A Lovely War

Abstract

This article explores the Canadian military entertainment units during World War II (WWII), specifically those formed by the Navy, Army and Air Force from talent found amongst their own personnel. These entertainment units toured extensively in Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe with the goal of increasing the morale of combat troops while encouraging the enlistment of Canada's domestic populations in the war effort generally and the armed forces specifically. By focusing on male to female cross-dressing in the performances of these entertainment units and their pre-WWII antecedents, it will become clear that the nature and importance of the representation of femininity within the virtually all-male milieu that existed near the battlefront changed over time in response to the demands of the audiences. Until the second half of WWII, soldier audiences were generally unwilling to form any ideological links between cross-dressing and homosexuality. Female impersonators were the key cast members in troop shows during the Great War, but eventually fell out of favor in the last years of WWII after women were recruited in large numbers into the Canadian military and thus its entertainment infrastructure. With women then on the military stage, men who persisted in female impersonation were decreasingly popular with audiences, ultimately under growing suspicion of being homosexuals and gradually removed from the productions.

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