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‘I do feel good because my stomach is full of good hotcakes’: Comfort Food, Home and the USAAF in East Anglia during the Second World War
Author(s) -
GREGORY DERWIN,
WAYNE CAROLA
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.12
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1468-229X
pISSN - 0018-2648
DOI - 10.1111/1468-229x.13081
Subject(s) - memoir , world war ii , service (business) , service personnel , first world war , history , business , marketing , ancient history , archaeology , art history
This article analyses the important role that food played in providing ‘comfort’ to the service personnel of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) serving in East Anglia during the Second World War. Current theories on comfort food will be discussed before an examination of letters, diaries, and memoirs held by the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library (2ADML), Norwich, UK. It is clear that food played an important role in maintaining morale. Certain foods had the ability to evoke nostalgic thoughts of home. Not only did the food provide solace, it also reminded the troops of what they were fighting for. This article also demonstrates that USAAF personnel in East Anglia had a wide selection of foods from which they could gain comfort.