new law. The newspapers enthusiastically promised that Regulation thirty 90 00:06:37,116 --> 00:06:38,396 Speaker 1: three B would mean. 91 00:06:38,476 --> 00:06:41,796 Speaker 6: Prison for spreaders, and. 92 00:06:41,796 --> 00:06:44,396 Speaker 1: In the first six or so months after thirty three 93 00:06:44,436 --> 00:06:47,956 Speaker 1: B came into force, action was taken against sixty four 94 00:06:47,996 --> 00:06:52,836 Speaker 1: women but only two men. The law said that anyone 95 00:06:52,876 --> 00:06:56,916 Speaker 1: being treated for VD, often soldiers, should be asked who 96 00:06:56,956 --> 00:07:00,356 Speaker 1: had given them the infection. If the person they named 97 00:07:00,516 --> 00:07:04,476 Speaker 1: had also been cited in another VD case, that spreader 98 00:07:04,876 --> 00:07:08,796 Speaker 1: would be summoned for compulsory testing and treatment. Failure to 99 00:07:08,796 --> 00:07:12,716 Speaker 1: attain and any of these mandatory medical appointments would result 100 00:07:12,956 --> 00:07:17,956 Speaker 1: in criminal prosecution. Professor Julia Late says the law was 101 00:07:17,996 --> 00:07:21,916 Speaker 1: not only deeply unjust, it was also utterly flawed. 102 00:07:22,596 --> 00:07:25,996 Speaker 7: What seemed to usually happen is an enlisted man would 103 00:07:26,076 --> 00:07:29,836 Speaker 7: discover they were suffering from veneeral disease and then make 104 00:07:29,876 --> 00:07:33,196 Speaker 7: an educated guess as to which woman they caught it from, 105 00:07:33,596 --> 00:07:36,236 Speaker 7: and denounce her to the police, and the police would 106 00:07:36,236 --> 00:07:39,916 Speaker 7: then have to investigate her, bearing in mind that diagnostic 107 00:07:40,036 --> 00:07:44,076 Speaker 7: technologies were not very far advanced, and even today it's 108 00:07:44,276 --> 00:07:47,236 Speaker 7: very difficult to tell who gave who venereal disease, So 109 00:07:47,276 --> 00:07:49,196 Speaker 7: it's very possible that it was the man who gave 110 00:07:49,236 --> 00:07:53,356 Speaker 7: the woman veneeral disease. But police were supposed to go 111 00:07:53,556 --> 00:07:58,196 Speaker 7: investigate this woman, arrest her forcibly, inspect her for venereal disease, 112 00:07:58,636 --> 00:08:02,036 Speaker 7: so you know, assault her essentially, and then she would 113 00:08:02,116 --> 00:08:05,036 Speaker 7: have to stand trial. And you can only imagine the 114 00:08:05,076 --> 00:08:08,756 Speaker 7: stigma and the shame of being dragged into court for 115 00:08:08,836 --> 00:08:12,436 Speaker 7: having sex with a soldier and maybe giving him VD 116 00:08:12,636 --> 00:08:15,796 Speaker 7: or maybe catching VD from him. It was really awful. 117 00:08:16,276 --> 00:08:20,356 Speaker 1: Olive and Dorothy's court appearances would have been deeply humiliating. 118 00:08:21,156 --> 00:08:24,596 Speaker 1: The soldiers who had denounced them were not named, but 119 00:08:24,676 --> 00:08:27,676 Speaker 1: the two young women had to endure the public airing 120 00:08:27,756 --> 00:08:31,676 Speaker 1: of their medical records, as well as police conjecture about 121 00:08:31,676 --> 00:08:32,796 Speaker 1: their private lives. 122 00:08:33,276 --> 00:08:36,196 Speaker 5: You'd been brought to my attention many times and been 123 00:08:36,236 --> 00:08:38,436 Speaker 5: seen associating with soldiers. 124 00:08:38,756 --> 00:08:42,436 Speaker 1: The women's parents were also named in court and shamed 125 00:08:42,756 --> 00:08:45,236 Speaker 1: for not doing more to curb the behavior of their 126 00:08:45,396 --> 00:08:46,596 Speaker 1: adult offspring. 127 00:08:47,956 --> 00:08:50,756 Speaker 3: If thirty three B was intended to reduce the spread 128 00:08:50,756 --> 00:08:55,556 Speaker 3: of VD, in practice, it relied on publicly humiliating defendants 129 00:08:55,636 --> 00:08:58,236 Speaker 3: to such a degree that other young women might think 130 00:08:58,276 --> 00:09:00,356 Speaker 3: twice before even dating a soldier. 131 00:09:00,516 --> 00:09:03,316 Speaker 5: She's a loose character, said. 132 00:09:03,076 --> 00:09:06,756 Speaker 3: The police constable giving evidence against young mother Dorothy Boldry. 133 00:09:08,196 --> 00:09:12,516 Speaker 3: Thirty three B did have its critics. Several female politicians 134 00:09:12,556 --> 00:09:15,716 Speaker 3: campaigned against it, arguing that it was a gift for. 135 00:09:15,756 --> 00:09:18,916 Speaker 2: The blackmailer, the informer, and the poison pen. 136 00:09:19,596 --> 00:09:22,836 Speaker 3: But their attempts to vote down the regulation were crushed 137 00:09:23,156 --> 00:09:27,236 Speaker 3: two hundred and forty five to thirty one. Julia Late 138 00:09:27,356 --> 00:09:30,676 Speaker 3: says that government officials weren't too bothered if schools of 139 00:09:30,716 --> 00:09:33,236 Speaker 3: young women suffered as a result of thirty three B. 140 00:09:34,076 --> 00:09:38,036 Speaker 3: They were more concerned about applicating visiting Allied generals whose 141 00:09:38,116 --> 00:09:41,436 Speaker 3: men were increasingly reporting sick with v D. 142 00:09:41,956 --> 00:09:46,516 Speaker 7: The Americans were especially upset because they painted a picture 143 00:09:46,756 --> 00:09:48,916 Speaker 7: of these American boys, you know, who'd come from a 144 00:09:48,956 --> 00:09:52,636 Speaker 7: farm in Oklahoma, had never had sex before coming to 145 00:09:52,716 --> 00:09:57,076 Speaker 7: London and being corrupted by British women who taught them 146 00:09:57,316 --> 00:09:59,556 Speaker 7: all these sort of debauched things and then gave them 147 00:09:59,636 --> 00:10:04,276 Speaker 7: venereal disease. That's certainly what the Americans wanted to believe 148 00:10:04,356 --> 00:10:06,716 Speaker 7: was happening. I think that the real story is, of 149 00:10:06,716 --> 00:10:09,476 Speaker 7: course very different, but that's absolutely what they were saying, 150 00:10:09,476 --> 00:10:12,156 Speaker 7: and they were putting an immense amount of pressure on 151 00:10:12,236 --> 00:10:15,676 Speaker 7: the British government and the War Office to control these women. 152 00:10:17,796 --> 00:10:21,156 Speaker 3: Britain, make no mistake, was at this point a dull 153 00:10:21,276 --> 00:10:25,036 Speaker 3: and dismal place. The young foreign men who arrived in 154 00:10:25,076 --> 00:10:28,636 Speaker 3: their hundreds of thousands were a glimmer of glamour amid 155 00:10:28,636 --> 00:10:32,756 Speaker 3: the drudgery and death of wartime pubs and dance halls 156 00:10:32,796 --> 00:10:37,516 Speaker 3: across the nation, filled with Australians, Canadians, free French and 157 00:10:37,596 --> 00:10:42,756 Speaker 3: the unbelievably exotic Americans who had fat bullets, chewing gum 158 00:10:42,796 --> 00:10:47,556 Speaker 3: and even under armdyodorant. Most young women weren't far from 159 00:10:47,596 --> 00:10:50,716 Speaker 3: an army camp, air base or port, and some even 160 00:10:50,796 --> 00:10:53,836 Speaker 3: chose to head to the center of it all, London. 