the british and american soldiers were the good guys and the germans and japanese were the bad guys. It was taken as given.

And it was essentially true. Not necessarily as individuals, but for what they stood for.

Oddly enough, born in 1938, I can never remember playfights where the Germans were the enemy - it was bows and arrows and Robin Hood generally. And the idea that the Russians were enemies at all - that was never something that was even considered. They were the good guys who had helped beat the Nazis.