Rainbow Corner, London

Military site
media-7334.jpeg UPL 7334 American Red Cross Center, London

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Object Number - UPL 7334 - American Red Cross Center, London

Connections

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Detailed History

Run by the Red Cross, Rainbow Corner had cafes and restaurants (including Dunker’s Den), laundry, barbers, showers, rooms for use by American servicemen on leave. Eleanor Roosevelt closed it.



Robert S Arbib remembered:

‘The centre of London on a Saturday night was Piccadilly Circus… It had soldiers, sailors and airmen in uniform, looking for fun. Americans, British, French, Canadians, Norse, Poles, Belgians, Czechs, Dutch – you could run down a roster of Allied nations and find all their representatives here in a moment or two. The Americans surged in a never-ending tide around the Rainbow Corner – milling their way in and out of that mammoth beehive, in search of friends, food, dancing, of an hour’s sleep before the train left, or of a bed for the night.’ (Martin Bowman, We're Here to Win the War For You: The US 8th Air Force at War, p.236)

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 305th Bomb Group 482nd Bomb Group 92nd Bomb Group 326th Bomb Squadron 359th Bomb Squadron 422nd Bomb Squadron 813th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 16061487
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
Technical Sergeant Calvin Clark Davis
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 390th Bomb Group 570th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 16014331
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 437th Troop Carrier Group 86th Troop Carrier Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 36 595 131
  • Highest Rank: Corporal
  • Role/Job: Military Occupational Specialty (MOS): 559 - Glider Mechanic

Revisions

Date
ContributorJenny
Changes
Sources

Mike Hutton, The Story of Soho: The Windmill Years, 1932-1964
Martin Bowman, We're Here to Win the War For You: The US 8th Air Force at War

Rainbow Corner, London: Gallery (7 items)