161 00:10:55,356 --> 00:10:58,316 Speaker 3: Some of them ended up trading sex for money, all 162 00:10:58,396 --> 00:11:00,676 Speaker 3: for a night out on the town, and they were 163 00:11:00,716 --> 00:11:05,596 Speaker 3: labeled amateur prostitutes or good time girls by the police. 164 00:11:05,756 --> 00:11:08,636 Speaker 3: They were also an acute source of embarrassment for the 165 00:11:08,636 --> 00:11:12,476 Speaker 3: British or authorities, who feared that the national reputation would 166 00:11:12,476 --> 00:11:15,996 Speaker 3: be harmed when American gis started writing letters back to 167 00:11:16,036 --> 00:11:20,156 Speaker 3: the States about the British women they'd encountered. As one 168 00:11:20,196 --> 00:11:21,516 Speaker 3: government NEMO put it. 169 00:11:21,876 --> 00:11:26,836 Speaker 5: The impression created on the American troops and their mammas 170 00:11:26,876 --> 00:11:28,916 Speaker 5: at home is bad. 171 00:11:29,396 --> 00:11:33,956 Speaker 3: A report was even compiled. It's somewhat overwrought title. 172 00:11:33,876 --> 00:11:38,236 Speaker 5: Was the Pestering of American Troops by loose women. 173 00:11:39,076 --> 00:11:41,916 Speaker 3: Wiser heads in the police and government pointed out that 174 00:11:41,956 --> 00:11:46,236 Speaker 3: the American servicemen themselves were far from innocent bystanders in 175 00:11:46,316 --> 00:11:55,316 Speaker 3: such events. Miss they flocked to London expressly in search 176 00:11:55,396 --> 00:11:59,116 Speaker 3: of the women they rilely referred to as Piccadilly commandos. 177 00:12:00,356 --> 00:12:05,316 Speaker 2: All right, sweetheart, was so glad. I watch you, you 178 00:12:05,396 --> 00:12:06,276 Speaker 2: are staffy. 179 00:12:06,556 --> 00:12:09,276 Speaker 4: Many of the girls were young eighteen was not in 180 00:12:09,436 --> 00:12:11,796 Speaker 4: unusual age, and were often. 181 00:12:11,556 --> 00:12:15,316 Speaker 3: Quite pretty, so, said American pilot Paul Wagner. 182 00:12:15,356 --> 00:12:18,396 Speaker 4: To an American raised in the pure technical culture of 183 00:12:18,436 --> 00:12:22,676 Speaker 4: the Great Depression. This open discussion of sex for sale, 184 00:12:22,836 --> 00:12:26,076 Speaker 4: carried out in broad daylight by girls who looked exactly 185 00:12:26,196 --> 00:12:30,556 Speaker 4: like their wholesome American counterpart, was most astounding. 186 00:12:30,756 --> 00:12:33,716 Speaker 2: You want to take me for a drink I now place. 187 00:12:33,876 --> 00:12:39,436 Speaker 3: Thereby, it seems unlikely that young British women behaved so 188 00:12:39,716 --> 00:12:43,596 Speaker 3: very differently to their counterparts in New York, San Francisco 189 00:12:43,716 --> 00:12:47,036 Speaker 3: or Honolulu. But all the same, the view that took 190 00:12:47,116 --> 00:12:50,556 Speaker 3: hold was that visiting Yanks were being corrupted by local 191 00:12:50,596 --> 00:12:56,196 Speaker 3: women and infected with VD, and so the British acquiesce 192 00:12:56,356 --> 00:13:00,756 Speaker 3: to American demands and Regulation thirty three B was introduced. 193 00:13:02,076 --> 00:13:05,076 Speaker 3: But this was clearly not a proud chapter in British 194 00:13:05,156 --> 00:13:09,076 Speaker 3: legal history. Julia Late says it remains difficult for history 195 00:13:09,476 --> 00:13:12,036 Speaker 3: like her to access any of the official papers. 196 00:13:12,516 --> 00:13:15,396 Speaker 7: The prosecution foleser closed and the War Office fileser closed. 197 00:13:15,876 --> 00:13:19,276 Speaker 3: We only know the depressing details of the cases against 198 00:13:19,356 --> 00:13:23,236 Speaker 3: Olive and Dorothy because their local newspaper, the peterboroughs Standard, 199 00:13:23,476 --> 00:13:27,716 Speaker 3: covered the hearings. The Standard at least printed the defendant's 200 00:13:27,796 --> 00:13:31,596 Speaker 3: side of the case. Both Olive and Dorothy had attended 201 00:13:31,636 --> 00:13:35,316 Speaker 3: examinations and treatment sessions when they could, and Olive's mother 202 00:13:35,396 --> 00:13:37,276 Speaker 3: had gone to the clinic to pick up tablets for 203 00:13:37,316 --> 00:13:41,356 Speaker 3: her daughter, But it seems that their rather patchy attendance 204 00:13:41,436 --> 00:13:46,436 Speaker 3: record had exhausted the patience of their doctor, Doctor Christopher Roliston, 205 00:13:46,676 --> 00:13:49,436 Speaker 3: was a curious character and not one to hide his 206 00:13:49,676 --> 00:13:54,596 Speaker 3: somewhat odd opinions. He was regularly quoted in newspapers railing 207 00:13:54,636 --> 00:13:58,796 Speaker 3: against such things as undesirable Irish migrants and warning that 208 00:13:58,876 --> 00:14:02,236 Speaker 3: women who wore trousers posed a threat to the survival 209 00:14:02,276 --> 00:14:05,436 Speaker 3: of the human race. Nor was he a fan of 210 00:14:05,516 --> 00:14:07,636 Speaker 3: young women working in factories. 211 00:14:08,396 --> 00:14:12,956 Speaker 6: The plan of the home is relaxed, and the opportunities 212 00:14:13,196 --> 00:14:18,836 Speaker 6: and temptations for becoming infected with VD are much increased. 213 00:14:20,396 --> 00:14:24,636 Speaker 3: Even before regulation thirty three B came into force, Roliston 214 00:14:24,676 --> 00:14:28,196 Speaker 3: thought doctors always knew best, and that patients should be 215 00:14:28,236 --> 00:14:32,316 Speaker 3: fined if they refused vaccinations or compulsory treatment for everything 216 00:14:32,476 --> 00:14:36,956 Speaker 3: from dentistry to VD. Had a more sympathetic medical officer 217 00:14:36,996 --> 00:14:40,676 Speaker 3: handled these cases, Olive and Dorothy might never have ended 218 00:14:40,716 --> 00:14:46,236 Speaker 3: up in the police court. Both women pleaded that they'd 219 00:14:46,236 --> 00:14:48,836 Speaker 3: found it impossible to take enough time off work to 220 00:14:48,876 --> 00:14:52,876 Speaker 3: attend the numerous medical appointments required of them. Perhaps they'd 221 00:14:52,876 --> 00:14:56,556 Speaker 3: also run out of excuses to give their employer. Dorothy's 222 00:14:56,636 --> 00:15:01,036 Speaker 3: financial troubles were particularly acute. Her husband, away fighting in 223 00:15:01,076 --> 00:15:03,836 Speaker 3: North Africa, had stopped sending money to support her and 224 00:15:03,876 --> 00:15:07,476 Speaker 3: their three year old daughter. The previous spring. In the end, 225 00:15:07,636 --> 00:15:10,836 Speaker 3: the judges imposed a fine the women, though one smaller 226 00:15:10,876 --> 00:15:13,996 Speaker 3: than one hundred pound maximum. They were sent away with 227 00:15:14,036 --> 00:15:16,676 Speaker 3: the promise that another appearance in the dock would see 228 00:15:16,676 --> 00:15:21,516 Speaker 3: them imprisoned. Being spared time behind bars might have been 229 00:15:21,676 --> 00:15:25,396 Speaker 3: of little consolation, for the national press had picked up 230 00:15:25,436 --> 00:15:28,796 Speaker 3: the juicier parts of the evidence. The two women had 231 00:15:28,796 --> 00:15:32,876 Speaker 3: been disgraced throughout the land, from bustling cities to the 232 00:15:32,916 --> 00:15:37,476 Speaker 3: furthest reaches of the British Isles. Their reputations were in tatus. 