World War Two caused global upheaval - and South Wales was far from immune, with 1,900 American troops - known as GIs - landing at Newport Docks in 1942 in preparation for heading to the front line. Almost 80 years on, BROOKE BOUCHER found out more.

AMERICAN GIs first landed on Britain’s shores in 1942, with many based in South Wales. However, so much of what they did was secret that few records survived, and those that do are subject to a closure period, meaning they must remain confidential, of at least 75 years.

Michele Lewis is currently carrying out research into Newport’s history, and has gathered volumes of personal memories, photographs and facts about the GIs based in and around Newport following the arrival of 1,900 American servicemen who arrived in early 1942 at Newport docks.

“We used to sit around and chat about the GIs a lot at Christmas time,” said Mrs Lewis, with much of the information coming directly from her family.

South Wales Argus:

US Army Dodge M56 command car on Commercial Road. Picture: Jeff Donovan

“From an early age I had been brought up on a diet of stories about the war. My maternal grandfather was a great storyteller and he had a lovely voice which left me entranced.

"I loved hearing them all".

Years later, Mrs Lewis wanted to gather facts and family stories of those who also lived through this period.

Ms Lewis discovered that on arrival the GIs were introduced to their new homes - and the “lucky ones” were based in Malpas Court Camp.

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Senior officers were housed in The Tredegar Arms Hotel, with other ranks housed in Nissen huts on the manor grounds, which housed between 20-30 men.

The 26th Ordinance Bomb Disposal Squad were based at Tredegar Park, and the Rangers were at Llanmartin on the outskirts of Newport.

It is widely reported the GIs were generous, which was made possible for them since their average salaries were more than five times that of a British soldier and they had no living expenses or rationing to worry about either.

In her writing, The GIs in Newport, Ms Lewis - who has compiled all the information she has received and uploaded it onto the website Newport Past - recalls how, when she was a child and helping clear out her grandfather’s house, they found a uniform belonging to an American soldier who had left it with her grandparents for safety reasons and was unable to collect it as the troops had moved on in June 1944.

South Wales Argus:

A group of American war veterans and their wives in Belle Vue Park, Newport in June 1984 to visit American oak trees that were planted during their time in the UK during the Second World War

It is believed the GIs came to Newport due to its transport links via the docks, which were later used by the troops to embark “on the follow-up phase of the invasion”.

Many women in Newport went on to marry GIs - with some moving to America with their new sweethearts.

In June 1984, to mark 40 years since D-Day, many American veterans came back to Newport, many with their wives in tow, to Belle Vue Park to see the four American oak trees which were planted during the war.

In 2018, we spoke to Wendy James, from Chepstow, who had found out she was a GI baby – with a brother she didn’t know existed living nearby.

GI babies, as they are colloquially known, are the children of US servicemen who were serving overseas. Nobody is certain exactly how many GI babies were born - but is estimated to be in the thousands.

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Information uncovered by Ms Lewis also found that, when Afro-American troops began to arrive in Newport shortly after the first GIs, they were strictly segregated from the white soldiers.

An American journalist, Linda Hervieux, has also been researching the forgotten black American soldiers, and found a unit had arrived in Pontypool in February 1944 before departing in May for the southern port holdings camps, where many men awaited the call to board ships for the invasion of France.

She made a book out of her years of research, titled Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day’s Black Heroes, at Home and at War, which was published in 2015.

In the book she said: “Local people welcomed them with open arms, often inviting the men into their homes.

“Girls danced with them at the Palais de Danse on Main Street, and the GIs raised pints in the pubs alongside local men.

“Many of the Welshmen sympathised with the black soldiers, who were treated as second-class citizens by the white American soldiers, who often abused them.

“To the black soldiers, the warm welcome they received form the people of Pontypool, Abersychan, New Inn, Griffithstown and other towns and villages was a revelation."

By time the war was over, three million GIs had passed through Britain, with most of them vanishing overnight in June 1944 when they were dispatched to the beaches of Normandy.

  • Do you have any memories, stories, information or pictures about American GIs in South Wales? We would like to hear from you. Drop us a line on newsdesk@southwalesargus.co.uk