War Years

A Memory of Birds Edge.

I was born in 1941 and as a child, lived at Park Head Row, Birdsedge. There was little traffic then and we used to play hopscotch on the main road. Around the age of three, whilst swinging on our garden gate, I vividly remember the unusual sight of a convoy of khaki army trucks entering the village. I watched in awe as they turned right at the Crown pub and headed up Park Head Row. As they passed our house, one of the soldiers smiled and shouted to me in an American drawl, "Ya want some gum chum," as he tossed a small packet towards me. This was the first time I had ever seen long strips of Spearmint gum.
My father took us walking on Sundays all the way up Park Head to the crossroads where we turned left and carried on past Rusby Wood which was known locally as the 'bilberry wood' but after those army trucks arrived, we never went that way for some time.
Later, when we passed that way again, the soldiers had gone leaving piles of dead bombs all neatly stacked on concrete bases at intervals along the grass verges for miles, and also, two massive Nissan Huts where the troops had presumably lived.
A few years later, all that remained were the square concrete bases where the bombs once stood.
All of my family can remember these things but strangely enough, I can find no record anywhere of American troops or any soldiers whatsoever being stationed in this vicinity, even though one lady in the area did marry an American G.I.
My question is why? Why has this part of history found no place in the record books at Kirklees? Is it kept secret for some reason?
Answers please.