233 00:15:39,076 --> 00:15:43,076 Speaker 3: Dorothy Baldry, called a menace to society in court, found 234 00:15:43,076 --> 00:15:46,996 Speaker 3: it impossible to secure work following her conviction. Unable to 235 00:15:46,996 --> 00:15:50,116 Speaker 3: pay off all of her fine, Dorothy was soon hauled 236 00:15:50,196 --> 00:15:53,996 Speaker 3: up before the judges again and this time sent to jail. 237 00:15:56,316 --> 00:15:59,876 Speaker 3: Bad women, the blackout Ripper will return in just a moment. 238 00:16:22,836 --> 00:16:26,676 Speaker 1: Some serving soldiers went to extraordinary lengths to avoid the 239 00:16:26,716 --> 00:16:28,956 Speaker 1: supposed pestering of loose women. 240 00:16:29,556 --> 00:16:32,316 Speaker 5: All right, you get in a line along yere, look 241 00:16:32,356 --> 00:16:32,836 Speaker 5: to your front. 242 00:16:33,076 --> 00:16:36,796 Speaker 1: New recruit Richard Bryer, arriving at a provincial railroad station 243 00:16:36,956 --> 00:16:38,156 Speaker 1: to join his training years. 244 00:16:39,236 --> 00:16:41,116 Speaker 6: What have I done to deserve a gang like you? 245 00:16:41,276 --> 00:16:43,796 Speaker 1: It's about to learn that some men are on the 246 00:16:43,876 --> 00:16:48,236 Speaker 1: hunt for alternatives to the good time girls and Piccadilly commandos. 247 00:16:48,316 --> 00:16:50,156 Speaker 5: Well, soon have you look at our soldiers? 248 00:16:50,796 --> 00:16:51,836 Speaker 6: Step up, look shop. 249 00:16:52,316 --> 00:16:56,556 Speaker 1: Because venereal disease was on the rise, the military authorities 250 00:16:56,676 --> 00:17:01,716 Speaker 1: bombarded their new soldiers with stern lectures and lurid posters 251 00:17:02,076 --> 00:17:04,596 Speaker 1: warning that she mean look clean. 252 00:17:04,876 --> 00:17:11,356 Speaker 4: But good time girls spread syphilis. 253 00:17:08,916 --> 00:17:12,596 Speaker 1: And god Fearing Northern Ireland, the army even pleaded that 254 00:17:12,756 --> 00:17:16,196 Speaker 1: cinemas be allowed to open on the sabbath. Even a 255 00:17:16,236 --> 00:17:19,076 Speaker 1: few hours at the movies were a few more hours 256 00:17:19,116 --> 00:17:23,636 Speaker 1: when its soldiers weren't in danger of contracting gonorrhea, And 257 00:17:23,756 --> 00:17:26,396 Speaker 1: here they might even be shown one of the army's 258 00:17:26,476 --> 00:17:30,476 Speaker 1: own information films, A tale of boy meets girl. 259 00:17:30,716 --> 00:17:31,516 Speaker 8: Hey, what's your name? 260 00:17:33,636 --> 00:17:34,356 Speaker 9: Milne's Johnny? 261 00:17:34,796 --> 00:17:37,396 Speaker 10: What do you say? We celebrate our honor a couple 262 00:17:37,396 --> 00:17:37,996 Speaker 10: of beers. 263 00:17:38,076 --> 00:17:41,636 Speaker 1: This particular soldier goes straight back to his barracks to 264 00:17:41,796 --> 00:17:42,996 Speaker 1: brag to his friend. 265 00:17:43,196 --> 00:17:46,636 Speaker 10: Don't tell me you as sure that boy up nice? 266 00:17:46,676 --> 00:17:48,236 Speaker 4: Too clean as a whistle. 267 00:17:48,716 --> 00:17:49,996 Speaker 7: Even a whistle can get. 268 00:17:49,876 --> 00:17:55,116 Speaker 1: Messy, but morning comes with a sting. What did the 269 00:17:55,156 --> 00:17:57,716 Speaker 1: posters say about clean looking girls? 270 00:17:57,996 --> 00:18:01,156 Speaker 4: I got a dose. I got a fine dose. 271 00:18:01,796 --> 00:18:05,276 Speaker 1: This particular film assumed that men could never be dissuaded 272 00:18:05,316 --> 00:18:08,476 Speaker 1: from sleeping with women, so its main message was to 273 00:18:08,596 --> 00:18:13,556 Speaker 1: encourage soldiers to at least use condoms. However, some soldiers, 274 00:18:13,996 --> 00:18:18,396 Speaker 1: scared of the neurial disease, fearful of unwanted pregnancy, squeamish 275 00:18:18,436 --> 00:18:21,436 Speaker 1: about paying for sex, or unwilling to be unfaithful to 276 00:18:21,516 --> 00:18:25,956 Speaker 1: wives and sweethearts back home, did swear off women and 277 00:18:26,036 --> 00:18:36,236 Speaker 1: seek other outlets for their sexual desires. Back at that 278 00:18:36,316 --> 00:18:40,396 Speaker 1: train station, will Recruit. Richard Bryer is singled out by 279 00:18:40,396 --> 00:18:43,756 Speaker 1: one of the sergeants and guided towards a truck headed 280 00:18:43,796 --> 00:18:44,556 Speaker 1: for the barracks. 281 00:18:45,236 --> 00:18:47,436 Speaker 6: You lucky lot of joining a best regimen in the army, 282 00:18:47,956 --> 00:18:51,196 Speaker 6: as you put a smile on your worried looking faces, little. 283 00:18:50,836 --> 00:18:54,516 Speaker 1: Did he realize that he'd been specially selected because of 284 00:18:54,556 --> 00:18:56,316 Speaker 1: his physical attractiveness. 285 00:18:57,236 --> 00:19:01,956 Speaker 10: During the drive, I found the joting of the lurry 286 00:19:02,516 --> 00:19:04,036 Speaker 10: was inclined. 287 00:19:03,516 --> 00:19:07,796 Speaker 11: To throw us together, and at first I innocently assumed 288 00:19:07,836 --> 00:19:11,316 Speaker 11: it was accidental. But then I discovered that body contact 289 00:19:11,396 --> 00:19:14,396 Speaker 11: was being made even when the movement of the barrier 290 00:19:14,636 --> 00:19:18,276 Speaker 11: didn't require it, and we were going through the blackgown then, 291 00:19:18,516 --> 00:19:22,716 Speaker 11: and so there was no possible observation of what was 292 00:19:22,756 --> 00:19:23,236 Speaker 11: going on. 293 00:19:23,996 --> 00:19:29,196 Speaker 10: And they the ex hibit sexual manover on Me was 294 00:19:29,236 --> 00:19:30,756 Speaker 10: made during that journey. 295 00:19:31,356 --> 00:19:34,916 Speaker 1: This interview with Richard was recorded by historian Emma Vickers, 296 00:19:35,316 --> 00:19:38,796 Speaker 1: author of Queen and Country, Same Sex Desire in the 297 00:19:38,836 --> 00:19:43,476 Speaker 1: British Armed Forces. Emma says Richard wasn't unwilling to enter 298 00:19:43,516 --> 00:19:46,916 Speaker 1: into a sexual relationship with his sergeant and later slept 299 00:19:46,956 --> 00:19:50,676 Speaker 1: with other married officers who opted for sex with recruits 300 00:19:50,716 --> 00:19:52,716 Speaker 1: over paying for prostitutes. 