On this day, 24 June 1943, a battle broke out between Black and white US service personnel in the British village of Bamber Bridge.
The US military was still segregated at this time by race, and at the US Air Force base 569 in Lancashire, there was a unit of mostly Black soldiers, the 1511th regiment, and an all-white military police unit. Black soldiers socialised with local British residents and hung out in local establishments and pubs. Although white soldiers were unhappy when British barmaids told them they had to wait their turn to be served, rather than be served before Black soldiers. White military police officers (MPs) then demanded that one pub implement segregation, and the owner agreed. When the MPs came back the next day, the pubs had all put up "Blacks Only" signs.
On June 24, MPs tried to arrest a Black soldier called Eugene Nunn at Ye Olde Hob Inn, but an argument broke out between his colleagues and MPs. Local people as well as British auxiliary servicewomen joined the fracas in support of Nunn, and eventually succeeded in persuading the police to leave.
But the MPs returned later with reinforcements, and in the ensuing scuffle, shot a Black private, Lynn M Adams, in the neck. The 1511th men then rushed to their base, armed themselves, grabbed a machine-gun truck and raided the MPs' camp, and gunfire was exchanged until the early hours of June 25.
Euell Nielsen recounted for BlackPast that at the end of the battle: "Private William Crossland of the 1511th was killed, and five other soldiers were wounded along with two MPs. There were two trials resulting in 27 out of 32 black soldiers being found guilty of various charges. Most of the sentences were reduced or dismissed, however, because of the overwhelming support of the Black troops by the British public."
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7894/battle-of-bamber-bridge
Pic: Black US soldiers in the UK
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