‘There was the invasion we expected, and there was the invasion we got.’

Summer, 1942. The U.S. has entered World War II, and the first American aircrews arrive in the east of England. Along with their heavy bombers, the GIs bring cola and chewing gum, jukeboxes, jazz and the jitterbug. East Anglia will never be the same again.

80 years on, a reunion weekend at one of the airfields brings together a group of visitors, whose memories of a local girl and an American airman recreate their bitter-sweet wartime romance.

Picture: Mark Raines Photography