大象传媒

He leaned down from his jeep and scooped me up into the passenger seat and I was dazzled. Gleaming white smile, flashing brown eyes, shining brown skin and a beautiful uniform. He was the first American that I ever saw in real life.

Homer was a black American soldier who arrived at Bluetts Road, Woodlands, Talywain, in the autumn of 1943. He was awesomely attractive, a huge man, with a uniform that was well tailored - all smooth cloth, colourful insignia and very smart. The first impression gained was of a bright, sparkling person.

The only black man I had seen before this was the turbaned Sikh who used to come around our houses selling clothes from a large suitcase. In those days when we asked where our mam, aunt, neighbour had gone, the stock reply to avoid further discussion was, 'She's run away with a black man'. I could never understand why anyone would run away with that fearsome-looking Sikh, but after seeing my first black American, I understood.

The white Americans that came into our world shortly afterwards were also impressive, but paled into insignificance when compared to our black friends. They were friends despite swarms of children following them, tugging at their clothes and asking, 'Got any gum, chum?' They never lost their tempers, were always smiling, and were extremely generous. We loved those first American soldiers and did not even think about colour except that they were black and we were white, a natural state of affairs.

There was a lot of resentment and jealousy among the local men and British servicemen because the Yanks were more confident, had more money and were much smarter. The uniforms they wore were beautiful compared to the rough, drab, ill-fitting khaki uniforms of our army. This wasn't the whole story though, because the Americans were well mannered, polite, gregarious and confident. Many of our British counterparts were shy, tongue-tied around women, poor, and felt that they compared badly with the Americans, so they resented them even more.

Grown up males, unlike the children and young women, could not admit that the Yanks were more glamorous, so the late arrival of the USA into the war, their poor discipline, and their abundance of money were put forward as reasons for anti-American feelings.

As there was an element of truth in these charges, relationships between Americans and Britons soon became strained in some areas. The gossip group in our house really went into top gear during this period and I borrowed lots of books to be able to sit in the corner and listen. They were of the opinion that anyone who went out with an American soldier was a loose woman.

Later this became more vitriolic if it was a black American soldier. I am sure this charge was imported by the white Americans, willingly adopted by our people because it gave more spice to the tale, as well as the apparent need to always have a group on which resentment can be focused. There was no resentment from us because the Americans were particularly kind to children. Whereas most local adults had little or no time for children, there was always chewing gum, chocolate and friendliness from these attractive new friends. They were certainly different if only because they were patient with the many children who appeared as soon as they drove their jeeps into Bluetts Road.

Despite all that was said about the Americans and the girls who went out with them, I never forgot the first black American soldier I saw on Bluetts Road. If I had been a girl of the right age then I wouldn't have hesitated to have gone out with the American soldiers!

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