Gay Soldiers Letters: Mm Owner Disvers Love Letters

Contents:

• IN WWII, TWO GAY SOLDIERS’ FORBIDN ROMANCE LIV ON IN THEIR LOVE LETTERS
• LETTERS REVEAL THE STORI OF GAY SOLDIERS WORLD WARS
• READ THIS HEARTBREAKG GAY WORLD WAR II SOLDIER’S LOVE LETTER
• GAY WWII SECRET LETTERS GA HOLLYWOOD TERT
• "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
• THE NEWLY DISVERED LOVE LETTERS BETWEEN TWO GAY SOLDIERS IN WORLD WAR II WILL HAVE YOU IN TEARS
• SECRET LOVE LETTERS OF TWO GAY SOLDIERS OM WWII MA TO MOVIE
• WWII GAY SOLDIERS ROMANCE REVEALED LETTERS
• THE NEWLY DISVERED LOVE LETTERS BETWEEN TWO GAY WORLD WAR II SOLDIERS TELL A HEARTWARMG STORY OF FORBIDN LOVE
• THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE GAY SOLDIERS WHO SERVED THE FIRST WORLD WAR
• FIGHTG PROUD: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE GAY MEN WHO SERVED TWO WORLD WARS

IN WWII, TWO GAY SOLDIERS’ FORBIDN ROMANCE LIV ON IN THEIR LOVE LETTERS

For years, they had dreams of leavg England and movg to the Uned Stat, where they uld live sunny California, which was known for beg more acceptg of homosexuals.

But more than 70 years later, was disvered that G stood for Gordon, and Gilbert had been love wh a the time, not only was homosexualy illegal, but those the armed forc uld be shot for havg gay sex. The letters, which emerged after Mr Bradley's ath 2008, are therefore unual and shed an important light on homosexual relatnships durg the do we know about this forbidn love affair?

Gay activy was a urt-martial offence, jail sentenc for so-lled "gross cency" were mon, and much of society strongly disapproved of same-sex was not until the Sexual Offenc Act 1967 that nsentg men aged 21 and over were legally allowed to have gay relatnships - and beg openly gay the armed servic was not allowed until letters, which emerged after Mr Bradley's ath 2008, are rare bee most homosexual upl would get rid of anythg so crimatg, says gay rights activist Peter Rose. They dited their youth to fendg a untry that was often reluctant to accept the way they lived their liv - even at the risk of gettg now the credible stori of the gay men who fought the two world wars has been revealed a new book on the 50th anniversary of the crimalisatn of clu the love letters of First World War sweethearts, workg-class Ralph Hall and middle-class soldier Montague Glover, who began a long-term relatnship the 1930s.

LETTERS REVEAL THE STORI OF GAY SOLDIERS WORLD WARS

Both men served the Army om 1914-18, while Hall joed the RAF durg World War Two, and the uple rned durg peacetime and risked imprisonment for their relatnship up until to manpower shortag, gay men were unofficially allowed to serve the armed forc, and around 250, 000 of some 5 ln Brish men who durg the Send World War are timated to have been gay or is spe the law sayg gay recs uld be dismissed wh a dishonourable discharge for the mere fact of beg gay, and imprisoned or even shot for 'gross cency' if they engaged homosexual acts.

A wave of nvictns followed the close of the war 1945, cludg of the Bletchley Park breaker Alan Turg, who killed himself 1954 after beg found guilty of homosexual activy two years on July 27, 1967, homosexual acts between two men over the age of 21 private were legalised unr the Sexual Offenc Act.

The amazg stori of the gay men who fought the two world wars has been revealed a new book - on the 50th anniversary of the crimalisatn of homosexualy. The thor of Fightg Proud, Stephen Bourne, said: 'When I started to look closely at the experienc of gay men the Send World War, I realised that, spe homophobia, and the fact that homosexualy was agast the law, gay men were accepted to the armed servic, they were tegrated and some stanc, beme 'masts' on board their ships, their regiments or their RAF crew' Soldiers who were disvered to be homosexual uld be urt martialled and thrown out of the servic.

READ THIS HEARTBREAKG GAY WORLD WAR II SOLDIER’S LOVE LETTER

Homosexual men Bra were fally protected by law as homosexual acts between two men over the age of 21 private were legalised This image, taken 1917, shows the theatril pany of HMS Er. Mr Bourne add: 'Some gay men who joed up did face hostily to beg wh, but found that if they ed humour they uld overe homophobic attus and make iends'Other fascatg tal Fightg Proud: The Untold Story of the Gay Men Who Served Two World Wars clu that of Journey's End playwright, R. Dpe the risks of beg ught, many gay men were known to be gay and accepted by their ras Fred Barn was an English mic hall sger who was openly gay and known for his signature song, 'The Black Sheep of the Fay'.

