Looking back at a special relationship on V-E Day
Sunday, May 8, will be the 77th anniversary of V-E Day when the war in Europe ended. Only about 240,000 of the 16 million American World War II veterans are still alive, according to the U. S. Department of Veteran Affairs. I’m one of them, an airman, who was based in England.
Before heading to the UK, Uncle Sam had some choice tips for us about understanding and getting along with Brits. They were carefully laid out in “A Short Guide to Great Britain”, a 44page U.S. War and Navy Department booklet I and thousands of other overseas-bound Americans were issued.
Viewed from today’s perspective, they seem more humorous than enlightening. Examples:
“It is militarily stupid to insult your allies. So stop and think before you sound off about lukewarm beer or cold boiled potatoes or the way the English cigarettes taste.”
“Two actions will slow up friendship — swiping his girl and not appreciating what his army has been up against. Yes, and rubbing it in that you are better paid than he is.”
“If British civilians look dowdy or badly dressed it’s not because they do not like good clothes or know how to wear them. All clothing is rationed and the British know that they help war production by wearing an old suit or dress until it cannot be patched any longer. Old clothes are ‘good form’.”
“The British people are anxious for you to know that in normal times Britain looks much prettier, cleaner, neater.”
“Don’t be misled by the British tendency to be soft spoken and polite. If they need to be, they can be plenty tough.”
“If you’re trying to shine in polite society it isn’t a good idea, for instance, to say ‘bloody’ in mixed company. It is one of their worst swear words. To say ‘I look like a bum’ is offensive to their ears, for to the British it means that you look like your own backside.”
“They are not given to backslapping, and they are shy about showing affections but once they get to like you they make the best friends in the world.”
“You can rub a Britisher the wrong way by telling him ‘we came over and won the last war.’ ... Britain remembers that nearly a million of her best manhood died in the last war. America lost 60,000.”
“Be careful not to criticize the King. The British feel about that the way you would feel if anyone spoke against our country or our flag. Today’s King and Queen stuck with the people through their blitzes and had their home bombed just like anyone else, and the people are proud of them.”
“In the pubs you will hear a lot of Britons openly criticize their government and the conduct of
“When you see a girl in khaki or air force blue with a bit of a ribbon on her tunic — remember she didn’t get it for knitting more socks than anyone else in Ipswitch.”
the war. That isn’t an occasion for you to put in your two cents. It’s their business, not yours.”
“The British consider it bad form not to stand at attention when their national anthem, ‘God Save the King,’ is played at theater performances. If you are in a hurry and it means missing the bus, leave before it is played.”
“When you see a girl in khaki or air force blue with a bit of a ribbon on her tunic — remember she didn’t get it for knitting more socks than anyone else in Ipswitch.”
“If you are invited to eat with a family don’t eat too much. Otherwise you may eat up their weekly rations.”
“We’ve got to understand and respect each other. First, because we want to be real comrades in arms, not phoney ones of the Axis variety. Second and more important, we don’t want a mere wartime friendship. We want the real thing — the alliance which survives the peace and becomes a permanent force in the shaping of the new world.”
Si Liberman, 97 ,a retired editor of the Asbury Park Sunday Press, was a radio gunner aboard a B-24 bomber in the 8th Air Force stationed at an airfield near the city of Norwich.