We Serve Explained

We Serve
Director:Carol Reed
Producer:Sydney Box
Starring:
Editing:Peter Tanner
Production Companies:Verity Films
Runtime:30 minutes
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English

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]

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

Notes and References

  1. Book: Spicer, Andrew . Sydney Box . 2006 . Manchester University Press . 978-0719059995 . 24–25.
  2. Book: Terry, Roy . Women in Khaki: The Story of the British Woman Soldier . Columbus . 1988 . 978-0862873219 . 130.
  3. Web site: Fact File : Auxiliary Territorial Service 1938-1949 . WW2 People's War . . 15 October 2014.
  4. Book: Noakes, Lucy . Women in the British Army: War and the Gentle Sex, 1907–1948 . 2006 . Routledge . 978-0415390576 . 111.