Cut out and keep: How to behave in Britain

[darmstadt]

This is great: Britain

[wurzel]

A different world...

Some things haven't changed though:

The British don't know how to make a good cup of coffee.

Thank God for Costa

[MyUserName]

There are housewives in aprons and youngsters in knee pants in Britain who have lived through more high explosives in air raids than many soldiers saw in first class barrages in the last war.

I actually found that quite chilling.

Helps me remember how easy my life is compared to many though!

[doodab]

It made me proud to be from such good stock and live in such a wonderful country.

[VectraMan]

Very interesting.

There was something on QI about how American GIs had been warned about the different attitudes to race in Britain, i.e. that the British were just as welcoming (or otherwise) to black American soldiers as to white soldiers, whereas the white Americans were a bit shocked to go into the pubs and discover they were expected to drink in the same room as the blacks.

[MyUserName]

There was something on QI about how American GIs had been warned about the different attitudes to race in Britain, i.e. that the British were just as welcoming (or otherwise) to black American soldiers as to white soldiers, whereas the white Americans were a bit shocked to go into the pubs and discover they were expected to drink in the same room as the blacks.

ISTR they Americans demanded segregated regiments which they were granted by the MOD. They also demanded segregated pubs but the landlords refused. They went in to pubs and often tried to beat up the black guys there but were surprised (and probably injured) when the white British would intervene and fought alongside their black countrymen. Made me proud to be British.

A friend who was in the army more recently was told by some Americans who they were working with that their unit had been told "don't drink with the British, don't gamble with the British and for God's sake don't fight with the British".

[stek]

ISTR they Americans demanded segregated regiments which they were granted by the MOD. They also demanded segregated pubs but the landlords refused. They went in to pubs and often tried to beat up the black guys there but were surprised (and probably injured) when the white British would intervene and fought alongside their black countrymen. Made me proud to be British.

A friend who was in the army more recently was told by some Americans who they were working with that their unit had been told "don't drink with the British, don't gamble with the British and for God's sake don't fight with the British".

Sounds like a plot from 'Goodnight Sweetheart'!

[TykeMerc]

Excellent find thanks for posting the link.

[sirja]

ISTR they Americans demanded segregated regiments which they were granted by the MOD. They also demanded segregated pubs but the landlords refused. They went in to pubs and often tried to beat up the black guys there but were surprised (and probably injured) when the white British would intervene and fought alongside their black countrymen. Made me proud to be British.

A friend who was in the army more recently was told by some Americans who they were working with that their unit had been told "don't drink with the British, don't gamble with the British and for God's sake don't fight with the British".

It's a sad fact that while the Americans were 'The good guys' for many blacks that was not the experience. In fact Jesse Owens has said that he had more freedom in Nazi Berlin during the Olympics than back home in the US. It's really nice to read that the good people of the UK drew a line on this kind of nonsense.

[Gibbon]

Nice informative post, thank you.