Mr Bourne said: 'I am certa that some gay men would have been accepted by their heterosexual ras on the ont-le, and the trench, but if they were found out the punishment was harsh, pecially the officer class' Pictured: A World War Two postrd pictg two gay soldiers. Homosexuals on the ont le were often accepted by their ras and were often most likely to experience prejudice om the officer class, he wrote Published by I. Tris, Fightg Proud: The Untold Story of the Gay Men Who Served Two World Wars by Stephen Bourne is now available to buy on Amazon for RRP £17.

99 Alan Turg: The hero breaker fally given a pardon after his 1950s nvictn for beg gay Alan Turg, who was nvicted of homosexual activy 1952 but pardoned by the Queen 2013Almost 60 years after he killed himself wh cyani, gay Enigma breaker Alan Turg was given a Royal pardon for the nvictn which stroyed his was requted by the then Jtice Secretary Chris Graylg, who scribed Turg as a natnal hero who fell foul of the law bee of his sexualy.

GAY WWII SECRET LETTERS GA HOLLYWOOD TERT

Historians cred the work of Turg and his fellow -breakers at Bletchley Park Buckghamshire wh shorteng the war by up to two years, savg untls 1952 he was nvicted for homosexual activy and agreed to ‘chemil stratn’ – hormonal treatment signed to rce libido - to avoid prison.

An qut rerd a verdict of suici, although his mother and others mataed that his ath was the two world wars, gay people the armed forc uld be given a 'dishonourable discharge' for the mere fact of beg attracted to members of the same sex. The l remaed on the statute books throughout both nflicts, but manpower shortag means ary lears were reluctant to enforce them, and nvictns were number of gay men hand dishonorable discharg and nvicted of gross cency creased after the war end and keepg as many men the armed forc as possible was ls of an Turg's se, as well as physil and emotnal damage, his nvictn had led to the removal of his secury clearance and meant he was no longer able to work for GCHQ, the succsor to the Government Co and Cypher School, based at Bletchley was granted a pardon by the Queen after a long mpaign to rehabilate his reputatn. Media ptn, "My own darlg boy" - a greetg one of the lettersThe romance between two gay WWII soldiers, whose letters were disvered years later, may be turned to a Hollywood letters between Gilbert Bradley and Gordon Bowsher, wrten a time when homosexualy was illegal, me to light after Mr Bradley's ath that time armed force members uld have been be shot for havg gay sex.

"COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS

"The letters are highly unual, but the mm's llectn numbers almost was not until 1967 that gay relatnships between nsentg men over 21 were legalised the UK. It was not permissible to be openly gay the armed servic until on this storyRelated Inter LksThe BBC is not rponsible for the ntent of external s.

The 1994 documentary Comg Out Unr Fire giv voice to the experienc of thoands of gay and lbian servicemembers who joed the ary durg World War II, a story that is largely ignored by historians and mms across the untry. At the time, homosexualy was classified as a mental illns by the medil muny; mental illns was one ndn that disqualified young people om service.

THE NEWLY DISVERED LOVE LETTERS BETWEEN TWO GAY SOLDIERS IN WORLD WAR II WILL HAVE YOU IN TEARS

Gay and lbian recs were forced to answer qutns vaguely, or lie about their sexualy, orr to be allowed to serve; otherwise, they would n the risk of beg sent home and brand as “sex perverts. Servicemembers on every waront enjoyed drag show entertament; an entire gay lexin was veloped om the wrgs of Dorothy Parker; and eventually an unrground queer newspaper emerged.

The feral discrimatory actns drove LGBTQ people further to the shadows of society and embolned law enforcement and policians, who beme more vlent toward gay and lbian cizens. My only hope is that anizatns around the untry m to pturg the voic of gay, lbian, and transgenr veterans and that we fd a place our history to honor their service as well. We sat down wh Sir John Dermot Turg, Alan Turg’s nephew and thor of a new book on Bletchley Park, to discs his uncle’s role pivotal role puter science and his persecutn for beg gay the 1950s.

SECRET LOVE LETTERS OF TWO GAY SOLDIERS OM WWII MA TO MOVIE

A small mm owner Shropshire, England has unvered a secret gay romance between two World War II soldiers, and the power of their heartbreakg relatnship is now beg brought to life almost 80 years sce their love blossomed. Unfortunately, the letters have e to light ne years after Gilbert's ath 2008 aged 92 ( is thought Gordon died 15 years prevly) when they were found by a hoe removal pany and sold to an art aler who specialis ary urse, the real value of the letters is not moary, but li the fact they have survived s sce homosexualy was not only illegal before the Sexual Offenc Act 1967, but those servg the armed forc would have been shot for havg sexual terurse wh a man.

