Were American GI's generally well-liked in UK during WWII?

Question

One Brit wag penned,"The only trouble with Yanks is that they are overbearing, over paid, over-sexed and over here".
That surely wasn't the general opinion, was it?

Answer 1

I've heard that the Brits say the Americans were "over-sexed." They said that all American soldiers ever talked about was sex. Outside of that, the Brits liked us.

Answer 2

The women loved them, the men didn't. The fact that they were here meant that brave little Britain couldn't beat Hitler on it's own.

They were perceived as glamorous. They brought with them things that were not available in the UK due to rationing, Everything was rationed to ensure there was enough for everyone.

So when lots of men with gifts suddenly appeared on the scene, other men got jealous. The women thought otherwise. There are lots of people in the UK born out of liaisons between English women and American GI's.

Even though people appeared to dislike the GI's, everyone will admit how brave they were. We should all be grateful to them.

Answer 3

From whatever I've read, it's pretty close to true. The women seemed to like them ok; there were lots of marriages (and less formal relationships).

I don't blame folks for getting overwhelmed by a flood of new people, and I think that by and large, at a real level, the Brits and Yanks respected each other. Sometimes it's just fun to gripe though, eh?

Answer 4

I was stationed in England after WWII and I found the British at that time to be very patriotic and proud. The females were very friendly and the males were a bit more wary but seemed to accept us OK. Overall, the British were very nice to the American G.I.

Answer 5

There is a very moving memorial in Mayfair, London, to Americans who died in defense of Britain during World War Two. I think that may be a better indication of the general view.

Answer 6

GI's used to say the Brits were: "under paid, under sexed, and under Ike."

Answer 7

Of course they were like they were on the same side.