大象传媒

A Wartime Sunday, nothing to do, a small group of teenagers going to the Park, in Horfield. We saw some uniformed men approaching us, they smiled and greeted us. The uniforms were new to us and the tall smiling men were black.

We were surprised at the American accents and I am sure they found the Bristol dialect tricky. We all sat in the park and exchanged views. The men told us their picture of England before they arrived was fog, horse riding and top hats and plummy accents.

Our pre tele-day, with no holidays abroad, gave us a narrow view. We told them we thought black people went barefoot and lived in the jungle. It was all good natured and friendly. It formed the trust for future friendship. Many have lasted until the present day.

Many months later my sister and I went to the local dances. We met more soldiers who taught us to jive and jitterbug. The men worked at the docks in Avonmouth. They also drove supplies all over the country and some were medical orderlies.

The British children were having a hard time. The black Americans were very kind to them.

From '42-'45 we made lots of friendships. Our narrow world opened up with picnics, ice-cream, Christmas parties.

The Bristol adults liked our new friends. They were polite and cheerful and brought gaiety to our drab lives. As they moved on others took their place.

A GI named Louis who lived in New York always dreamed of coming to England. He used to watch British films and liked what he saw. Courtesy of the Army he arrived in Bristol and was stationed with hundreds of others at Mullers Orphanage in Ashley Down Road. We were friends and my family liked him. Eventually we fell in love and got engaged. Many people were sad when the time came to say goodbye. Three years was a lifetime to us.

Eighteen months later Louis returned in one of the worst winters in living memory in 1947. We married in the April and had forty-three years together.

Two of my friends live in America and I visit them. Their GI husbands had lovely memories of England.

Thank you.

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