I have a terrible block at the moment, and this thread mostly exists because I hope a few character development stories & drabbles might help me out a little.

Concrit is rather desperately sought after. I'm used to people being critical just for the sake of insulting me, so be as honest as you like... I can take it. x]

o n e ; ; F E A T H E R S


Unfinished. Set in Britain in the early years of the First World War, before conscription was introduced. Main character is a young man originally from eastern Europe -- Valentin.


I arrived in the village just before noon, which turned out to be a mistake on my part. The women were out in force, and it took them perhaps five seconds to spot me making my way up the path. One approached me and, ignoring my polite request for directions, she stabbed a white feather into my breast pocket and stalked away with a venomous remark about cowardice. I expected that to be the only incident of the sort, but by the time I had reached the wrought iron gates of the manor there was a veritable sea of white feathers lying in my wake.

It was chauvinism, pure and simple. Who were these people, women who knew nothing of warfare and the harrowing dangers faced daily by the soldiers that they all but force to sign up, to call me a coward? Shirking around my duties, indeed. I scowled darkly at the women assembled nearby, then turned sharply and opened the imposing gates without so much as a backward glance. There were white feathers snagged in the flowers just beyond the fence, scattered up the path and bunched up at the base of the stairs leading up to the door. The women of this village, I reflected, clearly had a lot of time (and geese) on their hands.

--

Quick question -

Is this supposed to be a story based on historical fact?

If so, how did someone from Eastern Europe get into Britain?

And more of a question because I'm not sure myself - Weren't the white feathers after conscription?

:: Goes to check on google ::

Well, it's set in a universe similar to ours. Identical, in fact, except for a few key differences that I've not bothered to detail in this. So it should be pretty historically accurate in most respects.

I think the Order of the White Feathers was founded more or less when the war began, but I could be mistaken.

As for how Valentin got to England, that's a good question and I haven't really given it much thought. He was sent to live in France when he was young, with wealthy relatives, but that doesn't really answer for how he got to England or why... I'll give it some thought. :]

Found out - you were right :)

Chiefly a phenomenon of Britain, white feathers were typically handed over by young women to men out of uniform during wartime, the implication being that the man concerned was a 'shirker' or a coward. The co-called 'Organisation of the White Feather' was initiated by Admiral Charles Fitzgerald in the opening month of the war and was encouraged by a number of writers, including Mary Ward. The organisation was founded as a means of applying pressure to able bodied men to enlist with the British Army.

The practice of handing out white feathers gathered pace in 1915 as the result of a growing perception of manpower shortages, and continued sporadically for the remainder of the war. Even soldiers home on leave - and out of uniform - found themselves the (inevitably disgusted) target of bearers of white feathers.

For those men who necessarily remained at home in key state industries the effect of being presented with white feathers was often one of shame (although the pacifist Fenner Brockway proudly noted that he had enough feathers with which to make a fan).

The government's response - in the shape of Home Secretary Reginald McKenna - was to authorise production of a badge bearing the legend "King and Country", thus marking out its wearer as someone effectively excluded from overt moral pressure to enlist.

But yes - how he got into the country would be good. Because of course anyone who was a foreigner would have been reported. They were discovered by not being able to pronounce the place names properly - and even by th way they looked. Especially someone from Eastern Europe. They would have been highly suspicious of someone like that. Of course there were all sorts of campaigns to route out spies and such. Someone from France however would have managed to get around a lot easier, as they were allies and there was the resistance and such.

But someone from Germany or further East wouldn't have been able to get around Britain at all. Too many problems with religion, communism and general distrust :)

( Hope some of that helps you out :) )

Thanks for the feedback. n___n