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| Image courtesy of WW2-Airborne.US |
We know that Nottingham is
a cultured and cosmopolitan place; it can hold its own against other cities
like Paris, Milan, Shanghai and Derby. It’s also had a long history of
friendship and exchange with the United States, some of which I’ll try and talk
about here!
The first great influx of Americans to Nottingham was on 13th March 1944 when the US 82nd Airborne’s 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment were stationed at Wollaton Hall in advance of the D-Day landings later that
year - the picture above is men of 3rd battalion, 508th in Normandy. There’s a great story here
of American servicemen paying for people to go on rides at Goose Fair in 1944,
held during the summer and in the day due to the blackouts!
There are also some brilliant photographs and memories
from this time available from the BBC here,
including some extraordinary film footage shot by an American soldier, Captain
William H Nation. Sadly, Captain Nation died
during fighting in Belgium but is remembered on both sides of the Atlantic. In
2010, a memorial to the American servicemen stationed at Wollaton Hall was unveiled
and it is my hope to visit the 508th memorial at Arlington National Cemetery
during my time in Washington, DC, and pay my respects to brave men like Captain
Nation, who lost their lives in the defence of our freedom.
It doesn’t end there
either. D. H. Lawrence, the Eastwood bad-boy who wrote literary classics such
as Women in Love and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and his wife, Frieda, were
regular visitors to the home of Mabel Dodge Luhan, a New York socialite and
arts patron, who lived in Taos, New Mexico. Taos made a notable impression on
Lawrence, with him writing: “I think New Mexico was the greatest experience
from the outside world that I have ever had. It certainly changed me forever...”.
I hope to visit the Taos ranch, currently owned by the University of New
Mexico, and bring a gift from the City of Literature and from the town of
Eastwood.
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| Image courtesy of University of New Mexico |
Sticking with literature, with
Nottingham now a UNESCO City of Literature, I’m also planning on
visiting the US’s CoL, Iowa City, and seeing what they’re doing to foster a
love of reading in their areas and neighbourhoods. You can find out more about
Iowa City of Literature here
or there’s a super blog post by Jan Weissmiller, co-owner of Prairie Lights Books in Iowa City, about
the local literary scene!
If you have any stories or links about Nottingham and the
United States, please let me know by commenting on my Facebook feed here!