301 00:19:53,196 --> 00:19:56,076 Speaker 12: So the men that were ostensibly straight, that were married 302 00:19:56,196 --> 00:19:58,956 Speaker 12: or engaged, they would often say, I didn't want to 303 00:19:59,476 --> 00:20:02,116 Speaker 12: invite the attention of a sex worker, and so you know, 304 00:20:02,196 --> 00:20:03,476 Speaker 12: I found the next best thing. 305 00:20:04,156 --> 00:20:07,876 Speaker 1: But such same sex encounters, which were still illegal for men, 306 00:20:08,036 --> 00:20:09,796 Speaker 1: could also rely on coersion. 307 00:20:10,036 --> 00:20:13,556 Speaker 12: There are a couple of examples of mass exploitation by 308 00:20:13,716 --> 00:20:19,276 Speaker 12: officers who sexually proposition the men that they command in 309 00:20:19,316 --> 00:20:24,396 Speaker 12: a very secretive, exploitative way. You know, that's hard to 310 00:20:24,516 --> 00:20:27,876 Speaker 12: read as a historian when you have twelve men from 311 00:20:27,916 --> 00:20:32,236 Speaker 12: the same battalion that are complaining about a single officer. 312 00:20:32,556 --> 00:20:37,276 Speaker 3: Even though these were punishable offenses. During wartime, military leaders 313 00:20:37,316 --> 00:20:40,156 Speaker 3: took a lenient view of the sexual activities of men 314 00:20:40,236 --> 00:20:41,116 Speaker 3: under their command. 315 00:20:41,556 --> 00:20:45,076 Speaker 12: There are plenty of examples of men that tumble out 316 00:20:45,076 --> 00:20:48,956 Speaker 12: of each other's bunks, and senior officers or say, what 317 00:20:49,036 --> 00:20:50,676 Speaker 12: do you want them to do? They're just about to 318 00:20:50,676 --> 00:20:51,876 Speaker 12: go on a major operation. 319 00:20:52,556 --> 00:20:53,116 Speaker 3: Emma says. 320 00:20:53,156 --> 00:20:56,556 Speaker 1: The prevailing attitude was that men away from home needed 321 00:20:56,596 --> 00:20:59,756 Speaker 1: to have some form of sexual outlet, whether with good 322 00:20:59,756 --> 00:21:04,236 Speaker 1: time girls were so called professional prostitutes, or with each other. 323 00:21:05,236 --> 00:21:09,076 Speaker 1: Men's sexual appetites could not be curbed or contry. 324 00:21:09,996 --> 00:21:12,196 Speaker 12: It's the kind of boys will be boys' attitudes. It's 325 00:21:12,276 --> 00:21:14,676 Speaker 12: part of the bonding, it's part of the culture, and 326 00:21:14,716 --> 00:21:18,396 Speaker 12: there is this sense that sexually satisfied men are easier 327 00:21:18,436 --> 00:21:19,276 Speaker 12: to manage. 328 00:21:19,316 --> 00:21:22,756 Speaker 1: Of course, while the unbridled male sex drive was a 329 00:21:22,796 --> 00:21:26,836 Speaker 1: fact of life, woe betide any woman who considered having 330 00:21:26,876 --> 00:21:31,396 Speaker 1: more than one sexual partner. She was just asking for trouble. 331 00:21:34,796 --> 00:21:38,356 Speaker 3: Thirty six year old seamstress Doris Staples was a newcomer 332 00:21:38,356 --> 00:21:42,396 Speaker 3: to Henley on Thames, a genteel country town thirty miles 333 00:21:42,476 --> 00:21:45,796 Speaker 3: upstream from London, famed for the rowing races at its 334 00:21:45,876 --> 00:21:51,796 Speaker 3: annual Royal regatta. Henley's townspeople appear not to have welcomed 335 00:21:51,796 --> 00:21:55,836 Speaker 3: her arrival. Before the war, Doris had lived for years 336 00:21:55,836 --> 00:21:58,316 Speaker 3: in West London, first with her family, and then in 337 00:21:58,316 --> 00:22:00,716 Speaker 3: a place of her own, a terraced house, where she 338 00:22:00,796 --> 00:22:03,756 Speaker 3: resided first with her younger brother, Bernard, and then with 339 00:22:03,836 --> 00:22:06,756 Speaker 3: another sibling, Arthur, who was just a year her junior. 340 00:22:07,716 --> 00:22:10,316 Speaker 3: The West End would have been just a short hop 341 00:22:10,396 --> 00:22:14,076 Speaker 3: on the subway or bus. After a day spent perusing 342 00:22:14,116 --> 00:22:18,396 Speaker 3: the district's fashionable shopping streets and grand department stores, Doris 343 00:22:18,436 --> 00:22:20,516 Speaker 3: may well have called in for a drink at the 344 00:22:20,596 --> 00:22:25,196 Speaker 3: Universal Brasserie, the Salted Almond or Mazon Lions venues familiar 345 00:22:25,236 --> 00:22:28,716 Speaker 3: to the victims of the Blackout Ripper. The capital must 346 00:22:28,796 --> 00:22:32,556 Speaker 3: have been dizzyingly exciting for the dressmaker, for she'd been 347 00:22:32,636 --> 00:22:36,436 Speaker 3: raised on the remote island of Guernsey, a tiny speck 348 00:22:36,476 --> 00:22:40,876 Speaker 3: of Britain nestled just off the coast of France. Why 349 00:22:40,916 --> 00:22:45,396 Speaker 3: Doris left London isn't clear, but her departure did coincide 350 00:22:45,476 --> 00:22:48,556 Speaker 3: with the worst air raids of the Blitz. It's thought 351 00:22:48,596 --> 00:22:52,356 Speaker 3: that sixteen high explosive bombs landed in the streets around 352 00:22:52,356 --> 00:22:56,036 Speaker 3: Doris's home over just one week in October nineteen forty. 353 00:22:58,276 --> 00:23:02,116 Speaker 3: Dress shop owner Izzie Aaronson met Doris in nineteen forty one. 354 00:23:02,796 --> 00:23:06,636 Speaker 3: The tailor may have valued her sewing skills, but otherwise 355 00:23:06,876 --> 00:23:09,076 Speaker 3: he seems to have held Doris in low regard. 356 00:23:09,756 --> 00:23:12,196 Speaker 6: She did not have such a great name in the town. 357 00:23:13,076 --> 00:23:16,636 Speaker 3: According to her co workers, Doris was the subject of 358 00:23:16,796 --> 00:23:22,356 Speaker 3: considerable local gossip. It was murmured disapprovingly that she spent 359 00:23:22,476 --> 00:23:26,996 Speaker 3: weekends with Air Force fellows. The countryside around Henley was 360 00:23:27,036 --> 00:23:31,316 Speaker 3: dotted with new airfields and military installations, so perhaps she 361 00:23:31,396 --> 00:23:33,876 Speaker 3: met men who came into town in search of fun. 362 00:23:34,476 --> 00:23:36,916 Speaker 3: Or maybe Doris went further afield to the cities of 363 00:23:36,916 --> 00:23:39,636 Speaker 3: Oxford or Reading, or took the train back into London. 