Pocket Guide to Northern Ireland - Ulster at War

Source:A Pocket Guide to Northern Ireland [.mobi (Kindle), .epub (iPad, etc.)]
Author:War and Navy Departments, Washington, D.C.
Date:1943

ULSTER and England have been at war with Germany since September of 1939. In Belfast, which is blacked out every night, you will see some of the scars of the 1940 bombings. You will see other effects of the war on the shelves of the shops. There aren’t many things to buy. In America we have not yet felt, to any extent, those deprivations which result from turning all industry into war industry. Here are only a few of the things—available at any corner store in America—which you will have a hard time finding in Ulster: Soap, chocolate bars, talcum powder, oranges, chewing gum, grape juice, ice cream.

You will see soldiers everywhere, American soldiers and British soldiers. The British soldiers are young men, just as you are, and just as full of beans. Hitler wants you not to get along together, and he has history in his favor: allies sometimes have had difficulty getting along together. This is the time both to fool Hitler and to make history.

Lean over backwards to make friends with the guy who talks differently, thinks differently, but fights the same war.

Remember that no criticism has ever been made of the gallant, stubborn fighting of the ordinary British soldier. The Americans were great at Bataan; but do not forget that a regiment of bank clerks and floorwalkers (the Queen’s Rifles) who hadn’t completed their military training held Calais and made the Dunkerque evacuation possible. They were ordered to hold Calais at all cost. They did. Most of them died there.

Don’t tell the Britisher that “we came over and won the last one.” In the first place, it isn’t true. Britain lost nearly a million men; America’s dead in action totaled a little more than 60,000. Don’t boast about what we have done or will do. Let’s see how we handle ourselves when the going is really tough.

Yanks: British Views on America during the Second World War

This book comprises a selection of articles from the (British) Army Bureau of Current Affairs' WAR and CURRENT AFFAIRS pamphlets, all relating to America and, more particularly, to the relationship between the British and Americans during the Second World War.

"Our enemies are trying to make trouble between the British and the Americans during the war; they are certain to try it after they have been defeated, in the hope of escaping once more from the consequences of their crimes against humanity. It is our business to understand and work with the United States now and in peace-time; that means for us all at least to like and understand the Americans we meet."

ISBN: 978-1910375518