Club Talk – “Yanks in Bristol”

Oliver Davey is an amateur historian with a particular interest in the Second World War. While investigating the story of his great aunt, who married an American serviceman whom she had met in Bristol in the war. he discovered many locals with memories of the ‘friendly invasion’ by the Yanks! Realising the number of stories that could be recorded, he started the YanksinBristol.co.uk website and became an expert in Americans in Bristol in the Second World War.

Oliver’s talk will lead a virtual tour of Bristol starting at Clifton College, the headquarters of US First Army and visiting key sites for the US Forces in the build up to D-Day. With personal stories from both Bristolians and American GIs, the tour will encompass ships, warplanes, US Army trucks, excited children, Anglo-American marriages, life-long friendships, and emotional departures. It will also look at the lives of the African American servicemen, how they were welcomed to the city but faced prejudice from their fellow countrymen.