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Huyton, or Huyton — with Roby as it was then known was a quiet Lancashire village until the war. It was a place where retired colonels came to live, riding around on large roadster bikes, and wearing Panama hats.

I was a child when hostilities began, and the creation of a large military establishment in Bluebell Lane saw a huge influx of American soldiers to the area, an event which changed Huyton forever.
The G.I.s had money, looks, and smart uniforms, and the girls flocked around them like moths to a flame.

After D Day, all the Americans left to fight the war in Europe, and their place in the Bluebell Lane Camp was occupied by Italian prisoners of war.
In 1945, when it became obvious that the war was won, a decision was made to let the Italians out for a few hours in the evening.

They wore maroon uniforms with a large lemon diamond on the back, and like the Americans before them were a huge attraction to the local girls.
Our soldiers, who had been sent home to rest and recuperate after being wounded in Europe, were incensed to find many of the unattached females consorting with the Italians, holding hands and strolling the sunlit lanes, or sitting in the back row of the Mayfair cinema watching George Formby.
This lead to a certain amount of animosity, particularly in the Rose and Crown on a Saturday night!

While our soldiers were fighting in Salerno and Monte Cassino to free Italy from the oppressor, these Italians were safe, secure, watered and fed in the green fields of Huyton.

Escape? Shaddup-a-your face!

Contributed By Gordon Hill

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