Slinging Doughnuts for the Boys

by Madison, James H.

• ISBN13: 9780253221070
• ISBN10: 0253221072
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-10-14
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

Elizabeth Richardson was a Red Cross volunteer who worked as a Clubmobile hostess during World War II. Handing out free doughnuts, coffee, cigarettes, and gum to American soldiers in England and France, she and her colleagues provided a touch of home -- American girls with whom the boys could talk, flirt, dance, and perhaps find companionship. Usually the job was not hazardous -- except when V-1 and V-2 rockets rained down on London -- but it required both physical endurance and the skills of a trained counselor. Liz Richardson is a witty writer and astute observer. Her letters and diaries reveal an intelligent, independent, and personable woman with a voice that rings true. With commentary by historian James H. Madison, this book is an exceptional window into a past that is all too quickly fading from memory.

Author Biography

James H. Madison is Thomas and Kathryn Miller Professor of History at Indiana University Bloomington. He is author of A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America and other books. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chronology of Elizabeth Richardson's Life

Growing Up, Leaving Home, and Preparing for War

The Yanks in England

V-1 Rockets, the Kansas City, and the 82nd Airborne

War Comes Closer

Into the English Provinces

From the Gray Midlands to Sunny Cornwall

Across the Channel and into France

V-E Day and V-E Blues

One Plane Crash

The Long Memory

Appendix: Wartime Writing

Notes

Note on Sources

Acknowledgments

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.