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A little piece of home |
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3,000
miles from Pembroke
Dock |
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| In
1941, after many requests from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
US President Roosevelt signed the Lease Lend Act, which allowed America
to supply the Allies with munitions, tanks, jeeps and many other
necessities of war, while maintaining their neutrality. This was
an immense relief at a time when supplies were desperately low.
Then on December 7th Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the home of the US fleet. Within days the US joined the war, and on January 14th, 1942, the US and Britain concluded the Arcadia Conference, which decided that defeating Germany must be the first priority for US forces. There was disagreement about the tactics - the US wanted to reinvade Europe, while the British (who remembered the huge losses of the Great War) favoured an African campaign. In the end a compromise was reached - Africa immediately while US troops were amassed in England for a European invasion to start in late 1943 or early 1944.. |
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In
the Spring of 1942, American servicemen started to arrive by the hundred
- many of them outside the United States for the first time, and all of
them rather richer and less weary than their British comrades.
Many travelled over on "Woolworth Carriers" - mass-produced
troop carrying ships, manufactured in shipyard production lines - which
came to be a hallmark of the US navy during the war. On the voyage
they were given training about what to expect when they arrived, and a
Guide Book to help them cope with the language differences between the
two countries:
"Five and ten" (short for five and ten cent store) was normally used by Americans as their slang name for Woolworths. Over there several copycat chains had opened similar format stores. In fact in England they could more accurately have told their troops that "five and ten" is called Woolworths. |
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For the first American servicemen to arrive, England was only a brief stop-over on the way to military operations in Italy or North Africa. But for many of the airmen England was to be their home from home for the duration. There was a frenzy of activity to build additional airfields, with Americans and British working side by side. But most soldiers were billeted in British homes or makeshift accommodation, often under canvas. | |||
| One group of airmen was billeted in the F. W. Woolworth store in the picturesque Black Country market town of Dudley, Worcestershire (No. 32) in the English Midlands. They spent some months in the top floor stockroom during 1943 while waiting for the D-Day landings of Operation Overlord. Their carvings remain in the roof timbers of that store, some messages to loved ones, others signs of irritation at the enforced wait before seeing any action. |  |
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By the end of 1943 more than a million American servicemen were temporarily stationed in the UK, awaiting the planned invasion of Europe. The sight of American soldiers marching in the streets, tanks and jeeps in country lanes, and off-duty servicemen in pubs and bars became familiar to everyone. | |||
| Many
servicemen discovered their local British Woolies - introducing
themselves to the Manager and Staff, with some even offering to help
out, particularly with repairing any war damage.
Colleagues found that rumours that these young men were too brash and too rich for their own good, did not match the people they met. American Woolworth men were just like British Woolworth men - only more handsome ! |
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While
older store managers might mutter "over paid, over sexed and over
here", they were happy for the help and happy for the sales
too. Air mail envelopes home, postcards and souvenirs were all
popular collectibles, along with candy, where any was available.
And then one day ... they were gone. Off to Normandy to lead the allies and together to win a world war. |
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| Winston Churchill said in his memoirs that the day he heard that the Americans had joined the war he slept the sleep of the saved. | ||||
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| The St Louis, USA, Office of F. W. Woolworth Co. in the USA had so many men stationed here at Christmas 1943 that they sent Christmas Cards. At the time the names on the "scroll of honor" (pictured on the right pane of the card, above) were those serving overseas. Thanks to good planning of the Normandy invasions by General Eisenhower and his commanders, most (though by no means all) returned home after the war, older, poorer and more than a little wiser for the experience. We're proud to have known them. | ||||
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World War II Gallery Home Page Xmas
1939: UK and USA a world apart Fire
from the sky - Blitz hits major cities |
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