Most of us spent evenings in the barracks, playing poker or cards, reading, listening to the radio or just plain loafing. Ruben Draper usually got the card game up. I think he won a lot. Whenever he won he usually said ''another brick for my house".
The radio station with the best music came from of all places, Berlin. The gal who usually did the announcing was known as "Axis Sally" One of the things she tried to do was create disturbance among the GIs.
She played up the fact that we were in England while our girl friends and wives were left at home. She claimed they (the girls and wives) were going out every night being picked up at bars etc., by those men at home who for some reason or another were not in the service. She claimed they were all having all-night parties and a lot of them were becoming pregnant and having illegitimate children.
This lowered the morale for awhile, but we finally realized that this was all a lot of propaganda.
One evening I remember very well when she made a derogatory remark about the Jews on Wall Street and that we were being run by them. We had a Jew in our Barracks. Another GI picked up this remark and expanded on it which caused quite an argument between the two. We finally quieted them down and convinced them that they were doing just what the Germans wanted them to do. The Nazis were trying to create discord among the G.I.'s but these two apologized and became close friends.
During my tour of duty in England I was treated by the medics twice and the dentist once. The only thing that the dentist did was to pull a tooth. He also commented on the good dental care from my dentist back home.
I was on pass one day and returned to the barracks that evening. A little while later I became sick with stomach cramps. I immediately thought of some food that I had in Bedford that hadn't tasted right. I reported to the hospital for medication. They examined me and kept me in the hospital overnight. Finding nothing wrong and with my feeling better, they released me the next morning. I was weak for several days but then for got about being sick.
I was bothered very much with allergies in England. The spring of 1944 was particularly bad. A notice came out early in 1945 that shots would be given for this. I reported to the hospital at the given time and was given some allergy tests. I tested positive and began taking shots once a week, then twice a week, and finally every other day. I don't think the shots helped much. We left England in June so the shots did not get a chance to prove their effectiveness.