Existing comment:
The GIs in Britain:
"After enduring all the ordeals and training in England, we felt like we were completely ready for anything, and we were very ready to fight the Germans, and we looked forward to the day that we could actually get into the real fight."
--Sgt. Bob Slaughter, 116th Infantry Regiment, US 29th Division
Operation Overlord required a massive buildup of men and supplies in Great Britain, the training zone and staging area for the invasion. American troops began arriving in 1942. Eventually there would be over 1.5 million American soldiers, sailors, and airmen in the United Kingdom. They joined divisions of British and Canadian troops, along with smaller contingents from France, Poland, and other nations.
The presence of so many Americans caused some problems. The Yanks were paid four times what British troops received. This, and the attention the Americans paid to British women, bred resentment. "Overpaid, oversexed and over here." That was how some in Britain described the Americans. There was also tension within the American forces between black and white GIs. When they mixed in pubs there were often fights, too often culminating in a shooting. The army took to segregating the pubs.
For the most part, however, the American "occupation" of Britain was carried out with remarkable success. It helped beyond measure that everyone had the same ultimate objective. |