Canadian Chocolate - Anecdote

[Felix/FFDS]

In my office there are a couple of gents, engineer managers, who were tykes during the unpleasantness of the 1940-41 in Britain.

It struck me how much we, of a later generation, take things for granted when to this day, he remembers with a smile being given a piece of chocolate sent to England by the Canadian people as treats for the children.

[Hagar]

People have told me that little treats like that were very hard to come by. The American GIs were very popular with the children as they could usually be relied on to hand out "candy" & chewing gum that they bought specially from the PX (as I think they call it). They were also popular with the young ladies for other reasons including nylon stockings which were unavailable in Britain. The US troops were generally better paid, better fed & better dressed than their British counterparts.

Sweets as we call candy were rationed in Britain until February 1953. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/5/newsid_2737000/2737731.stm

1953: Sweet news ends rationing

Children across the country have been emptying out their piggy-banks and heading straight for the nearest sweet-shop as the first unrationed sweets went on sale today.
Toffee apples were the biggest sellers, with sticks of nougat and liquorice strips also disappearing fast.

One firm in Clapham Common gave 800 children 150lbs of lollipops during their midday break from school; and a London factory opened its doors to hand out free sweets to all comers.

I well remember that day & going into a sweet shop on the way home from school for my first sweets without needing coupons. I forget which type of sweets they were but know they tasted extra good.

PS. Believe it or not, tea was rationed until October 1952. I don't know how we managed without our cuppa. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/3/newsid_3122000/3122485.stm

[Felix/FFDS]

The US troops were generally better paid, better fed & better dressed than their British counterparts.

Aaahhh the origins of the "overpaid, oversexed, and over here!"

[Felix/FFDS]

My parents tell me that Puerto Rico, being a US possession, also had a rough time, what with shipping being frequently intercepted.

My mother manned an FCC  listening post  and she recalled when she heard an SOS from a torpedoed freighter.  When told that help was on its way, the last reponse was, "don't  bother, we're going down".

"Polenta" which today is a "fancy food"  (corn meal??) in some trendy restaurants, was practically the daily fare for my in-laws.  To say that to this day they almost prefer not to eat than eat "polenta" is an understatement.

At least they had coffee!!

[Hagar]

Aaahhh the origins of the "overpaid, oversexed, and over here!"

Indeed. I can't find any pay comparisons right now but I turned up this interesting handbook issued to GIs sent to Ulster (Northern Ireland) in 1942. http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/topics/war/gibook.shtml

In June 1941, six months before the United States entered the war, American 'technicians' arrived in Derry and built a new quay at Lisahally, a ship repair base, a radio station and ammunition depots. Then, on 26 January 1942, the first American troops stepped ashore at Belfast's Dufferin Quay, and by May the number of Americans had reached 37,000.

At Langford Lodge the Lockheed Corporation repaired and maintained aircraft and US airmen were stationed at airfields all over the region. In 1943 greater numbers arrived in readiness for the Normandy landings, and for a time there were 120,000 Americans in the North. The United States spent 75 million dollars developing its facilities in Derry, including the most important naval radio station in the European theatre of operations.

A warning is given not to flaunt cash in the faces of Ulster locals and British troops as comparisons are made with the apparent high wages that the GI's were paid.

"You carry the greatest source of potential trouble right around with you in your billfold. American wages and American soldiers' pay are about the highest in the world. The British soldier is apt to be pretty touchy about the difference between his wages and yours. It is only human nature to wonder why exposure to dying should be quoted at different rates - and such different rates.
Remember that the private in the British army makes on average 50 cents a day and that, according to our standards, most of the people in Ulster are exceedingly poor."

"Don't be a spendthrift . Don't be a dope".

[quote]"Polenta" which today is a "fancy food"

[H]

I remember my dad mentioning conversations with Scottish sentries while stationed in the U.K. but I don't know quite where he was. He died quite early in my life so it's a bit late to ask him. As to the quote about U.S. troups, Hagar may remember my referencing part of it to my dad. There are a few issues I had with him but he was fairly easy going unless particularly riled (mentioning particulars, riling someone known to have picked up the front end of an Oldsmobile and walking it around to face the other way wasn't a particularly good idea ). Although he did tell me quite a few things, I was still a bit too ignorant of the events to know what to ask about. He was gone by the time I came up with some questions and I wish I'd had more time with him and asked him a bit more.

[Flt.Lt.Andrew]

Well now its "Overweight Overchaste and over there!"

Ha ha how the tables turn.



A.

[H]

...how the tables turn.

and be warned how quickly they may again, Andrew.