WWII: Pestering of American Troops by Loose Women

National Archives

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Top brass feared worst as GIs and good-time girls enjoyed blackout

· War files tell of Met worry over West End prostitutes
· US officers urged police to clamp down on sex trade

Owen Bowcott
Tuesday November 1, 2005
The Guardian


Swarms of prostitutes and "good-time girls" pestered American soldiers in Mayfair to the extent that they posed a menace to Anglo-US relations, according to wartime police files released today.
Two conferences were organised at the Home Office to forestall the spread of moral outrage in the US and combat venereal diseases on the streets of London's West End. The Metropolitan police papers, withheld for more than 50 years but now in the National Archives in Kew, show a police force under pressure from senior US officers to clamp down on the trade. The enduring sensitivity is highlighted by the fact one document is due to be retained until 2027.

A report by Superintendent E Cole in August 1942 warned the problem was worsening. "When American troops began arriving ... [they] requisitioned more and more buildings throughout the Mayfair area," he noted. "Right in [its] centre is Shepherd's Market which for years has been notorious as one of the localities frequented by prostitutes."
Streets catered for varying clienteles. "Maddox Street," he explained, had "French prostitutes, a colony amongst themselves, clean and businesslike ... who rarely cause any trouble by committing larcenies or getting involved in disputes among themselves." But Piccadilly Circus was home to "lower type of prostitutes, quite indiscriminate in their choice of client, and persistent thieves". More night patrols were sent out, Supt Cole said, but "the blackout has made it even more difficult to witness such annoyances". Soldiers were robbed and disputes broke out. "One US officer was alleged to have assaulted a prostitute for failing to complete her contract ..."

"We have ... another type of woman to deal with. This is the modern version of the camp follower [commonly known as a 'good-time girl']. The association of girls and soldiers does not give rise to larcenies and disputes but is merely a potential source of immorality." Supt Cole suggested bringing in the US military police.

Air Vice Marshal Sir Philip Game, commissioner of the Metropolitan police, refused to be panicked. "More prostitutes are seen, because they ply their trade in the afternoon rather than in the black-out," he observed. "But it does not follow that their numbers have increased."

Richard Law, a Foreign Office minister, wrote to the police in March 1943: "Our attention has been drawn to the scale on which the American troops are subjected to accosting by prostitutes and we are beginning to be apprehensive about the longterm effect it may have on Anglo-American relations ... if American soldiers contract venereal diseases while in this country, they and their relatives will not think kindly of us after the war."

There was talk of increasing fines on prostitutes but at a conference in the Home Office, the Americans were told "immorality in this country is not regarded as a criminal offence". A letter to the Home Office said a US-born lady complained the "neighbourhood swarms with women and girls, some in their early teens, who pester American soldiers, clinging to their arms, refusing to be shaken off, telling stories of poverty".

In September 1943, Admiral Sir Edward Evans of London Civil Defence wrote to Sir Philip complaining: "Leicester Square at night is the resort of the worst type of women and girls consorting with men of the British and American forces. Of course the American soldiers are encouraged by these young sluts, many of whom should be serving in the forces. At night the square is apparently given over to vicious debauchery." Sir Philip wrote back, saying he himself had visited the square at night and had not witnessed such scenes.