_What was The Friendly Invasion in Norfolk?

Norfolk played a central part in World War II, when it became host to the B24 Liberators and B17 Flying Fortresses of the United States Eighth Air Force.

The Friendly Invasion had the biggest landscape and cultural impact on the East of England since the Norman Conquest, 900 years earlier.

So many huge airbases punctuated the flat, rural landscape of Norfolk that it became known as ‘Little America’.

• Their first mission was on July 4, 1942, a symbolic day for the North Americans. But their planes hadn’t arrived, so they had to use RAF bombers instead.
• The US servicemen and women brought with them Coca Cola, donuts, chewing gum and much more.
• They also brought segregation – market towns like Diss and Harleston hosted black and white servicemen on alternate nights.
• For every flier, there were three ancillaries, meaning airbases could support more than 3000 people.
• Hundreds of miles of concrete runway were laid in months. Much of the 250,000 tonnes of aggregate needed came from the bombed ruins of London.
• If East Anglia was monochrome when they arrived, it was soon turned technicolour – just like The Wizard of Oz, released in 1939, the first year of the war.
• Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart flew out of Old Buckenham and Tibenham and was one of the few base commanders who led his men into combat.
• The Americans also brought their own pets, including a grizzly bear and a monkey.
• More than 40,000 wives and girlfriends went to the USA at the end of hostilities. Today their relatives come to visit ‘where Grandpa Joe served and where Grandma Molly came from’.

Friendly Invasion highlights in Norfolk

2nd Air Division Memorial Library, Norwich – fascinating archive with The Forum in the city centre.

Thorpe Abbotts 100th Bomb Group Museum – focus of the $750m Apple TV+ series Masters of the Air.

453rd Bomb Group Museum, Old Buckenham – base for Hollywood legend James Stewart.

This is a taster of our series of blogs on The Friendly Invasion in East Anglia.