Oversexed, Overpaid and Overhere, complete series is posted

Oversexed, Overpaid and Overhere is the term the British people gave to describe the million or so American servicemen who were stationed in England and Scotland during the Second World War, Most were there in preparation for the D Day invasion. The rest were part of the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces which launched massive daily air strikes into Germany during daylight to complement the RAF's nightly raids. The term explains the average Britisher's frustration with fact that many of these Americans or Yanks, while valuable Allies always seemed to be too interested in bedding down the local women, had way too much money in their pockets and there were just too many of them on one small island. George Hall, Arthur's dad from the Josie series was one such American who learns first hand about what the "English Vice," particularly involving the tawse and cane is all about.

"Overfed" was often added to that list. The British people, and even British troops were living under heavy food rationing while American troops always seemed to enjoy unlimited food. It wasn't obvious to the Brits how American citizens were sacrificing to provide that food to their troops, but Americans still didn't go near as hungry as our UK allies, nor suffer in hundreds of other ways.

I can't help mentioning that the American troops' response was that the British troops were "Underpaid, undersexed and under Eisenhower."

Thank you, Guy and Tiptopper for filling in the places I missed.

And it was the same in occupied Germany in 1945. Their French allies enjoyed the same privileges; I know, my father was there and told us about that.

"Overpaid" and "oversexed" undoubtedly were interactive characteristics, since attractive young British women were likely to enjoy socializing (and eventually copulating) with men who had money to spend on them in an otherwise very tight wartime economy.

Still, thousands of those Americans were going to be killed storming the beaches of Normandy and driving across France into Germany, and thousands more by having their planes shot down over Europe, so IMHO it's hard to consider them "overpaid" for risking (and sometimes losing) their lives. If they were erotically aggressive, that could partially be attributed to the possibility (especially for pilots) that the 'roll in the hay' they were pursuing might have ended up being their last one ever... --C.K.

I am overwhelmed by the readership and insightful comments in response to the posting of this series. Thank you all so very much. It encourages me greatly as a relatively new and novice author. What a wonderful place we have here.

I thoroughly enjoyed Smartful's series and shall keep my eyes peeled for his further work.
Islandcarol.

For the overpaid part to work you have to think of it "comparatively" overpaid. The British troops were doing the same jobs, taking the same risks, and dying in the same ways for much lower pay. The Americans were doing the same job but getting more money and better rations than the British so of course there was resentment.

Add in the fact that US troops could buy things in PXs that were unavailable or tightly rationed and they were impressing the local girls with their money and their presents and there was more resentment.

Of course, underlying all that resentment was the fact that WWII started in 1939 and the US didn't get involved until late 1941 - after France was conquered, the British Isles were heavily bombed, and you had massive food shortages because of the U-boats sinking freighters. It's a bit like a team that has fought against the odds to make the playoffs then gets a late season trade who's there to save the day.

Goodgulf

All so accurately stated, Goodgulf. No wonder the Brits coined the expression they did to describe the Yanks. George Hall, modeled closely after my real dad in the same situation, had the attitude which was pretty typical of G.I.s there, that they were entitled to whatever was available. And that included long stemmed English roses, who for a pack of Luckies, a Hershey bar or a pair of nylons would agree to go with a G.I. because these things were for the most part unavailable to the average Brit. This resentment was balanced by the sacrifice the Brits could see being made by the Yanks. At the end of the day, the locals were glad that their guests were there, even if it was late in the game.