WWII GAY SOLDIERS ROMANCE REVEALED LETTERS

'Most love letters om homosexuals at the time were burned, bee if they were found, they would have been ed as evince, ' Higt told the Metro about the letters. 'Getty ImagWhat's strikg about the letters, acrdg to gay rights activist Peter Rose, is the fact the pair's homosexual relatnship is prented such a posive light, spe the prejudic that the pair would have suffered if their relatnship had e out.

In 2008, hundreds of love letters between two gay WWII soldiers, Gilbert Bradley and Gordon Bowsher, were disvered and then sold to Owtry Town Mm. 'My darlg I shall die if I do not hear your wonrful voice': Forbidn love between two gay World War II soldiers is revealed a touchg set of long-fotten lettersMark Higt thought the ialled not were between a man and womanBut when he saw the lovers' full nam he realised he'd unvered a rare artefactG & G - Gordon and Gilbert - exchanged 300 letters between 1939 and 1944Homosexualy was illegal Bra until 1967 so they kept their romance secretMark om Shropshire said: 'It's a fantastic love story to rival the Tanic' Published: 17:36 BST, 16 Febary 2017 | Updated: 17:49 BST, 16 Febary 2017.

THE NEWLY DISVERED LOVE LETTERS BETWEEN TWO GAY WORLD WAR II SOLDIERS TELL A HEARTWARMG STORY OF FORBIDN LOVE

Homosexualy was illegal Bra until 1967 and between touchg msag exprsg their love for each other the pair would speak about the tricky bs of keepg their relatnship hidn om gay upl would burn the letters they sent to each other to avoid the not beg ed as 'evince' by remarkably, the llectn of wartime letters between Gordon Bowsher and his lover Gilbert Bradley have survived for more than 70 Higt, om Oswtry Shropshire, bought the not to put on display his mm - but didn't realise they told such an epic love story until he studied them more 62-year-old unvered the relatnship as he transcribed the letters, which he bought on eBay for £1, 000, after huntg for war memorabilia om Shropshire for a small mm he said: 'The value of the letters li the fact most love letters om homosexuals at the time were burned, bee if they were found, they would have been ed as evince.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE GAY SOLDIERS WHO SERVED THE FIRST WORLD WAR

' How homosexualy Bra remaed the closet until 1967 Homosexualy stayed firmly the closet until the Sexual Offenc Act was passed 1967 crimalisg acts done private between two the age of nsent for gay people was 21 pared to 16 for heterosexual partners and the new laws applied only to England and changed 1994 when was lowered to 18 by the Crimal Jtice and Public Orr wasn't until four years later that the age of nsent was equalised. Thoands of men nvicted unr the now-abolished anti-homosexualy laws were pardoned posthumoly January unr new Mistry of Jtice said the pardons apply tomatilly to ceased men who were nvicted for nsensual same-sex relatns before homosexualy was crimalised several s livg wh nvictns n apply to the ernment to have their nam cleared.

“Beg a gay filmmaker, bed wh my love for World War II history, I knew I had to tell this story, ” Vallente, the director and -wrer of the film, said. "Read the rt of the letter below, and have a somber glimpse si the mid-century romance of Dave and You GoThe Bt Gay KissPopular the CommunyYou May Like. A small mm owner Shropshire, England, has unvered a secret gay romance between two soldiers, and ’s like somethg out of a forbidn romance me to light after Mark Higt, om Oswtry, Shropshire, started buyg up the letters on eBay.

“The value of the letters li the fact most love letters om homosexuals at the time were burned, bee if they were found, they would have been ed as evince, ” Higt said to about the disvery. I n see or I image I n see, what your mother and father’s reactn would be… the rt of the world have no nceptn of what our love is – they do not know that is love…”As BBC News not, what’s strikg about the letters is their posive reprentatn of gay relatnships durg the war, somethg Gay rights activist Peter Rose said is unual. “Unsirable” behavr—specifilly, an accatn of “attemptg to perpetrate an act of Homosexualy, ” as he explaed a letter to the Natnal Associatn for the Advancement of Colored People, om whom he was seekg legal help.

FIGHTG PROUD: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE GAY MEN WHO SERVED TWO WORLD WARS

” Wh WWII’s massive human mobilizatn, the ary shifted om s practice of jailg soldiers acced of homosexualy (which required time-nsumg, expensive urt-martials) to simply emg them psychologilly unf. Acrdg to Jon, the NAACP worked wh Black service members acced of homosexualy, like Lemuel Brown, to appeal to the Discharge Review Board for a changed stat—ually wh ltle succs.