Product Description

During August 1943, a Fighter Group of the American Eighth Army Air Force arrived in a quiet English village. Initially disliked, as time went by the villagers grew to know them and the damned Yanks turned into Our Yanks.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #153935 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 414 pages

From the Back Cover
'I STILL REMEMBER THE YANKS, ALMOST MORE THAN I DO THE WAR'

It was August 1943 - and into the quiet country village of King's Thorpe roared a Fighter Group of the American Eighth Army Air Force. The villagers had never seen anything like them before. They were glamorous, exciting, and ready to win the war.

Some, like the Brigadier, called them 'Damned Yanks' and hated them on sight. They were late for this war just like they'd been for the last. They chewed gum, smoked in the street and whistled at girls.

Young Sally Barnet from the bakery - fifteen-going-on-eighteen - thought them gorgeous and used her large blue eyes to good advantage. Timid Miss Cutteridge found herself forming a warm and wonderful friendship with Corporal Bilsky, who didn't know how to use a cake fork but was great at digging her garden. Nine-year-old Tom Hazlet discovered the Yanks were an excellent source of business and traded stolen eggs for cigarettes which he sold at a profit. He really liked the Yanks. On young, newly-widowed Erika Beauchamp, and Agnes Dawes, the Rector's daughter, the Americans were to make an overwhelming emotional impact.

The one thing you couldn't do about the Yanks was ignore them, and finally everyone - even the Brigadier - came to accept them as their own. They became OUR YANKS.

About the Author
Margaret Mayhew
Margaret Mayhew was born in London and her earliest childhood memories were of the London Blitz. She began writing in her mid-thirties and had her first novel published in 1976. She is married to American aviation author, Philip Kaplan, and lives on the borders of Wales. She is the author of Bluebirds, The Crew, The Little Ship, Our Yanks and The Pathfinder, all published by Corgi.

Customer Reviews

The effect of American WW2 airmen on an English village
I enjoyed this book which although viewing life in WW2 from a different viewpoint, was nevertheless quite gripping in that one wished to know what would happen to these diverse people, some of whom lived in what, to a comparitively wealthy American, would appear to be abject poverty. The effect on the lives of both the villagers and the 'Yanks' was quite graphically depicted and, as it was in WW2, there was no neatly wrapped up ending, more a satisfactory conclusion to a confusing episode in the lives of villagers who previously would rarely venture beyond the nearest county town if that.

A lovely wartime novel
I have never read any of Margaret Mayhews books before but after reading this one I will definately be doing so.
Our Yanks tells the story of a small village coping with the war and the effect that the arrival of the Americans has on everyone, from the young girls who fall in love ,to the older ladies who are gratefull for the companionship and household help they get ,to the old Brigadier who at first is opposed to the yanks but in time comes to accept them and apprieciates their help.
This book was one that once I picked it up I just wanted to carry on reading and I wish it had been a lot longer.

A another good book by Ms. Mayhew
If you are a fan of books set during World War 2, then Margaret Mayhew is the writer for you. Our Yanks, tells how the United States Air Force coming to a small British town,changes the lives all of its residents forever. Another great from Ms. Mayhew