British relationship with americans during war world two?

Question

give more then they were allies but give more detail.......plz

Answer 1

Well, before Pearl Harbour, American aid was given in the form of Lend-Lease. Basically, we were given American guns, food and Tanks for free, to be paid back after the war had ended. This also meant food was dirt cheap and fuel could be imported.
When America became directly involved, the US Airforce stationed in many RAF bases, with RAF commanders beign given command of American units due to 3 years experience of aerial war with the Germans.
erm...the relationshp betwen the GI's and our Tommies was indeed a love-hate. We often resented the young Americans,..a famous phrase was 'overpaid, oversexed and over here!'...to which the Americans said us Brits were 'Unpaid, Unsexed and Under-Eisenhower'.
British troops were told to respect their American allies, and the Americans for the greater part behaved themselves. You gotta realise, Britain in 1940 was nothing like America, we were very much a proudly conservative, traditional nation who had borne Hitlers war machine for 2/3 years before you guys showed up. We were proud tohave looked after ourselves so long ,so it was always tense..we still believe to this day that you guys turned up '2 years too late'. Just like the first bloody world war!
:P

Does that help at all friend?

Answer 2

The Brits had a saying about us. "They're overpaid. oversexed, and over here." While there was some friction, things went smoothly for the most part.
Contrary to popular belief, through our slanted view of history (all sides paint themselves in a better light), we did not emerge as a true world power, let alone a "super power" until after the war. At least in the eyes of our European allies. The Europeans Military and civilian leaders call most of the shots and made the majority of the decisions much to the consternation of Roosevelt, Truman, Ike and Patton. There was considerable grumbling at the upper levels of our leadership, considering that Americans were fighting what many still believed to be a "European War". This is just one view. For such a simple question, the answer is actually quite complex.

Answer 3

It varied but at the end of the day just like now we are cousins and as such we sometimes bicker but when the chips are down we fight as one.

Don't forget that Churchill was half American on his mothers side and he was determined to get the USA to join us in the war.

Roosevelt was wary of Churchill as most Americans wanted to stay out of the war, and whilst he was commited to do what he could he had to stop Churchill forcing the issue as it was a vote loser. He was a supporter of the Brits though.

Not like Joe Kennedy (the father of the Kennedys) who was very anti British and spent most of 1940 telling America that we were finished and that the Germans were bombing us to submission. They were bombing us relentlessly but never to submission.

Brits and Americans fought side by side in North Africa (we had already turned the tide there by the way at El Alamein), in Sicily, in Italy, and in Northern Europe as well as in the skies over Germany night after night.

People like to make much of the rivallry between Patton and Montgomery, but in actual fact they were both great generals but had very different styles.

The history of that war has been re-written over the past 20 or 30 years however most typically by people like the author and historian Steven Ambrose (Band of Brothers), and by the mega bucks of hollywood, so that the British (and the Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, and Indians) have been written out of history to the point where some WW2 vets who were admirers of the USA are now a little cynical as most young Americans now have the attitude of the USA won the war and saved our asses.

Actually it was our resiliance in fighting alone for two years and keeping the Germans occupied, even though we were defending our beaches with pitchforks, that was probably one of the most decisive moments.

There was also some resentment when the GI's first arrived in England, when British Servicemen arriving home on leave from fighting in the desert or at sea found their wives and girlfriends with new American boyfriends who to the women of Britain all looked and sounded like Hollywood movie stars.

But hey we got the job done and despite the re-writing of history by hollywood, we got it done together.

Answer 4

My dad was in WWII and was in England for over a year with thousands of US troops, before the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. The relations were overall great and the Brits were very appreciative, although there was some griping on both sides. The Brits joked that the Americans were "oversexed, overpaid, and over here." The Americans joked that the Brits were "undersexed, underpaid, and under Eisenhower."

Answer 5

The relationship between the Brits and the Yanks was a love/hate relationship. How difficult it was is hard to imagine, however GI's do not usually portray the best image of America, so you have to believe the Brits had to bite their tongue's when it came to tolerating our young warriors, especially when they were drinking.

In spite of all that, many GI's left their little bundles of joy with many young English women when they returned stateside, following the end of the war.

Answer 6

My mom met my dad on Conney Island, he was in the RAF and visiting the fun park after he dropped off the North African German Tank Corp in NYC on there way to Canadian POW camps. They got married and she spent the rest of the war in the lake district of northern England.
They were married 62 years and I think that was a good relationship!

Answer 7

they were allies