[Afamilyatwar-list] A WWII Christmas Story

[Christine Kendell]

What a nice story. It must have been horrible for the GIs sometimes.

 

Christine

 

From: afamilyatwar-list-bounces at baylor.edu
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Sent: 25 December 2018 19:16
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Subject: [Afamilyatwar-list] A WWII Christmas Story

 

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Revealing the true spirit of Christmas were the experiences of a woman
working for the Postal Censorship in Liverpool who remembers that an appeal
was made over the loudspeaker system, on 23 December 1943, for members of
the staff to entertain GIs who had arrived on a recently docked troopship.

"After a quick mental calculation of rations, I offered to have three.
Prompt at one o'clock on Christmas Day there was a knock on the door,
heralding the arrival of Jim, Claud, and Larry, the three youngest-looking
GIs I had ever seen, all looking as though they had just stepped out of a
bandbox and with the most impeccable manners. Later I learned that they had
been briefed in no uncertain terms that they must be punctual, well turned
out, and courteous and respectful to their hosts-and that they were not to
accept large portions or second helpings. At 3 p.m. the King's Speech was
broadcast on the radio, and as one man they all jumped to their feet and
stood to attention until the end. Rather shamefacedly, my husband and I
stood during the playing of the National Anthem the second time around. As
the day wore on, they did become a little more relaxed, but when they stood
up to leave at 10 p.m. (as per instructions not to outstay their welcome) we
felt that the day had not been an overwhelming success."

How wrong they were! Next day the trio telephoned to say thank you and were
invited to come again and "this time the stilted conversation of yesterday
became a non-stop buzz of chatter, and when they piled into a taxi in the
early hours of the following morning, we all felt that we had known each
other for years." From then on, the three GIs were frequent visitors until
the fortunes of war carried them to their different destinations: North
Africa, Italy, and the Far East. Only thirty years later, when a
prosperous-looking businessman with an American accent arrived on his former
hosts' doorstep-an older version of one of the shy, "thin and
pathetic-looking" young men they had entertained that Christmas-did they
discover how much the invitation had meant to him. "He said he was just
eighteen and had buried his father whilst on embarkation leave, leaving his
mother alone. He had never been away from home before and had landed in
Liverpool only to be billeted in a stable on the racecourse in the middle of
winter," leaving him "so cold, miserable, and downright unhappy that first
night that he cried."

 

(from The GIs: The Americans in Britain, 1942-1945, by Norman Longmate)

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