364 00:23:40,556 --> 00:23:43,556 Speaker 3: At some point she met an American sergeant and formed 365 00:23:43,556 --> 00:23:46,596 Speaker 3: a close relationship with him. It was suggested that she 366 00:23:46,756 --> 00:23:50,636 Speaker 3: loved the man and they'd become engaged. According to some reports, 367 00:23:50,676 --> 00:23:54,836 Speaker 3: the man was already married, though unhappily. In any case, 368 00:23:54,956 --> 00:23:58,436 Speaker 3: that romance was soon interrupted by the war. The sergeant 369 00:23:58,516 --> 00:24:03,236 Speaker 3: was posted to North Africa, and then in February nineteen 370 00:24:03,276 --> 00:24:08,556 Speaker 3: forty three, Doris crosspaths with another unhappily married Yank private 371 00:24:08,676 --> 00:24:13,156 Speaker 3: Johns in fact, the thirty seven year old from perth Amboy, 372 00:24:13,236 --> 00:24:18,156 Speaker 3: New Jersey, was unhappy. On several fronts. The American military 373 00:24:18,196 --> 00:24:21,876 Speaker 3: had staged what was jokingly dubbed a friendly invasion of 374 00:24:21,916 --> 00:24:26,996 Speaker 3: the UK. Biccadilly Circus was teeming with visiting soldiers, but 375 00:24:27,116 --> 00:24:30,676 Speaker 3: so too were cities, towns and villages across the land. 376 00:24:31,316 --> 00:24:34,636 Speaker 3: The hundreds of thousands of young Americans brought with them 377 00:24:34,756 --> 00:24:37,996 Speaker 3: millions of candy bars, bottles of coke and all kinds 378 00:24:37,996 --> 00:24:42,316 Speaker 3: of other luxuries from home too. Henley on Thames, however, 379 00:24:42,716 --> 00:24:47,156 Speaker 3: was yet to experience this bounty. In civilian life. Waters 380 00:24:47,276 --> 00:24:50,836 Speaker 3: was a skilled craftsman in tarracotta and ornamental plaster, and 381 00:24:50,916 --> 00:24:54,076 Speaker 3: he'd been selected to join a small but special detachment 382 00:24:54,116 --> 00:24:57,676 Speaker 3: of Americans loaned out to the Royal Air Force based 383 00:24:57,676 --> 00:25:01,396 Speaker 3: at a requisition country club, Phyllis Court. Waters was engaged 384 00:25:01,436 --> 00:25:05,156 Speaker 3: in top secret work making miniature models of German military 385 00:25:05,196 --> 00:25:07,916 Speaker 3: targets to help the Allied planners work out the best 386 00:25:07,956 --> 00:25:12,916 Speaker 3: way to attack or them. But stranded amid a mass Sublimey's, 387 00:25:13,476 --> 00:25:16,756 Speaker 3: Waters and a handful of comrades were denied the enviable 388 00:25:16,756 --> 00:25:19,956 Speaker 3: amenities that US bases had to offer, as well as 389 00:25:19,956 --> 00:25:22,716 Speaker 3: the potential for promotion to the better and higher paying 390 00:25:22,836 --> 00:25:27,076 Speaker 3: roles that were available in larger units. Waters not only 391 00:25:27,116 --> 00:25:31,236 Speaker 3: worked alongside British servicemen, to his disgust, he had to 392 00:25:31,276 --> 00:25:32,556 Speaker 3: eat their food too. 393 00:25:33,316 --> 00:25:37,436 Speaker 8: Everything's fried bread and Brussels sprouts, and it just wrecked 394 00:25:37,676 --> 00:25:38,316 Speaker 8: my stomach. 395 00:25:38,996 --> 00:25:42,356 Speaker 3: Waters often left his base north of Henley and cycled 396 00:25:42,356 --> 00:25:45,036 Speaker 3: into town to buy whatever decent food he could find, 397 00:25:45,476 --> 00:25:49,676 Speaker 3: an expensive habit that was crippling his already fragile finances. 398 00:25:50,556 --> 00:25:53,556 Speaker 3: Waters must have met Doris during one of his numerous 399 00:25:53,636 --> 00:25:57,276 Speaker 3: visits to town, and his attraction to her soon merged 400 00:25:57,516 --> 00:25:58,316 Speaker 3: on obsession. 401 00:25:58,596 --> 00:26:02,356 Speaker 8: I saw her nearly every day. I used to go 402 00:26:02,396 --> 00:26:04,276 Speaker 8: to see her at the dress shop where she worked. 403 00:26:04,516 --> 00:26:07,036 Speaker 8: I used to take her to movies and to pubs. 404 00:26:07,516 --> 00:26:10,596 Speaker 3: The cash strapped Waters said he paid for these outings 405 00:26:10,636 --> 00:26:14,676 Speaker 3: and also showered Doris with gifts. Then one day she 406 00:26:14,796 --> 00:26:16,716 Speaker 3: came to him with bad news. 407 00:26:17,916 --> 00:26:20,396 Speaker 8: She told me she was pregnant, and I gave her 408 00:26:20,476 --> 00:26:21,796 Speaker 8: money to straighten it out. 409 00:26:24,036 --> 00:26:27,316 Speaker 3: Neither Waters nor Doris seemed to countenance bringing a child 410 00:26:27,356 --> 00:26:31,276 Speaker 3: into the world together, but straightening it out would involve 411 00:26:31,316 --> 00:26:35,996 Speaker 3: breaking the law. In nineteen forty three, abortion was illegal 412 00:26:36,036 --> 00:26:38,836 Speaker 3: in Britain and it was dangerous. 413 00:26:39,396 --> 00:26:41,996 Speaker 1: Back when women won the vote, it was hoped that 414 00:26:42,036 --> 00:26:45,436 Speaker 1: their participation in politics would prompt the reform of their 415 00:26:45,476 --> 00:26:46,436 Speaker 1: reproductive rights. 416 00:26:46,836 --> 00:26:49,116 Speaker 3: Says historian professor Pat Thane. 417 00:26:49,676 --> 00:26:52,996 Speaker 9: What happened in the mid nineteen thirties is and women 418 00:26:53,156 --> 00:26:57,196 Speaker 9: were campaigned for legalized abortion because there were a lot 419 00:26:57,276 --> 00:27:01,756 Speaker 9: of deaths due to backstreet abortions, and well off women 420 00:27:01,796 --> 00:27:05,396 Speaker 9: could always pay have an abortion. Working class women couldn't, 421 00:27:05,596 --> 00:27:08,796 Speaker 9: And there were so called backstreet abortionists who had come 422 00:27:08,836 --> 00:27:11,436 Speaker 9: and it orthough. We might take drugs and then I 423 00:27:11,636 --> 00:27:15,196 Speaker 9: either made themselves seriously ill or they died. Serves quite 424 00:27:15,196 --> 00:27:16,276 Speaker 9: a serious problem. 425 00:27:17,036 --> 00:27:21,236 Speaker 1: The campaigners did for some changes. Abortions were no longer 426 00:27:21,276 --> 00:27:23,876 Speaker 1: punishable if they were done in good faith for the 427 00:27:23,916 --> 00:27:27,076 Speaker 1: purpose of preserving the life of the mother, and a 428 00:27:27,156 --> 00:27:30,156 Speaker 1: landmark court ruling just before the outbreak of the war 429 00:27:30,636 --> 00:27:34,876 Speaker 1: allowed for terminations of pregnancies resulting from traumatic events such 430 00:27:34,916 --> 00:27:39,076 Speaker 1: as rape. But for tens of thousands of women each year, 431 00:27:39,596 --> 00:27:43,636 Speaker 1: women just like Doris Staples, their only option was to 432 00:27:43,676 --> 00:27:48,756 Speaker 1: resort to the backstreet abortionist, or worse, It's not hard 433 00:27:48,796 --> 00:27:53,756 Speaker 1: to find prosecution files on so called professional abortionists. Often 434 00:27:53,796 --> 00:27:58,476 Speaker 1: women they performed terminations for a few pounds. If caught, 435 00:27:58,916 --> 00:28:02,276 Speaker 1: they faced around three years in jail, and far longer 436 00:28:02,356 --> 00:28:04,996 Speaker 1: if the pregnant woman died as a result of their work. 437 00:28:05,876 --> 00:28:09,716 Speaker 1: Alongside such cases are reports on pregnant women pushed to 438 00:28:09,876 --> 00:28:13,556 Speaker 1: awful lengths, like the forty year old abandoned by her 439 00:28:13,596 --> 00:28:17,516 Speaker 1: lover who took us so called noxious thing to end 440 00:28:17,556 --> 00:28:22,316 Speaker 1: her pregnancy. The substance had the desired effect, but the 441 00:28:22,356 --> 00:28:26,196 Speaker 1: woman became so gravely ill that her neighbors called the police, 442 00:28:26,796 --> 00:28:30,876 Speaker 1: who only then summoned a doctor. Another woman found herself 443 00:28:30,916 --> 00:28:34,996 Speaker 1: in the dock, charged with using an instrument to induce 444 00:28:35,036 --> 00:28:39,276 Speaker 1: her young neighbor to miss carey. The defendant denied the offense, 445 00:28:39,756 --> 00:28:42,396 Speaker 1: saying she found the desperate young woman in the bathroom 446 00:28:42,836 --> 00:28:46,676 Speaker 1: using the implement on herself and merely wrested it. 447 00:28:46,596 --> 00:28:47,556 Speaker 3: From her hands. 