'Over there' 1944/45 - Americans in the liberation of France: their perceptions of, and relations with, France and the French

Over 2.3 million U.S. citizens found themselves shipped to France in 1944-45, most of them ordinary men conscripted into the Army. This study centres on the experiences of these Americans in France - how they prepared for dealing with the French; their perceptions of France and its citizens on the eve of their arrival; the welcome they experienced, the giving and receiving of help; the changing relationship in the differing phases of the Liberation; and the legacy of the interaction - its immediate legacy, and the legacy of veterans' feelings towards the French in the 1990s. How the interation of ordinary Americans and French worked out is the key theme.

The study draws primarily on U.S. Army records, records of Civil Affairs operations, and the results of the author's questionnaire of veterans with experience of France.

Following an overall good interaction in Normandy, Franco-American relations on the ground reached a highpoint with the sweep across northern France and the invasion of southern Franch in Auguts 1944. In the twelve months from September 1944 there was a serious deterioration in relations, the principal factor being the effect of the passage of time. However, although the experience thus ended on a very low note, on balance the interaction had worked out reasonably well. Given the circumstances - that it was wartime, that the war dragged on for much longer than it had appeared that it would, that soldiers everywhere are likely to contain a rogue element, and that there was a language barrier - the interaction was a healthy one on balance. Because the American involvement was devoid of overtly colonial or bad historical overtones, it was more straightforward than it would otherwise have been and bore up reasonably well under the strains that did afflict it - a mix of practical and cultural strains, rather than 'colonial' ones.