‘The Girls’ Frolic’: Speculating on Same-Sex Military Mock Weddings, 1914–1919

Mock weddings have been held in Australia as fundraising or community events since at least the late 1800s, while military mock weddings emerged as a distinct practice during the First World War.These events were staged as charitable fundraising efforts; they were covered in newspapers across the country and the subject of photographic documentation.Yet the practice has received little attention from Australian war historians.This article examines the social significance of same-sex military mock weddings during the First World War, in which all participants-including the soldiergroom, wartime bride and the extended wedding party-were young women.The article discusses the tradition of mock weddings as community building events; analyses the specific circumstances in which women could or could not don military uniforms in socially acceptable ways.It analyses photographs of same-sex mock military weddings in the context of wartime photography.With reference to ongoing debates in war historiography concerning gender construction, female patriotism and the visual vernacular of wartime photography, this article argues in favour of acknowledging queer and trans possibility in the practice of same-sex military mock weddings. ***The groom's hands, encased in smart leather gloves, are half-curled.One hand clasps a riding crop; the other hovers near his belt, his arm crooked at a right angle.He regards the camera with a frank expression.The barest suggestion of a smile plays around his lips, suggestive of pride, of enjoyment.His uniform is neat, from the military cap with its Australian Imperial Force (AIF) badge, down to his leather gaiters.Even in the gentle sepia tones of the photograph, you can see how they shine.Only the shoes give him