World War 1 by Patrick Auerbach

Author:Patrick Auerbach
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-10-29T23:00:00+00:00

The White Feathers

The white feather has completely different symbolic meanings in the US Army if compared to the British Military and armies associated with the former British Empire. In the American armed service, a white feather is a symbol of excellence in combat marksmanship. However, in Britain, the meaning could hardly be more different.

Since the late 18th century, the white feather was the mark of cowardice. Its beginnings come from the world of cockfighting as birds with any white tail feathers were thought of as inferior fighters. The better gamecocks were selectively bred without white tail feathers.

It became normal for women in particular to hand white feathers to gentlemen of fighting age they came across in the street. Several men were so humiliated by being passed a white feather in public, they would look for a local recruiting office and sign up for the army. Several were destined merely to stop an enemy bullet.

The act of giving white feathers was so common that a number of the men who had been given them should never have received them. Some men who were home on leave and strolling the streets in civilian clothes were given feathers. Other undeserving recipients included individuals who were dismissed on account of injury, were back home recovering from injuries or people who were clinically unfit to enlist.

The majority of the women who handed out white feathers were a part of a movement known as "Order of the White Feather" that had been set up in 1914 to encourage females to give feathers to young men who hadn't joined up with the military. All the same, there were people who thought that the ladies were at times somewhat too keen to give out feathers to men who should not have been given them.

Having said that, one pacifist who refused to fight, was pleased with the fact he was given so many feathers. Fenner Brockway was claimed to have said that as a result of refusing to fight in The First World War, he'd been given ample white feathers to make a fan.

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