British village marks US Army’s fight against racism in World War II

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BAMBER BRIDGE, England – The village of Bamber Bridge in northwest England is proud of the blow dealt to racism in the US military during World War II.

When an all-black truck regiment was stationed in the village, residents refused to accept the entrenched segregation in the U.S. military. Ignoring pressure from British and American authorities, pubs welcomed GIs, local women chatted and danced with them, and English soldiers drank alongside men they saw as allies in the war against fascism .

But simmering tensions between black soldiers and white military police exploded on June 24, 1943, when an argument outside a pub escalated into a night of gunfire and rebellion that left Private William Crossland dead and dozens of soldiers from the truck regiment before court-martial. When Crossland’s niece learned of the circumstances of her uncle’s death from an Associated Press reporter, she called for a new inquest to find out exactly how he died.

The community has chosen to focus on its stance against segregation as it commemorates the 80th anniversary of what is now known as the Battle of Bamber Bridge and America re-evaluates its past treatment of black men and women in the armed forces.

I think maybe it’s a sense of pride that there was no bigotry towards (the soldiers), said Valerie Fell, who was just 2 in 1943 but whose family ruled Ye Olde Hob Inn, the 400 year old thatched pub where the conflict began. They deserved respect for the uniform they wore. That’s how people felt.

This contrasted sharply with the treatment black soldiers received in the wartime military, which was still separated by law.

Men of the 1511th Quartermaster Truck Regiment (Air Force) stationed at Bamber Bridge complained of being given poor food and often had to sleep in their trucks when stopping at white bases, according to evidence presented in proceedings before the court martial. They also said white military police harassed black troops, harassing them for minor transgressions often ignored by other soldiers.

EXPORT SEGREGATION

Black soldiers made up about 10% of the American troops that invaded Britain during the war. Serving in separate units led by white officers, most were relegated to non-combat roles, such as driving trucks that delivered supplies to military bases.

US authorities have tried to extend these policies beyond their bases, asking pubs and restaurants to segregate races.

Bamber Bridge, then home to around 6,800 people, was not the only British community to resist this pressure. In an almost entirely white country, there was no tradition of segregation, and after four years of war, people welcomed any help they received from abroad.

What’s different about Bamber Bridge is the desire of local people to preserve this history and pass it on to others, said Alan Rice, co-director of the Institute for Black Atlantic Research at the University of Central Lancashire.

If we were to fight racism or fascism, these are the stories we need to talk about, Rice said. If you’re fighting fascism, what those people were, it’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, for the US military to encourage a form of fascist segregation.

Clinton Smith, leader of the Black History Group in nearby Preston, was among those who revived interest in the Battle of Bamber Bridge in the 1980s when he discovered bullet holes in the side from a bank and began asking longtime residents what had happened.

This has helped spark greater interest, with local blogger Derek Rogerson publishing a short book, The Battle of Bamber Bridge: The True Story, which includes photos of black troops hosting a Christmas party for village children and watching films with children perched on their laps. A filmmaker, Danny Lyons, compiled oral histories.

Last year the local government council installed a plaque outside the Hob Inn which describes the community’s relationship with soldiers, violence and its consequences.

History simply cannot be allowed to fade on the vine, Smith said. As much as it is faded, one tried at the moment to rejuvenate it while preserving the precision.

THE BATTLE OF BAMBER BRIDGE

Despite their friendships with the GIs, the villagers could not prevent the violence when black soldiers, frustrated with their treatment and angry at news of race riots in Detroit, clashed with military police armed with batons and weapons. handguns.

On that hot June night, Private Eugene Nunn was sitting in the Hob Inn bar when a white military police officer threatened to arrest him for wearing the wrong uniform. British soldiers and civilians intervened.

Everyone said: leave him alone. He just wants a drink. It’s a hot day, Fell said of her mother’s story. People just didn’t understand this wickedness.

When Nunn left the pub, the police were waiting. Spirits soared. A bottle crashed into the windshield of the police Jeep. Things escalated from there.

It was not until 4 a.m. that order was restored. The military authorities have called for severe sanctions to avoid disturbances in other bases.

Thirty-seven black soldiers were charged with mutiny, rioting and illegal possession of weapons, and about 30 were found guilty on all or part of the charges. Most received sentences ranging from three to 15 years in prison, along with loss of pay and dishonorable dismissal. As the allies prepared for the D-Day landings, many sentences were shortened in time served so the men could be returned to the war effort.

Although the court-martial criticized the white officers for their lack of leadership, the records do not indicate that they or the military police were disciplined.

LONG DATE CHANGE

Ken Werrell, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and retired history professor at Radford University in Virginia, studied court-martial proceedings and reviewed other military records for an article published in 1975.

The documents show the defendants were abused, Werrell told The Associated Press.

But the larger story is that senior generals, focused on improving morale and performance, quickly ordered changes in the treatment of black troops. Many officers commanding black units were replaced, additional recreational facilities were provided, and the army deployed more mixed military police patrols.

In this way, the Bamber Bridge case was more than just a minor World War II incident, Werrell wrote. It was one of many incidents in the ongoing black and American crusade for freedom.

President Harry Truman in 1948 ordered an end to segregation in the US military, although it took years to fully achieve this goal. Lloyd Austin, a black man and retired Army four-star general, is now Secretary of Defense.

That progress was too late for Crossland, a former railroad worker who was 25 when he died. Evidence during the court-martial proceedings provided few details of how he was killed, indicating only that he was found seriously injured by a bullet near the heart. Officers said they believe he was caught in the crossfire between two groups of black soldiers.

Investigators placed most of the blame for the violence on black soldiers, portraying them as a mob bent on revenge at all costs, according to reports submitted during court martial proceedings. But locals say they knocked on doors and told people to stay inside to avoid injury.

RE-ASSESSING HISTORY

Nancy Croslan Adkins, the daughter of one of William’s brothers, said she was never told the circumstances of her uncle’s death. The family later changed the spelling of his surname.

Adkins, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, wants to know more about what happened at Bamber Bridge.

Having faced direct discrimination myself entering the North Carolina school system and the racial injustice my parents faced, I would love an investigation, she said.

Aaron Snipe, the spokesman for the US Embassy in London, said he could not prejudge any military decision, but President Joe Bidens’ administration has shown a willingness to right past wrongs .

Earlier this month, the US Navy issued a formal apology to the families of 15 black sailors who were dishonorably discharged in 1940 after complaining they were forced to serve as mess attendants making beds and waited on the tables. Earlier this month the military renamed a base for William Henry Johnson, a black soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award, nearly a century after being wounded 21 times as he repelled attacking forces in World War I.

Snipe also said he planned to pay tribute to the people of Bamber Bridge at an 80th anniversary event.

Part of that story is about their reluctance to accept segregation orders or regulations that have been imposed on them, he said. They pushed back to a time when it might have been more convenient for locals to just follow what the United States, the United States military, had said. They are to be commended for that.

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Associated Press writer Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, and researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

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