448 00:28:48,876 --> 00:28:52,316 Speaker 1: Some women, of course, didn't seek to end their pregnancies. 449 00:28:53,196 --> 00:28:56,756 Speaker 1: Thirty two year old army cook Margaret Williams popped round 450 00:28:56,756 --> 00:29:00,036 Speaker 1: to a friend's house early one morning. Moving the pet 451 00:29:00,036 --> 00:29:03,596 Speaker 1: bird to another room. She drew the heavy blackout curtains 452 00:29:03,636 --> 00:29:07,676 Speaker 1: in the kitchen, sealed the doors and windows, turned on 453 00:29:07,836 --> 00:29:14,396 Speaker 1: the gas oven, and placed her head inside. However, Doris 454 00:29:14,476 --> 00:29:18,956 Speaker 1: Staples straightened out her situation by the summer of nineteen 455 00:29:19,036 --> 00:29:23,036 Speaker 1: forty three. She was no longer pregnant, but she could 456 00:29:23,076 --> 00:29:25,516 Speaker 1: not rid herself of John Waters. 457 00:29:26,276 --> 00:29:32,676 Speaker 3: No matter what she tried. Bad women will return in 458 00:29:32,716 --> 00:29:45,556 Speaker 3: a moment. Private John Waters couldn't take the hint. Even 459 00:29:45,596 --> 00:29:47,476 Speaker 3: when Doris would end their dates early. 460 00:29:47,876 --> 00:29:49,676 Speaker 8: She used to tell me she had to go home, 461 00:29:50,036 --> 00:29:52,156 Speaker 8: and then the boys would see her later in the 462 00:29:52,236 --> 00:29:56,596 Speaker 8: evening with another guy. That burned me up. 463 00:29:57,596 --> 00:30:01,076 Speaker 3: Waters believed that Doris was sleeping with other men. Perhaps 464 00:30:01,116 --> 00:30:04,876 Speaker 3: she was, perhaps she wasn't. But what is apparent from 465 00:30:04,916 --> 00:30:07,036 Speaker 3: the file in this case is that the idea of 466 00:30:07,076 --> 00:30:11,476 Speaker 3: her infidelity increasingly obsessed Waters. He was convinced that she 467 00:30:11,596 --> 00:30:13,876 Speaker 3: was lying to him, and he was angry. 468 00:30:14,116 --> 00:30:17,196 Speaker 8: We argued because she was stepping out and it made 469 00:30:17,196 --> 00:30:18,716 Speaker 8: a goddamn fool of me. 470 00:30:19,836 --> 00:30:22,836 Speaker 3: When Doris's father visited one Sunday, he saw the problem 471 00:30:22,836 --> 00:30:23,556 Speaker 3: for himself. 472 00:30:23,916 --> 00:30:26,676 Speaker 6: We were sitting in a local hotel in the evening 473 00:30:27,076 --> 00:30:29,796 Speaker 6: when my daughter pointed out an American and told me 474 00:30:29,836 --> 00:30:31,996 Speaker 6: that he was always paying her a lot of attention. 475 00:30:32,916 --> 00:30:34,956 Speaker 6: I walked over to him and told him that he 476 00:30:35,036 --> 00:30:35,916 Speaker 6: must stop it. 477 00:30:37,076 --> 00:30:40,396 Speaker 3: So Waters wasn't just showing up at Doris's place of work, 478 00:30:40,796 --> 00:30:43,316 Speaker 3: he was shadowing her in the pubs of Henley too. 479 00:30:44,476 --> 00:30:48,076 Speaker 13: When I was reading this story about this couple, what 480 00:30:48,316 --> 00:30:54,236 Speaker 13: struck me immediately was how nothing's changed. How the way 481 00:30:54,276 --> 00:30:58,236 Speaker 13: this played out was exactly the same as the way 482 00:30:58,276 --> 00:31:00,596 Speaker 13: these murders are playing out right now. 483 00:31:01,196 --> 00:31:04,676 Speaker 3: Professor Jane Monkton Smith is the author of in Control, 484 00:31:04,876 --> 00:31:07,716 Speaker 3: Dangerous Relationships and How They End in Murder. 485 00:31:08,516 --> 00:31:11,476 Speaker 13: I got into the area of research because I was 486 00:31:11,516 --> 00:31:15,116 Speaker 13: a police officer many years ago, and I saw a 487 00:31:15,196 --> 00:31:19,716 Speaker 13: lot of violence against women and violence generally, and I 488 00:31:19,836 --> 00:31:22,716 Speaker 13: was surprised at the time by the way that we 489 00:31:23,036 --> 00:31:26,836 Speaker 13: justify and excuse violence depending on the victim. 490 00:31:27,116 --> 00:31:29,676 Speaker 3: We sent Jane our notes on the case of Doris Staples, 491 00:31:29,996 --> 00:31:33,156 Speaker 3: and the events of nineteen forty three seemed all too 492 00:31:33,276 --> 00:31:34,236 Speaker 3: familiar to her. 493 00:31:34,756 --> 00:31:38,556 Speaker 13: Him turning up at her work is absolutely typical of 494 00:31:38,596 --> 00:31:42,476 Speaker 13: a controlling partner. What are you doing when I'm not there? 495 00:31:42,996 --> 00:31:46,236 Speaker 13: I want to exert my authority on this relationship. I 496 00:31:46,276 --> 00:31:49,236 Speaker 13: want you to know that you're being watched. I need 497 00:31:49,236 --> 00:31:53,236 Speaker 13: to know what you're doing. I need to let everyone 498 00:31:53,276 --> 00:31:56,516 Speaker 13: else know that I own knew there's that kind of 499 00:31:56,836 --> 00:32:02,436 Speaker 13: paranoid sexual jealousy, and there's the coercive control. We wouldn't 500 00:32:02,476 --> 00:32:04,836 Speaker 13: even call it coercive control. Then, I don't even know 501 00:32:04,836 --> 00:32:07,076 Speaker 13: if we'd have called it domestic abuse. It would just 502 00:32:07,156 --> 00:32:10,076 Speaker 13: have been seen, I think as pretty normal in a relationship. 503 00:32:10,636 --> 00:32:13,636 Speaker 3: Besides Doris's father, no one else in her life seemed 504 00:32:13,676 --> 00:32:18,036 Speaker 3: to feel there was anything particularly wrong with the soldier's behavior. Indeed, 505 00:32:18,476 --> 00:32:22,996 Speaker 3: fellow dressmaker Gertrude Hearst thought Doris was rather rude to 506 00:32:23,116 --> 00:32:26,516 Speaker 3: Waters and recommended that she moderate her behavior towards him. 507 00:32:26,556 --> 00:32:28,836 Speaker 3: You'll pick Johnny very sore if you keep on like that. 508 00:32:29,836 --> 00:32:31,796 Speaker 3: Jane recognizes this pattern too. 509 00:32:32,556 --> 00:32:37,956 Speaker 13: We spend so much time defending those problematic behaviors as 510 00:32:38,116 --> 00:32:43,196 Speaker 13: as if they're natural in men, completely natural, and attacking 511 00:32:43,316 --> 00:32:48,276 Speaker 13: the responses of the woman to those problematic behaviors. We 512 00:32:48,396 --> 00:32:55,236 Speaker 13: don't seem to see those behaviors as problematic until something 513 00:32:55,556 --> 00:32:56,516 Speaker 13: violent happens. 