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Of this period, Captain Carl Nordstrom wrote:

“May 2nd: To my parents - a V-Mail in which I reported having arrived in England.  Later, I noted that arrival date at Liverpool was May 1st.  In a V-Mail to Jane the next day, I mention that very few of the men on the Mauritania had been seasick.  It must have been a smooth ocean voyage.  It was my first, so I had nothing to compare it with.  In the letters that followed, I commented on England - quite standard stuff.  I was impressed by how verdant and charming it was, the narrow roads and property walls, as well as the pubs.  I likened it to a sort of universal  golf course, which in degree was appropriate as we were living in tents on a golf course in Birkenhead, directly across the Mersey River from Liverpool.  We saw our first bombed out areas in Liverpool."     

"May 9:  Sunday we bowled on the lawn - yes - the same game Drake played while the Spanish Armada approached.  It's a foolish game played on a flat grass green about the size of two tennis courts put together.  Weapons are two off-centered bowls (balls) about five pounds apiece.  They are made of wood.  The objective is a smaller ball of the same shape (the sides are flattened).  It is rolled approximately 30 yards from the players.  The plan is to roll your two bowls as close to the "Jack" as possible.  Being off centered, they are liable to wander off in almost any direction. . . . On the whole, it is a game for people who like to converse since one attacks the problem about once every quarter hour."     

"May 13:  We are spending our time sitting around reading or writing."

P.F.C. Wizda writes:

April 31-May 22:  "Life at Bidston was okay, except for the very cold mornings and pitch black nights. The guard mount was tremendous with half a company on at a time. We soon found out that "Any Gum Chum" was rapidly becoming the national motto of dear England. The fair sex of Birkenhead entertained us with a few parties and dances and some of their dances were unique and new to us.  Passes to Liverpool became effective after a week's restriction.  We were paid in English money three days after we arrived and that presented a problem.  After playing in a few poker games, you gradually "get the drift" of the English money system or else! 

We held two parades at the camp during our one month’s stay.  A British engineer unit supplied the band. During one of the parades we held open house.  This gave quite a few G.I.'s the opportunity to show their new-found sweethearts our homes (if you want to call a tent a home).  Coffee and doughnuts were served to our English guests of the day.  Then came the order we were moving.  Where to  no one knew.  Little did we know that we were going to a G.I.  Paradise.''     

May 22-July 11: "Some of the boys still think they deserve a special ribbon for what they call "The Battle of Cannock".  We arrived in that sleepy English town unaware what was in store for us.  First surprise - "C" Company would be billeted in private homes.  No more surprises were necessary.  Our mess hall was located near the center of town and as for our company, we were all over town.  The orderly room was on Newhall Street and that became the only point of control for the company.  The people were very polite in receiving us and I believe we can say we did our bit to solidify Anglo-American relations.  Many of the people didn't know what Yanks were like and were surprised when they found a homesick bunch of  G.I.'s, not the Chicago gangster type, but the G.I. that helped them mow the lawn or watched Junior while they went to the Danilo, the nearby theater.  Cannock provided us with three theaters, two churches, St. Luke's and St. Mary's. We had overnight passes to Birmingham and nightly convoy to Wolverhampton.  Most of our Army time in Cannock was spent having classes and toward the end of our stay, we had quite a few night problems - tank company acting as infantry.