World War II

[bulldogscram.livejournal.com]

Hello all!

A few questions on canon and historical context occurred to me and I was wondering if anyone could help with them? The topic is fairly seasonal, given the time of year.

Am I right in thinking that in Ring For Jeeves, there is either no mention of Bertie serving in WWII or it's hinted at that he didn't serve? Is there any mention/lack of mention of the same for Jeeves?

Setting RFJ aside and briefly dragging our beloved characters into the real world, can anyone tell me whether either Bertie or Jeeves would have been conscripted? There was certainly a period during which the British government conscripted most men between the ages of 20 and 41. Taking a fairly general view of the likely ages of both, this would seem to affect both Jeeves and Bertie. Also, would Bertie's class have affected this in any way? For instance, was there a trend for conscription to affect the lower classes before the upper classes?

I'm afraid that my grasp of WWII era social dynamics and politics is shallow at best. Also a copy of Ring For Jeeves is impossible for me to get my hands on at the moment. Really looking forward to hearing peoples thoughts and opinions on this!

Comments

[bulldogscram.livejournal.com]

I would really like to see that age group list please! Would you e-mail it to me? I'm at whencutleryattacks $ at $ hotmail $ dot $ com (removing all spaces and dollar signs).

I'm loving Troubled Times so far, how they're dealing with it together. I am curious though as to why you decided Bertie and Jeeves would stay in England? Although if you don't want to have to explain your reasoning then just tell me to push off! ;)

Anyway, I'll help you, if I can.

Thank you ♥ , you're very kind.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

I'll be mailing it to you shortly.

As for why I decided for Bertie to stay in England-my reasons are those given by bertiebwriting, who said: "The sort of person who allows themselves to go to jail for 30 days rather than see their aunt sacrifice her cook does not up and flee when their country is threatened. He might not have enjoyed the idea of stealing cow creamers, nor might he enjoy the idea of bearing arms and getting shot at, but, I repeat, he was not a coward. Think of how often and how proudly he recalls the history of his ancestors and the battles they fought in."

I'll add that I don't think Bertie's Code would let him leave when his country needed him the most. As for Jeeves, I believe Jeeves had a strong sense of duty and would not have wished to leave, either. I had them leave London simply because I believe that Jeeves would see that it was not safe there {the government was giving out evacuation instructions before the war started} and would want Bertie to leave. It's one thing to not help when they could and another to just stay in danger when it does not aid the country at all. There's more to this but it involves spoilers.

I'm glad you like Troubled Times and I'm always willing to answer questions about why I did something or anything about it. Just let me know if you don't want spoilers.I never mind explaining my reasoning.

[bulldogscram.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean 'why didn't Bertie flee to foreign parts?' so much as, why did you decide that they were unlikely to be called up? I personally agree with you that neither Bertie or Jeeveswould abandon their duty.

Thank you for sending me that information! I'm very sorry this is such a late reply. I love spoilers, they make the anticipation greater for me and the actual reading all the sweeter for it. :)

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Sorry about that! As for why they haven't been called up in my story and why I felt it not likely, it's due to their probable age. If Bertie was in his 20s in the 1920s then by 1938, he'd be at least 35. Jeeves' age is pretty much an unknown but most people do not believe he is younger than Bertie. So making Jeeves as young as is likely, one would make Jeeves' age around Bertie's which would make him beyond the typical call up age, also. If older than Bertie by even as little as 5 years, he would not be likely to be called up. If Bertie was 42 in 1942 then it's likely that he would never be called up. I used the list/info. I sent you to determine whether they'd get called up. By the time my story reaches the year where there is a possibility of them being called, I'll have them out of the Home Guard and doing vital work that will prevent their being called up. I think where I'm putting them at is the best place they could be for England's sake and very likely what would have happened.