514 00:32:57,836 --> 00:33:01,236 Speaker 1: Jane see's other familiar and worrying factors in the case. 515 00:33:01,756 --> 00:33:05,116 Speaker 1: Waters was suffering setbacks in many parts of his life, 516 00:33:05,516 --> 00:33:08,276 Speaker 1: but seems to have focused his frustrations on Doris. 517 00:33:09,196 --> 00:33:10,476 Speaker 3: The soldier felt he'd. 518 00:33:10,316 --> 00:33:14,396 Speaker 1: Experienced an acute loss of status. He found the army's 519 00:33:14,436 --> 00:33:15,756 Speaker 1: way of model making. 520 00:33:15,636 --> 00:33:18,116 Speaker 4: Did not require the full use of his skill. 521 00:33:18,436 --> 00:33:23,036 Speaker 1: A colleague said, Waters grumbled about his living conditions and 522 00:33:23,236 --> 00:33:27,316 Speaker 1: the inferior British food rations, and his inability to gain 523 00:33:27,356 --> 00:33:31,516 Speaker 1: a promotion. He had money troubles, too, which became even 524 00:33:31,596 --> 00:33:35,116 Speaker 1: more stark when his estranged wife, whom he hadn't seen 525 00:33:35,196 --> 00:33:39,076 Speaker 1: for around thirteen years, filed for an allotment from his pay. 526 00:33:39,876 --> 00:33:42,676 Speaker 1: Twenty two dollars a month would be deducted from his 527 00:33:42,756 --> 00:33:46,916 Speaker 1: wages and sent to support his wife and child. This 528 00:33:47,156 --> 00:33:52,036 Speaker 1: was a considerable sum, and witnesses say it greatly agitated Waters. 529 00:33:52,516 --> 00:33:55,556 Speaker 1: He was reduced to borrowing money from his comrades and 530 00:33:55,716 --> 00:34:01,756 Speaker 1: even his superiors, and now even more humbling, Doris appeared 531 00:34:01,796 --> 00:34:03,956 Speaker 1: to be pulling away from their relationship. 532 00:34:07,796 --> 00:34:10,316 Speaker 13: That's what this is all about, really, It's entitlement and 533 00:34:10,476 --> 00:34:17,796 Speaker 13: status and protecting men from being humiliated, because humiliation, allegedly 534 00:34:18,396 --> 00:34:21,316 Speaker 13: is the thing that men are most afraid of. Women 535 00:34:21,356 --> 00:34:23,836 Speaker 13: are most afraid of violence and being killed, men are 536 00:34:24,236 --> 00:34:27,876 Speaker 13: far more frightened of humiliation. So if you leave them, 537 00:34:28,556 --> 00:34:29,636 Speaker 13: you're pushing that button. 538 00:34:32,316 --> 00:34:35,996 Speaker 1: On July fourteenth, Waters was due to take over sentry 539 00:34:36,076 --> 00:34:39,316 Speaker 1: duty at Phyllis Court. It was his turn to guard 540 00:34:39,356 --> 00:34:42,436 Speaker 1: the top secret installation. As he was issued with a 541 00:34:42,436 --> 00:34:47,276 Speaker 1: pistol and ammunition. He said he was burnt up at Doris. 542 00:34:47,876 --> 00:34:49,916 Speaker 1: He was said to be seen and sober when he 543 00:34:49,916 --> 00:34:54,196 Speaker 1: claimed his weapon, but shortly afterwards he was tapping at 544 00:34:54,196 --> 00:34:57,236 Speaker 1: the window of the dress shop, the stench of drink 545 00:34:57,276 --> 00:35:01,596 Speaker 1: on his breath. Doris looked up from her work and 546 00:35:01,636 --> 00:35:04,116 Speaker 1: then came that altercation on the street. 547 00:35:04,236 --> 00:35:06,316 Speaker 2: Oh away, Johnny got work to do. 548 00:35:07,636 --> 00:35:12,636 Speaker 1: When the shopkeeper finally ordered Doris back inside, Waters followed 549 00:35:12,756 --> 00:35:17,476 Speaker 1: close on her heels. Doris turned, saw the pistol in 550 00:35:17,516 --> 00:35:23,396 Speaker 1: his hand and began to back away from him. Doris 551 00:35:23,516 --> 00:35:25,596 Speaker 1: Staples fell to the floor. 552 00:35:25,716 --> 00:35:26,916 Speaker 9: I'll get you some water. 553 00:35:27,076 --> 00:35:31,156 Speaker 1: Said Gertrude Hurst, who assumed that Doris had merely fainted. 554 00:35:32,796 --> 00:35:38,556 Speaker 1: Waters fired twice more, striking Doris again, and then he 555 00:35:38,756 --> 00:35:41,956 Speaker 1: turned the gun on himself, aiming a shot up into 556 00:35:42,036 --> 00:35:46,996 Speaker 1: his brain. The staff finally fled the chaos of the shop, 557 00:35:47,796 --> 00:35:51,876 Speaker 1: crying out for help. Armed police and firemen were soon 558 00:35:51,916 --> 00:35:54,316 Speaker 1: on the scene, along with American. 559 00:35:53,836 --> 00:35:55,396 Speaker 3: Soldiers from Phyllis Court. 560 00:35:56,316 --> 00:36:02,596 Speaker 1: Johnny Waters was still alive and far from all right, 561 00:36:03,196 --> 00:36:06,276 Speaker 1: but he also wasn't about to surrender and allow Doris 562 00:36:06,356 --> 00:36:07,836 Speaker 1: to receive medical treatment. 563 00:36:09,876 --> 00:36:13,436 Speaker 6: Have you been hear me the revolver and then come 564 00:36:13,436 --> 00:36:15,236 Speaker 6: out slowly when your hands raised? 565 00:36:16,236 --> 00:36:19,476 Speaker 1: The British police tried to end the siege by smoking 566 00:36:19,556 --> 00:36:29,836 Speaker 1: Waters out with tear gasiring nor bullets whistled past their ears. Finally, 567 00:36:29,916 --> 00:36:33,516 Speaker 1: the police and soldiers stormed the shop. Waters had dragged 568 00:36:33,596 --> 00:36:35,836 Speaker 1: himself to an outside laboratory. 569 00:36:36,556 --> 00:36:40,756 Speaker 3: His jaw was shattered and bloody, and a bullet was 570 00:36:40,836 --> 00:36:45,516 Speaker 3: lodged in his brain, but he was still alive. He 571 00:36:45,636 --> 00:36:48,356 Speaker 3: was cautioned and then taken away for treatment. 572 00:36:49,956 --> 00:36:54,676 Speaker 1: Doris was dead. One bullet fired by Waters had wrought 573 00:36:54,836 --> 00:37:01,236 Speaker 1: terrible internal damage, shattering bone, severing arteries, slicing organs, and 574 00:37:01,276 --> 00:37:04,996 Speaker 1: then lodging in her spine. It was judged likely she 575 00:37:05,156 --> 00:37:08,196 Speaker 1: died within moments of Waters opening fire. 576 00:37:12,516 --> 00:37:17,796 Speaker 3: Once he'd sufficiently recovered, the US Army tried Waters for murder, 577 00:37:18,316 --> 00:37:22,516 Speaker 3: a capital offense. Given the weight of evidence, the only 578 00:37:22,636 --> 00:37:25,356 Speaker 3: hope of escaping the hangman would be to win some 579 00:37:25,556 --> 00:37:29,556 Speaker 3: sympathy for the defendant by trashing the reputation of dead 580 00:37:29,636 --> 00:37:33,556 Speaker 3: Doris with witness. After witness asked about her relationships with 581 00:37:33,636 --> 00:37:36,956 Speaker 3: men and the humiliating effect these had on Waters. 582 00:37:37,276 --> 00:37:41,036 Speaker 13: This is a narrative. It's a narrative that's constructed to 583 00:37:41,356 --> 00:37:44,916 Speaker 13: explain this violence and this murder. 