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Patricia Bridgen Farley was a Wren (Womens Royal Naval Service) stationed at Portkil, Near Kilcreggan, Scotland during World War II, living in a house affectionately known to the group of Wrens that were based there as 'The Barn'. The Wrens came to be known as the 'Barnites'.
The Barnites would have been lonely and rather bored if the Americans had not landed at Portkil and Rosneath. They changed our lives decidedly. We discovered that not everyone in the US liked President Roosevelt, that a young singer called Frank Sinatra was wowing the girls but every red-blooded male hated his guts, and that the war was doing great things for the economy back home, bringing them out of the Great Depression.
Musically, we were introduced to the wonderful melodies and songs played by Glenn Miller and the Dorsey brothers. The corpsmen could bring down their records, and we would have so much fun listening and dancing to the tunes.
I became addicted to Whitman Sampler chocolates, and was wooed with many a lovely box. 'Pogey bait' the sailors called it, but I have never found out where the term came from. Along with nylons and French perfume, and a nice bottle of pre-war Scotch, the American male thought he could seduce any starving 'Limey' with that candy.
Most British women in the '40s, if they did drink, chose gin as the spirit of choice. After dating some of the Americans, I switched to their choice, Scotch whisky and never went back to the gins.
Not only did our drinks become tastier, our whole diet improved after our kindly neighbours arrived on the scene. Gifts of real creamery butter, not that ersatz margarine, white bread and peanut butter were much appreciated, as were invitations to eat at the officers' mess once in a while. But I never did get around to liking peanut butter, it always seemed to stick to the roof of my mouth!
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