Private Milburn Henke was the first American soldier to land on British soil (www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/american-soldiers-arrive-united-kingdom-1942)

“The American soldiers in London were so wonderful,” said a lovely elderly lady I met a few days ago. Then she told me a story about her mother wheeling her in a pram during the Blitz. All of a sudden, she heard a doodlebug overhead. Doodlebugs were what Londoners called the German V-1s, rocket-propelled bombs. Doodlebugs as I learned from my client, Rod Brewster …

“ … would fly until their fuel ran out. When the motor cut, they would dive. So as long as you could hear the motor then you knew they weren’t going to hit you. But as soon as they went quiet, everybody tried to get under something to protect themselves.”

Also hearing the doodlebug, an American soldier quickly whisked her out of the pram and led her mother to safety, while wheeling the pram and carrying the tiny bundle.

She went on to tell me that the American troops gave her family fresh eggs, when only powdered eggs were available, due to rationing. As she told me that part of the story, her smile was massive and she positively radiated warmth. She remembers their kindness and the taste of those beautiful eggs like it was yesterday.

If my lovely elderly lady hadn’t furnished her statement about the wonderfulness of the American soldiers with her stories, it wouldn’t have packed as much punch. Her stories drive home how wonderful the soldiers were and the relief and joy most British people felt when they arrived in the UK in 1942.

It’s the personal stories of harrowing times that bring those times alive, so we can relate to them, learn from them and draw positivity from them. I’m on a mission to collect and preserve as many stories that pack a punch as I can.