Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

First Advisor

Dr. Nicole Sackley

Abstract

On August 10, 1942, American private, Travis B. Hammond, was on trial for accusations of rape against a 16-year-old British girl, Maureen Thomson. This would mark the first American court martial case tried on British soil. This trial was preceded by the issuing of the United States (Visiting Forces) Act of 1942 (VFA) on August 6, 1942, which granted the United States military exclusive jurisdiction over their soldiers. When the Act was first given to Parliament, it was looked at in disdain as being wholly without precedent and antithetical to the norms within Britain. However, the importance of maintaining a strong Anglo-American relationship pushed the Houses of Parliament to issue the Act.

Chapter one examines the arrival of American troops in Britain and how it exacerbated deep tensions over social change, sovereignty, and legal authority. Additionally, I argue that the timing of the Hammond case posits a direct influence, or at least an acceleration of, the passage of the VFA. Chapter two centers around a rape case that, through intense coverage within the British Press, became a highly visible performance through which the US military could establish legitimacy on their legal jurisdiction on British soil. At the same time, the case reveals an inherent connection between the British and the Americans over gender biases as Thomson’s credibility and sexual morality was scrutinized just as much as the violent act against her was.

Ultimately, this demonstrates how justice was subordinated to diplomacy making Thomson a victim of assault and a victim of politics. This project draws on the court martial case of Travis B. Hammond from the National Personnel Records Center, in St. Louis, Missouri, the House of Commons debate on the Visiting Forces Act, and the British press in 1942. "Sexual Politics of the Anglo-American Relationship in 1942” contributes to the history of sexual, legal history, and cultural history. My intervention comes from framing the Hammond court-martial as a tool of diplomacy rather than solely a mechanism for discipline. I chose to center a rape case and the Visiting Forces Act to demonstrate an interconnecteness between local and diplomatic history. Which in turn also contributes to gender history by revealing how British concerns about sovereignty were deeply tied to anxieties about women’s bodies and regulating sexuality.

Download

Included in

History Commons

Share

COinS