World War II Database

1.  Alan Chanter says:
4 May 2013 06:05:28 AM

So concerned were the American authorities regarding the prospect of their young men returning home at the war's end accompanied by foreign wives (at the expense of American women seeking husbands) that, in July 1942, Eisenhower ruled that no Officer or Enlisted man could marry without the express permission of their Commanding Officer. Disobediance of this regulation could lead to a Court Martial. He ruled that permission would not be granted unless the Commanding Officer was satisfied that such a marriage was 'in the interest of the (European Theatre of Operations) forces in particilar and military service in general'.

Applicants were told that marriage would not entitle them to special treatment in living arrangements, in rental subsidies, travel allowances or medical and PX privileges. Additionally a wife would not be transported at governmental expense either within the ETO or to the United States. Furthermore the marriage would not entitle the wife to automatic American citizenship, rather 'she will be subject to applicable immigration and nationisation laws'.

This unfair edict (which effectively meant that couples would only be allowed to marry when there was, or soon would be, an illegitimate birth to 'bring discredit to the service') was never officially rescinded and most applicants quickly discovered so much 'Red Tape' placed in their way that it proved virtually impossible to get the desired authorisation.

There was also one category of request to marry that was always refused; that between a white British woman and a black GI, since in nineteen out of the forty eight states in the Union mixed marriage of colour was illegal.

Other nationalities were not quite so hostile (although Applicants were still required to give notice of intent). Disciplinary action would not be taken since marriage was considered by more enlightened people to be a civil right, which 'should not be interferred with by Military regulations'. Indeed well over a thousand Poles out of the 30,000 stationed in Britain had taken Scottish Brides by the end of 1943, and some 14,000 Canadian servicemen returned home with British brides without any difficulty.