THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
Each year, the American Battle Monuments Commission holds ceremonies on Memorial Day to honor those Americans commemorated at each of its cemeteries. At Cambridge American Cemetery, the script for the proceedings is usually thematic, based around a special historical event, a particular action, a unit, or group role.
This year marks the 80th Anniversary of the arrival of US troops in the United Kingdom during WWII. This build-up of troops in the UK, codenamed Operation BOLERO, is the theme for Memorial Day weekend (May 28-30) and the laying of wreaths ceremony (Monday, May 30).
While many in the US wished to avoid any further involvement in European wars, some, including President Roosevelt, felt that America would be drawn inexorably into the conflict that was engulfing Europe. The US was still a neutral party and instituted its first peacetime draft on September 16, 1940, known officially as The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. The law required all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register.
An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States – better known as Lend-Lease – took effect in March 1941, allowing America to send war-aid to Allied nations on a "use now, pay later" arrangement. Lend-Lease material – including food, oil, weapons, ammunition, and all kinds of non-lethal aid – would eventually reach the UK, the Republic of China, Free France, and, after the Nazi invasion of Russia, the Soviet Union. Merchant Marine ships traveling in convoys transported the goods across dangerous and icy northern seas. Because of the threat of marauding Nazi U-boat wolf-packs, Allied nations provided naval escorts and took every measure to ensure safe passage for the critical cargo. Sadly, the struggle to gain supremacy over the vast oceans lasted for the duration of the entire war, and many Seamen, Sailors, and Coast Guardsmen lost their lives when ships were sunk.
When America entered the war in December 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor by Germany's ally Japan, Nazi dominance of mainland Europe left Great Britain as the only stronghold from which the Allies could attack the Northern Continent. The island had to be defended at all costs. Even before formal American participation, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, during discussions in Canada in August 1941, agreed in principle to a "Europe First" policy that would prioritize the fight against Germany over that against Japan in the Pacific. The operation to move men and equipment to the British Isles starting in January 1942 was named Operation BOLERO.
The first American soldiers to disembark did so in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Between 1941-1946, nearly 3.5 million Americans passed through Britain, in what became known as 'The Friendly Invasion'.
When they boarded the troopships for overseas movement, American service members did not know their exact destination. However, once they were issued a small War and Navy Department booklet called, A Short Guide to Great Britain, they knew. After a dangerous, nerve-wracking crossing of the North Atlantic Ocean, hunted by enemy submarines, they arrived … 'somewhere in England!'. Somehow, a country already crowded with civilians and Allied military had to shuffle up and make room for more.
Memorial Day this year is intended to honor the memory of those brave Americans who arrived in 1942 as part of the initial build-up. Nothing was ready for them. Conditions were harsh as they were coming to a country which had been at war for two-and-a-half years. They had to bring everything with them. Indeed, they did, turning Great Britain into the largest military and logistics base of all time.
It would be another two-and-a-half years before they set foot on mainland Europe.
At its peak, just before the D-Day invasion in June 1944, more than 1.6 million Americans were stationed in the UK. American forces had become an integral part of English life, especially in the East Anglian region.
Unfortunately, for almost 4,000 of them, the British soil of a Cambridgeshire hillside would become their final resting place. At Cambridge American Cemetery, on Memorial Day, the American Battle Monuments Commission honors the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to deliver peace, stability, and freedom that has endured in Europe for the last 77 years.
Who were these men and women?
What were their hopes and dreams?
It likely wasn't their plan to stay in England forever.
In the cemetery their names are inscribed on headstones or on the Wall of the Missing.
What if we put a face to the name?
There is no better way to commemorate those lost lives, cut short by war, than by the project that we now call Faces of Cambridge.
The Staff of Cambridge American Cemetery wanted a way to bring the memory of these Americans to life – to put a face to the name. With help from other researchers, historians, and volunteers we have collected an archive of images, which is meant as a legacy for future generations. Although we now have more than 4,500 images on file, which represents around 50% of those commemorated, we are still actively collecting. Staff are also researching the histories of those memorialized, so that we are better able to tell their story. This project is our way of honoring their service and sacrifice.
Faces of Cambridge will exhibit all of the images from our library of materials. Portrait photographs will either be displayed at the individual headstones, or in the newly created 'Fields of Honor' for those whose names are inscribed on the Wall of the Missing. A team of volunteers, some of them from local US Air Force bases, will help the ABMC Staff to accomplish the Faces of Cambridge project.
As we stand at the flagpole and look over the sea of headstones, it is almost impossible to contemplate the lives cut short on such a magnitude. However, if we look at a headstone and remember that person, and the man to his right, then the woman to his left, the enormity of it assumes a more human proportion. Adding a picture to the headstone or commemoration on the Wall of the Missing brings the name to life. It colors in the background of some of those long-forgotten heroes, so that we can tell their story. Without their contribution, the war would have had a different outcome. In this way, the ABMC Staff continues to fulfill Gen. John J. Pershing's vision that, "Time will not dim the glory of their deeds."
Why not come and join us over Memorial Day weekend to celebrate these American lives, and remember their sacrifice?