584 00:37:45,196 --> 00:37:46,916 Speaker 3: Here's Jane Monkton Smith again. 585 00:37:47,356 --> 00:37:51,116 Speaker 13: And you could simplistically say this narrative has come from 586 00:37:51,156 --> 00:37:54,316 Speaker 13: the killer himself, but it hasn't just come from him. 587 00:37:54,596 --> 00:37:57,516 Speaker 13: It's come from society, and it's come from the defense 588 00:37:57,556 --> 00:38:02,196 Speaker 13: and prosecution narratives. And it's an attack on her reputation. 589 00:38:02,756 --> 00:38:05,956 Speaker 13: I think is almost impossible for women to have a 590 00:38:05,996 --> 00:38:10,676 Speaker 13: good reputation. You can pull up practically anything, and Doris 591 00:38:10,716 --> 00:38:14,436 Speaker 13: seemed to be the kind of woman who liked a 592 00:38:14,436 --> 00:38:17,276 Speaker 13: bit of fun. She was social, she liked to go out, 593 00:38:17,476 --> 00:38:21,516 Speaker 13: and that can be misconstrued to defend the killer. Do 594 00:38:21,556 --> 00:38:24,996 Speaker 13: we realize we're doing that. I don't know, because it 595 00:38:25,196 --> 00:38:28,156 Speaker 13: just feels like it comes from such a natural place, 596 00:38:28,236 --> 00:38:33,236 Speaker 13: deep in our bone marrow, that we defend these narratives 597 00:38:33,316 --> 00:38:36,716 Speaker 13: that if a woman's bad, then she should expect to 598 00:38:36,756 --> 00:38:39,436 Speaker 13: get murdered. And that's crazy when you say it like that, 599 00:38:39,556 --> 00:38:39,956 Speaker 13: isn't it? 600 00:38:41,796 --> 00:38:45,716 Speaker 3: But in the end the court found Waters guilty. His 601 00:38:45,836 --> 00:38:50,036 Speaker 3: jealousy was not an excuse, but rather another sign of 602 00:38:50,196 --> 00:38:51,676 Speaker 3: criminal premeditation. 603 00:38:53,276 --> 00:38:56,556 Speaker 8: He thought that she was having intercourse with other men 604 00:38:57,156 --> 00:38:59,356 Speaker 8: and was afraid that she would turn him down in 605 00:38:59,396 --> 00:39:02,916 Speaker 8: favor of the others. He also believed she loved another 606 00:39:02,956 --> 00:39:06,036 Speaker 8: man who was married. I shot her because I don't 607 00:39:06,116 --> 00:39:10,956 Speaker 8: like any pushing around. His actions revealed called deliberate purpose 608 00:39:11,116 --> 00:39:14,956 Speaker 8: on the absence of adequate provocation, either to kill miss 609 00:39:14,996 --> 00:39:19,596 Speaker 8: Staples or to inflict upon her grievous bodily harm. 610 00:39:21,276 --> 00:39:26,276 Speaker 3: The townspeople of Henley, however, was so fond of Johnny Waters, 611 00:39:26,716 --> 00:39:30,516 Speaker 3: and so sympathetic to his plight, that three hundred and 612 00:39:30,636 --> 00:39:33,956 Speaker 3: two of them signed a clemency petition asking that his 613 00:39:34,036 --> 00:39:38,796 Speaker 3: life be spared. His army buddies added their names too. 614 00:39:39,156 --> 00:39:44,276 Speaker 3: These efforts were in vain. Waters, who was increasingly debilitated 615 00:39:44,356 --> 00:39:48,476 Speaker 3: by his catastrophic self inflicted head wounds and whose memory 616 00:39:48,476 --> 00:39:52,956 Speaker 3: and cognitive capacity were severely impacted, was hanged almost a 617 00:39:53,076 --> 00:40:00,556 Speaker 3: year to the day after he first met Doris for Jane. 618 00:40:01,156 --> 00:40:06,236 Speaker 3: The whole sorry case reveals our continuing inability to comprehend 619 00:40:06,276 --> 00:40:09,116 Speaker 3: the threat that men such as Waters posts. 620 00:40:09,676 --> 00:40:12,556 Speaker 13: This is a dangerous person. He was always going to 621 00:40:12,556 --> 00:40:16,276 Speaker 13: be dangerous. It is highly, highly likely that some kind 622 00:40:16,316 --> 00:40:19,876 Speaker 13: of trigger was going to come at some point around 623 00:40:19,916 --> 00:40:26,516 Speaker 13: his possession of Doris. He is the classic classic killer. 624 00:40:26,916 --> 00:40:29,396 Speaker 13: She wanted to break it off, and it is so 625 00:40:29,516 --> 00:40:33,356 Speaker 13: dangerous for a woman to try and reject a man, 626 00:40:33,636 --> 00:40:35,996 Speaker 13: even if they're not in a relationship with them. No 627 00:40:36,036 --> 00:40:38,996 Speaker 13: one was listening to her. They were all like, poor guy, 628 00:40:39,196 --> 00:40:44,316 Speaker 13: poor guy, that hasn't really changed a lot, and it's sad, 629 00:40:59,796 --> 00:41:00,356 Speaker 13: bad women. 630 00:41:00,516 --> 00:41:04,436 Speaker 1: The Blackout Ripper is hosted by me Halle Rubinholt. 631 00:41:03,916 --> 00:41:05,196 Speaker 3: And me Alice Fines. 632 00:41:05,636 --> 00:41:08,356 Speaker 1: It was written and produced by Alice Fines and Ryan Dilley, 633 00:41:08,556 --> 00:41:12,076 Speaker 1: with the addition support from Courtney Garino and Offa Gomberts. 634 00:41:12,516 --> 00:41:16,396 Speaker 1: Kate Healy of Oakwood Family Trees aided us with genealogical research. 635 00:41:16,996 --> 00:41:20,156 Speaker 3: Pascal Wise Sound designed and mixed the show and composed 636 00:41:20,196 --> 00:41:23,276 Speaker 3: all the original music. The show was recorded at Audoor 637 00:41:23,356 --> 00:41:26,916 Speaker 3: Studios by David Smith and Tom Berry. You also heard 638 00:41:26,956 --> 00:41:30,876 Speaker 3: the voice talents of Ben Crow, David Glover, Melanie Gutridge, 639 00:41:30,996 --> 00:41:34,756 Speaker 3: Stella Harford, Gemma Saunders, and Rufus Wright. Much of the 640 00:41:34,836 --> 00:41:38,236 Speaker 3: music you heard was performed by Ed Gocken, Ross Hughes, 641 00:41:38,476 --> 00:41:41,756 Speaker 3: Christian Miller, and Marcus Penrose. They were recorded by Nick 642 00:41:41,796 --> 00:41:46,356 Speaker 3: Taylor Porcupine Studios. Pushkin's Ben Holliday mixed the tracks. 643 00:41:46,236 --> 00:41:50,196 Speaker 1: And you heard additional piano playing by the great Berry 644 00:41:50,236 --> 00:41:54,396 Speaker 1: Wise Hi Berry. The show also wouldn't have been possible 645 00:41:54,476 --> 00:41:58,076 Speaker 1: without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Heather Fane, Carl mcgliori, 646 00:41:58,596 --> 00:42:03,876 Speaker 1: Maggie Taylor, Nicole Morano, Eric Sandler, and Daniela Lukhan. We'd 647 00:42:03,916 --> 00:42:06,756 Speaker 1: also like to thank Michael Buchanan Dunn of the Murder 648 00:42:06,836 --> 00:42:11,476 Speaker 1: Mile podcast, Lizzie McCarroll, Katherine Walker at the Royal Pharmaceutical 649 00:42:11,516 --> 00:42:15,796 Speaker 1: Society and the ear B Historical Society. Bad Women is 650 00:42:15,836 --> 00:42:19,236 Speaker 1: a production of Pushkin Industries. Please rate and review the 651 00:42:19,276 --> 00:42:21,876 Speaker 1: show and spread the word about what we do, and 652 00:42:21,956 --> 00:44:03,516 Speaker 1: thanks for listening back and 653 00:44:26,396 --> 00:44:26,636 Speaker 11: An