The Order of the White Feather
The Order of the White Feather was set up by Admiral Charles Fitzgerald in August 1914. With the help of leading authors he persuaded women to give out white feathers to men who had not joined the Army. The white feather was a sigh of cowardice, a feather of a chicken maybe? Some men were offended as they were not cowards but maybe had families with illnesses, children, wives and were reluctant to leave. Some men joined quickly after being given a white feather as they did not want to be marked out as cowards.
However some women took this to extremes giving white feathers to boyfriends or men they wanted to get fid of, some men were given multiple feathers, enough to make a fan in some cases.
However some women took this to extremes giving white feathers to boyfriends or men they wanted to get fid of, some men were given multiple feathers, enough to make a fan in some cases.