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156 9 Training in Wales 1943–1944 Ships carrying the soldiers left port on October 7–8, and within two days the sea’s roughness started taking its toll. Seasickness sent many to bed.1 Cooped up and desperate to see daylight, the men on the S.S. Santa Paula opened its removable roof only to gaze at the depressing “dripping gray clouds of the North Atlantic.”2 By October 16 stormy weather made the men anxious for the shore. Seas were rough enough to toss dishes about the galley, but a 112th diarist noticed with envy that the pitching and roiling did not bother the Filipino stewards. Within sight of land, by the 17th seasickness subsided in anticipation ofjourney’send.TheconvoydockedatCardiff,Wales,thenextday.3 “Welcome to Wales,” barked an Army major. “If the sun is shining, it’s going to rain; if the sun’s not shining, it’s raining!”4 The GIs marveled at Wales’s beauty and its differences from America. The bright green grass, well-trimmed hedges, manicured countryside, complete absence of trash and billboards, and quaint stone houses all stood out. John Fairchild wrote, “It all had an air of unreality. It was like one of Disney’s pictures of springtime with the colorful land, doll-like houses, happy birds, and cheerful music.” The soldiers welcomed the daily two-hour hikes because they wanted to go see beyond the next hill. Most of the men had never journeyed outsidetheUnitedStates,soeverydistinctionstoodout.“Thebi-lingualWelsh; the Main Street provincialism that ‘In Wales, nothing opens on Sundays, not even parachutes,’ the British accent with its rising final inflections, the friendly attitude which prevailed—these are things never to be forgotten by the men of this battalion.”5 Another wrote, that the “food is good, morale is excellent, and the country is a bit strange to everyone.”6 During the 1990s, most veterans who mentioned their time in Wales remembered the friendliness of the people and Training in Wales | 157 the beauty of the countryside.7 Soldiers took advantage of two-day passes to visit Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth, and even London.8 As had been done in the past, the Army coordinated with civilian authorities so that when 14,000 American soldiers descended on a small portion of Wales, both sides would get along well. Regimental band concerts for the locals contributed to mutual goodwill.9 The 28th ID’s experience was fortuitous, for by the time it arrived, the island of Great Britain was already swelling with American soldiers. Britons were losing patience, however, and would soon “come to think of the U.S. soldier as sloppy, conceited, insensitive, undiscriminating, noisy.”10 The 28th Infantry Division did not encamp in one location. Regiments and even companies were spread about the Welsh countryside, which inadvertently forced small-unit commanders to run their units more on their own, “a good—and safe—introduction to typical combat situations.”11 Soldiers spent the second and third weeks of November repeating personal and small-unit trainingsothattherequisiteskillnecessaryforthemorespecializedtrainingat the Assault Training Center would be at its peak. Road marches, map reading, visual communication, and sports occupied them for the time being.12 After a month in Wales, the troops had “only the highest praise for the treatment . . . by the civilian populace.”13 One veteran, PFC Thomas Hickman, considered the Welsh “great,” but found that the English “resented us.”14 Some of the Americans attended local churches and made friends in Carmarthen. A nearby golf club offered memberships to the division’s officers, and locals from Llanelli, Burry Port, and Pembry invited men to dinner.15 The holiday season provided another opportunity for generosity between theWelshandtheAmericans.Soldiersofthe112th’s1stBattalionfoundtimeon Christmas Eve to entertain two hundred underprivileged children who lived near their encampment. About fifty sergeants acted as “daddies” for the children , and everyone enjoyed themselves. Many other visitors from Lampeter and Llandysul joined in.16 Company C entertained children in a nearby castle, while men of the 109th Infantry extended similar generosity to the children of PortTalbot.17 The109thFAparticipatedinacandlelightserviceinSt.Thomas’s Church in Haverfordwest.18 Many of the people of Bridgend invited soldiers of the 108th FA into their homes for the Christmas celebration.19 Although formal arrangements were in place to match Americans who wished to have a “home away from home” with host families, local citizens and soldiers arranged a great many of these friendships on their own.20 These were but short respites.Afifteen-milemarchandafive-dayfieldproblembracketedthe112th’s Christmas turkey dinner.21 [18.222.125.171...

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