We'd done videos on friendly fire in World War II; Imperial Japan's inter-service hostilities; and
Allied forces, such as the Americans and Soviets, going toe to toe, but did you know that two
American units fought and shot each other in North West England in June 1943? This is the story of
the so-called Battle of Bamber Bridge, a skirmish fuelled by beer and no small amount of racism.
Until US President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 in July 1948, the branches
of the United States Armed Forces suffered from varying degrees of racial segregation.
The first clause of the order read as follows: "It is hereby declared that there shall be equality
of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race,
color, religion or national origin." Of course, the order didn't erase racism in the military,
and it was put into effect some five years after the Battle of Bamber Bridge.
Throughout World War II, some two million American servicemen
passed through or were stationed in the UK for a variety of purposes.
And they weren't always on the job. They often toured the UK and interacted with its denizens.
Many American servicemen married English women and brought them back to America when the war was
over. More often than not, African Americans were well-received by the British populace,
at least at the start. When more racist white Americans poured into the UK, they imposed their
a-holery upon the British, refusing, for example, to eat at a restaurant that served black people.
According to Roi Otterly's article Dixie Invades Britain, which was published in 1942, "American
observers who were [in the UK] in 1942 when the first contingents arrived from America saw
amicable and smooth relations develop between the Negro troops and their British hosts so much so
that certain white American soldiers became openly resentful. And they lost no time in attempting
to discipline the British people." According to an article by historian Joseph Dickinson,
the resent was due, at least in part, to the frustration of the white American soldiers, who
saw how open British women were to relationships with black Americans, and simply couldn't handle
it without chucking a massive tantrum. In the words of author Graham Smith [Text:
In When Jim Crow Met John Bull: Black American Soldiers in World War II Britain], "Many young
girls found the blacks fascinating, appreciating their attentiveness and good manners."
The United States Army Air Forces or USAAF, the precursor to the US Air Force,
operated out of more than 200 airfields in the UK, each base housing an average of
2,500 men. Among the American units which flew out of the UK was the Eighth Army Air Force,
and one of Eighth's supporting units was the 1511th Quartermaster Truck Regiment,
a racially segregated unit primarily composed of African American soldiers.
These men were housed at Air Force Station 569 or, more colloquially, "Adam Hall" in the village of
Bamber Bridge in Lancashire, England. Their job was to deliver, via trucks, war materiel to other
airbases in the area. When they were off-duty, some of the men enjoyed a pint or two at a
watering hole called Ye Olde Hob Inn, where they were more than amiable with the local English.
When the white Americans started cracking down on English open-mindedness, demanding
the establishment of a "colour bar" in the village, the village's three pubs put up
signs reading "Black Troops Only." Racism, it seemed, would not be tolerated in Bamber Bridge.
Unfortunately, the 234th US Military Police Company, which operated on the north side of the
village, were especially sore about the attentive, well-mannered African American men winning the
hearts of Bamber Bridge's women. The MPs had standing orders to arrest American soldiers
who were out without a pass, who weren't dressed properly, or who were acting disorderly. On the
24th of June 1943—just days after the race riot back in Detroit, Michigan—they tried to use their
power to give the black soldiers of the 1511th a hard time. The consequences were disastrous.
While the specifics might vary between sources, the core of the story remains the same. Possibly
because an African American soldier tried to purchase a beer after last orders had been called,
MPs Roy A. Windsor and Ralph F. Ridgeway entered Ye Olde Hob Inn on the night of the 24th and tried
to cite one Private Eugene Nunn for being out without a pass and for wearing the wrong uniform.
An argument broke out, and the locals, as well as British servicewomen of the Auxiliary Territorial
Service, sided with Nunn and the 1511th. An unnamed white British soldier also chimed in,
saying, "Why do you want to arrest them? They’re not doing anything or bothering anybody."
The heat increased, and one Private Lynn M. Adams, of the 1511th, brandished a bottle.
In retaliation, Windsor drew his gun. It might have gone down then and there, had not a black
sergeant by the name of William Byrd managed to defuse the situation. The MPs got into their
Jeep and were on their way out, but Private Adam's was mad, and probably a little drunk,
and decided it would be a good idea to throw his bottle at the Jeep. The MPs were outnumbered
and chose not to retaliate at that moment. Instead, they gathered some reinforcements
and ambushed the men of the 1511th as they were walking back to Adam Hall later that night.
A fight ensued on the road, possibly with the MPs wielding billy-clubs;
the 1511th fought back with bottles and loose cobblestones. Supposedly to stop
Private Adams from hurling a stone at him, MP Carson W. Bozman drew his gun and fired.
The bullet struck the private in the neck, but he wasn't killed.
The fight soon subsided, and the men of the 1511th made it back to Adam Hall mostly in one piece.
At some point during the chaos, a rumour spread throughout the village: a black soldier had been
shot in the back, and the MPs were out on a manhunt. There seems to be a little confusion
about what happened next, but the resounding narrative is that a pissed-off crowd of some 200
black men rallied at Adam Hall, standing against their white senior officers and calling for war.
It's possible they would have stormed the village en masse, but the 1511th's
only black officer, Lieutenant Edwin D. Jones, was able to calm them down—for the time being.
It wasn't long after that, however, that about a dozen MPs drove into Adam Hall in several Jeeps
and an improvised armoured car fitted with a machine-gun. This prompted the 1511th to
seize about two-thirds of the firearms stored at Adams Hall and either take up defensive positions
or drive or run out into the night to meet the MPs head-on. The locals were instructed to stay
inside, and over the next three to four hours, a firefight raged throughout the Bamber Bridge area.
A private of the 1511th, one William Crossland, took a bullet and died, while four or five other
soldiers and two MPs were injured. It could have been much, much worse, all things considered.
Following this mess, two trials were conducted. In the first, four of the African American men
involved in the fight in which Private Adams was shot were found guilty of various offences
dishonourably discharged, and sentenced to hard labour. In the second trial,
28 of the 35 defenders were convicted of offences such as ignoring orders,
failing to disperse, rioting, mutiny, seizing arms, and firing on officers and MPs.
They were sentenced to as many as fifteen years, but further reviews saw a reduction in these
sentences and the release of some of the men. Fifteen of them returned to duty in June 1944,
just in time for the Normandy landings. Yay. All in all, the longest period served by any of the
men was just 13 months. Again, things could have been much worse. The commander of the
Eighth Army Air Force, General Ira C. Eaker, believed much of the blame fell on the MPs,
whose blatant racism inspired the entire affair. The white officers of the 1511th were also largely
to blame, as they did a terrible job of pacify the rioting men at Adam Hall and also refused
to tend to the wounded among them. At least one of them was reportedly drunk. Following the incident,
the 1511th's and other trucking unit's ranks were purged of racist officers,
and black officers were integrated into the MP units. Things got slightly better after that.
We're interested to know what you think, though. Had you heard of the Battle of Bamber Bridge
today? Why do you think it happened? Lastly, can you think of any similar battles which took
place during the war? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.