Stephen Bourne

Stephen Bourne is a social historian specialising in black culture and the author of Under Fire – Black Britain in Wartime 1939-45 (The History Press)

Sat in his Spitfire adorned with Figaro the Cat is decorated Second World War fighter pilot Ian Gleed, who had to hide his homosexuality (Photo by Royal Air Force Official Photographer/ Imperial War Museums via Getty Images)

Second World War

Hiding in plain sightThe prejudice and tolerance of homosexuality in WW2 armed forces