I was a youngster at the time and Mom and dad had many brothers in the army and were worried, we listened all the time to the 'wireless' for news, but we all seemed glad. Later in the war my nan had a large map of Europe on her lounge wall and on it she pinned red flags showing progress from the east and union flags and stars and stripes moving from the west. We followed news of Monty and Ike and Joe Stalin who were our heroes at that time. There was an american army base near where I lived and I met my first 'yanks' as we called them, and also met and spoke to german PoWs who were temporarily held nearby. The picture below although not Brum, somehow reminds me of those times - they were parked and waiting - the kids played skipping ....