大象传媒

When the Americans came over it was the first time that we had seen black people. There were hundreds of them with big lorrys.
They took over the local pubs and dances. Basically the whole town. They were overpaid and had money to impress the girls whereas the local lads didn't. I remember the locals being annoyed at the Americans swamping the whole town. I remember the locals saying to them 'have you got any gum, chum'. I was always different though and asked for a button. Their newspapers were huge and had lots of cartoons. I got into the camp over a stile with my friends and bugged them for papers and buttons until they gave in. They couldn't understand us when we said 'mun' instead of man. They left suddenly before D-day. They left quietly so that no-one would notice. It was very exciting to have them in the town although the older lads got very annoyed at them for stealing their girls. At the end of the war the huge house that they lived in was demolished and taken back to America. It was a country Estate of somebody. We called it a country retreat.

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