“One young girl who attended the Christmas social of the Devoran Women’s Institute being held in the Village Hall was watching the members sedately dancing, when the doorway was suddenly filled with smiling figures attracted by the sound of the small band.
Within seconds, the ladies found themselves being whirled around the floor by their American partners in a most exciting way.
Soon the visitors were teaching the local girls the extrovert skills of jitterbugging, much to their delight.”
Viv Acton and Derek Carter, Operation Cornwall (1944, p.99)
This would be Christmas 1942 or Christmas 1943?
Local boy James Harris remembers:
“With the GI’s came an unwelcome realization to the people of Devoran. Shortly after their arrival a dance was arranged in the Village Hall to make them welcome but unfortunately white and black Americans were invited which resulted in fights throughout the village in which knives were used.
This behaviour was completely alien to Devoran residents, however dances afterwards were segregated.” James Harris
https://devoranwarmemorial.wordpress.com/2016/02/24/early-memories-of-devoran-by-james-harris/
This happened in several other towns in Cornwall, notably Launceston.
Some older residents of Devoran such as Jo Sweet that I spoke to preparing for the Devoran WW2 talk said that some families were ambivalent about having Americans in the house.
Others such as the late Betty Phillips (who lived next door to Devoran Village Hall) remembers one of the coloured troops from Tullimaar camp “who was welcomed by her parents into their home where he came to practice his violin. On his return home he became a member of a symphony orchestra.”
Viv Acton and Derek Carter, Operation Cornwall (1944, p.104)
Devoran War Memorial Cornwall 