Figure 1.--By the time of the D-Day landings, there were 1.5 million Americans. Few Brits did not have some contact with them. Even after the evacuations, there were still a lot of kids in London. In fact by 1943 many had come back home. Here we see a fun staged scene. The press caption read, "Dis is a holdup, bud: Corporal W.S. Milliman, a jeep driver for the U.S. Army Fire Guasrd, is the victim of a 'holdup', engineered by 'two young Londoners' with a toy tommy gun. The 'holdup' was staged as Cpl. Milliman took part in 'wet drill' competitions at the National Fire Service Headquarters in London. The photograph was taken February 7, 1943. We suspect that some chewing gum or Hersey bars follow the photograph.

For 2 1/2 years there were Americans all over Britain. They began arriving soon after Pearl Harbor (January 1942). Doughboys in World War I had mostly landed in France. World War II GIs arrived in Britain. Many of the men arriving in 1942 were committed to the North African Torch landings (November 1942). The American troops sailing from Britain to participate in Operation Torch were soon replaced by more GIs arriving from the States. General Marshall named General Eisenhower commander of the European theater of operations. Eisenhower arrived in England to take up his assignment and began preparing for Overlord (June 23, 1943). After the invasion of Italy (Septenmber 1943), the American focus shifted from the Mediterranean to Britain. Most of the American men and material went to Britain. Throughout 1943 and early-1944 men and material arrived in enormous quantities. Wags worried that Britain might sink. Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) planners prepared to commit 39 divisions to Operation Overlord--the D-Day Normandy landings: American (20 divisions), British (14 divisions), Canadian (3 divisions), French (1 division), and Polish (1 division), as well as hundreds of thousands of service troops--predominately American. The actual Normandy landings would be the high-water mark for the British World War II effort. Following the landings, the American participation would steadily expand and becone the dominant coalition partner. American servicemen in Britain reached 0.8 million (January 1944) and 1.5 million (May 1944). This is the largest number of Americans that had ever been present in Britain, before or since. Some even lived in British homes, ironic because billiting Red Coats in American homes was one of the cuses of the Revolution. There were very few Brits who did not have some contact with Americans. American units had much larger logistical train than any other World War II units. Along with the GIs came 16 million tons of food and supplies; 137,000 jeeps, trucks, and half-tracks; 4,200 tanks and tracked vehicles; 3,500 artillery pieces; 12,000 aircraft; and huge quantities of other items such as landing craft to support the men and invasion operation. The landing craft were the last piece of thec puzzel to fall into place. Facilities to house all these men and their equipment sprang up all over Britain, especially southern England from which they could feed into Channel ports. The Amerucans tried to convince the Germans that the Allies would attempt to cross the Channel at the Pas de Calais from Kent. The U.S. First Arny Group (FUSAG) diversion was staged there. In fact in was to the west in rural Somerset and Cornwall that many of the staging areas were constructed. Peaceful farms were converted into armories for amunitiin dumps. Britain's Channel ports were jammed with ships loaded to the gunnels with supplies. Had the Allies not defused the German V-1 program. the German buzz bombs might have done serious damage.

Created: 7:24 PM 6/18/2013
Last updated: 7:24 PM 6/18/2013