Out-scooping the men: six women reporters of the second world war

Two war correspondents were hitching a lift towards Paris in August 1944 when a sudden wave of German bombers forced them to dive for cover. What the hell were they doing trying to cadge a ride when ‘war correspondents have their own jeeps and drivers?’ an American officer barked at them as his car screeched to a halt beside the shallow crater they had commandeered. ‘We happen to be women,’ Ruth Cowan replied steadily, as she straightened up and shook off the dust along with his words.

Cowan was the first female journalist attached to the US army but, as a woman, she was denied the official facilities provided for the men of the press. At the outbreak of hostilities, British female correspondents were prohibited from combat zones. Once they joined the war, the Americans were more flexible, prompting many Brits to seek US press accreditation. Even the American war department only permitted women at the rear of the action, however, and denied them access to official transport, sleeping arrangements, military briefings and the press censors, teletypists and radio transmitters needed to file their copy. (The women were each provided with two tailored skirts, though — one khaki and one pinkish-grey for evening wear.)

Official objections to calls for equal terms were centred around concerns for the women’s safety and the double bind of ‘inevitable trouble’ should a woman be embedded with a division of male soldiers, along with fears that the men’s ‘natural chivalry’ might lead them to prioritise female safety above their military mission. There was also the ever concerning ‘cloakroom question’. Women’s ability to cope was apparently beyond the military imagination, yet ironically, as Judith Mackrell’s compelling book shows, navigating newspaper bias and military restrictions often gave women the professional edge.