We Serve
We Serve is a British short film about the lives of officers in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). Designed as a recruitment and training film, it was directed by Carol Reed, produced by Sydney Box, and was made by Box's company Verity Films.[1]
We Serve | |
---|---|
Directed by | Carol Reed |
Produced by | Sydney Box |
Starring | |
Edited by | Peter Tanner |
Production company | |
Release date | 1942 |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The involvement of Reed as director enabled Box to secure the services of several leading British actresses for the film, all agreeing to be paid the small sum of £5 per day.[1] The film also featured the then Director of the ATS, Jean Knox.[2]
The 30-minute film was commissioned shortly after the British government changed the nature of the ATS from being a voluntary body to becoming a professional service with full military status in April 1941.[3] It was concurrent with a wider recruitment drive to expand the size of the ATS.[4] In its efforts to attract recruits, the film emphasised that femininity could be retained in wartime.[1]
See also
- The Gentle Sex - a 1943 film about recruits in the ATS
References
- Spicer, Andrew (2006). Sydney Box. Manchester University Press. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-0719059995.
- Terry, Roy (1988). Women in Khaki: The Story of the British Woman Soldier. Columbus. p. 130. ISBN 978-0862873219.
- "Fact File : Auxiliary Territorial Service 1938-1949". WW2 People's War. BBC. 15 October 2014.
- Noakes, Lucy (2006). Women in the British Army: War and the Gentle Sex, 1907–1948. Routledge. p. 111. ISBN 978-0415390576.