Forbidden love: The WW2 letters between two men

Forbidden love: The WW2 letters between two men
"My own darling boy" - a greeting in one of the letters
While on military training during World War Two, Gilbert Bradley was in love. He exchanged hundreds of letters with his sweetheart - who merely signed with the initial "G". But more than 70 years later, it was discovered that G stood for Gordon, and Gilbert had been in love with a man.
At the time, not only was homosexuality illegal, but those in the armed forces could be shot for having gay sex.
The letters, which emerged after Mr Bradley's death in 2008, are therefore unusual and shed an important light on homosexual relationships during the war.
What do we know about this forbidden love affair?

[@aceking8337]

I hope this will be adapted to a movie.

[@DavidLS1]

It's so sad that brave, patriotic Americans had to hide their love.

[@PawelK198604]

They were both British(I'm Polish from Poland) but one of them emigrated to the USA after the war and become American eventually and settled surprise surprise in the State of California 🙂
There BBC article about it but I cannot give link due stupid youtube policy on links 😞

[@DavidLS1]

@@PawelK198604 I'll take your word for it. I stand corrected. It's still sad though.

[@PawelK198604]

@@DavidLS1 Yes you're right :-(
I think I'm gay and ashamed of it :-(
I'm Polish and had affiar with boy who was 14 and I was 16. He had ADHD I had Asperger's, we meet on summer camp (actually a bit open pediatric mental hospital :) ) for kids with behavioural problems that was subsidized by Polish government but we
ware both on so called individulised lessons plans, because we ware distributive in our schools, but he was from rural small town of Poland and I was from big city ( almost 700 000 people maybe not as big in American standards)
We bonded really quickly he was more misbehaving one I was more logical one because I was bit older )
He masturbated in our shared room and said that I could join him if I want to help him :-)
I was afiard that it's illegal because he was 14 I was 16 back than, but he said that it's not crime if he was in charge;-)
And said that's it's from he read our law it's crime only if someone is younger than 15 but age difference is grater than 4 years regardless of gander
He was very athletic and you cannot say he was on guys on first glance
And I asked him does his parents have no problems with him being gay, because here in Poland people are conservative and in rural areas especially, he said that's his parents and siblings ware found it's accidentally and was surprised but very supportive to him, but said that they not care what people will think as long he is happy, but he should keep it for himself because people wouldn't understand.
He wanted to by firefighter and join Polish National Fire Service national academy, and even trough homosexuality was never disqualify factor unlike in America or Great Britain opennly homosexual man was rejected on different pretext as he said :-(
But he say he not like that effeminate way some gays in West behave that's so girly, that he want that in Poland ware more gay friendly but more like Netherlands, Germany or Sweden that you could be gay but still manly.
He said he was put on behaviour therapy for beating a boy who bullied him because found that he was homosexual, and he beat that bully, so he entire neighborhood would know he was beaten by gay boy if he say he is gay :-) yet he ended in school probation for being violent not bully who bullied him for being gay

[@DavidLS1]

@@PawelK198604 Wow, when you get started, you really keep going. But the most telling part of your comment was line two, "I think I'm gay and ashamed of it". Being gay is nothing to be ashamed of. It's like being ashamed that you're left-handed. You didn't say how old you are now or anything about your current situation so I can't offer you any advice, except to recommend that you live in a gay-friendly environment. That could mean moving to a more progressive city in Poland or even one out of the country.

[@PawelK198604]

@@DavidLS1 Now I am 36, I had a short romance when I was 16 with a boy who was two years younger than me, but he was quite fit and intelligent, I think he was 120 IQ we both had some kind of psychological ailments, he had ADHD and I had an autism spectrum, but he was more open to people but did not brag about his homosexuality.
He told me that he had read that supposedly this German fascist creator of the SA, the predecessor of the SS, was supposedly gay, that he was a German war hero from World War I, but he was killed along with the entire leadership of the SA, that he was too leftist by Nazi standards :-)
Although he is hardly a source of pride for homosexuals, this British cipher breaker and IT pioneer Alan Turing was gay, he broke the Enigma codes with the help of our Polish mathematicians, but after the war he was accused of having sex with another guy and sentenced to prison, but the British government gave him a deal that if he agreed to chemical castration and therapy, he would not go to jail.
That you can say various bad things about Poland, but the penalty for homosexuality was deleted from Polish penal codes in the 1930s, gays and lesbians are still subject to ostracism, but you cannot convict someone for the mere fact of being homosexual.
that even when Poland was under the actual Soviet occupation in the 1950s and the Stalinists wanted to re-criminalize homosexuality as an imperialist Western decadence, the Polish puppet authorities refused to do so, our scientists decided that if homosexuality is a mental illness, such people are not responsible for their actions , but their data suggests that this is an innate trait that cannot be changed and it would be immoral to even try :-)
This friend of mine dreamed of being a firefighter, but he did not want others to know, despite the fact that in Poland it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation, to the extent that gays were subject to normal conscription just like all other guys were generally healthy, because the communists deleted homosexuality from list of factors disqualifying for military service, but it was only for pragmatic reasons because our army had staff shortages, which does not mean that gays were welcomed in a pleasant way.
There are gays in our Polish rescue services, but they are ashamed to reveal themselves because they are afraid that it will hamper their careers, promotions and raises.
By the way, I wonder if being gay is more common among people with Asperger Syndrome or ADHD like my childhood buddy? 🙂
But he had quite open minded parents even trough he come from rural area and our farmer famiillies are usually not know for being gay friendly, and I think it's common across the world that farmers are more conservative generally

[@local.human-1904]

random fact: Gilbert got married to a woman a few years later

[@mikaylaMagrane]

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