GI Brides by Duncan Barrett ****

GI Brides: The Wartime Girls Who Crossed the Atlantic for Love by British authors Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi follows the lives of four women from meeting American soldiers during World War II through the current day. This is not a ‘they lived happily ever after’ fantasy. The four women faced challenges with husbands who changed. Upon return to America, the men turned out to be gamblers, alcoholics, and cheaters. Some families rejected the brides. Many marriages did not last. The women joined organizations of other GI brides. One had the motto: “We got through the war. We’re British, we can stand anything.”

The book includes many historical details and differences between British and American life. The major difference between American and British life was that the war was in England. The British experienced bombings and severe rationing, while the Americans observed the war from a safe distance. After the war, the American economy, which had not been bombed, recovered much more quickly than Europe.

The biggest surprise for the GI brides was the stark contrast between the Americans during the war where they were confident, important, and rich. They had money and supplies. They were able to shower the English women with luxuries, like stockings and meat. Upon returning to the U.S. they reverted to be postmen, coal miners, and unemployed. The transition was difficult for both men and women. The women, in their late teens and early twenties, had to learn to take care of and stand up for themselves and their children.

There were lots of interesting details. Women who couldn’t afford stockings, drew a line down the backs of their legs to simulate stocking seams. Enlisted women were issued “several enormous pairs of bloomers, which were unofficially known as ‘passion killers.’” Coat-hanger abortions were common. Women made wedding dresses from parachute silk “often salvaged from German pilots who had been shot down.” The brides were introduced to the American custom of baby showers. Wedding cakes in England tended to be hard fruitcakes, while the American version was soft sponge.

Health care was mixed. One mother contracted puerperal fever, child-bed fever, and her life was saved by penicillin. Another woman contracted polio.

For soldiers to get married, they needed permission from the army. If the soldiers did not want to get married, “the army hierarchy was adept at blocking women from tracking down errant fathers.”

A historical perspective of WWII England and post-war America. A tough look at the lives of GI brides.

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