'We Don't Want Any German Off‐Spring After These Prisoners Left Here': German Military Prisoners and British Women in the First World War

This article examines the relationships, both real and imagined, that developed between German prisoners of war and women on the British home front during the First World War. Through an analysis of press coverage and archival materials, it adds a new dimension to the history of women's wartime experiences. Contact with German prisoners challenged the authorities’ capacity to both control and protect British women on the home front. News of women's interest in German prisoners jeopardised the morale of British soldiers and the idealised image of British women as potential wives and mothers while threatening the balance between the battle and home fronts. [author]