Battle of Bamber Bridge facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Battle of Bamber Bridge |
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| Part of Second World War | |||
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Ye Olde Hob Inn, where the violence started
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| Date | 24–25 June 1943 | ||
| Location |
Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
53°43′18″N 2°39′44″W / 53.7217°N 2.6621°W |
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| Caused by | Racial tensions | ||
| Parties to the civil conflict | |||
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| Casualties | |||
| Death(s) | 1 | ||
| Injuries | 7 | ||
| Charged | 32, charged with mutiny | ||
 Location in Lancashire
Location in the United Kingdom
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The Battle of Bamber Bridge is the name given to an outbreak of racial violence involving American soldiers stationed in the village of Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, in Northern England during the Second World War. Tensions had been high following a failed attempt by US commanders to racially segregate pubs in the village, and worsened after the 1943 Detroit race riot. The battle started when white American Military Police (MPs) attempted to arrest several African American soldiers from the racially segregated 1511th Quartermaster Truck Regiment for being out of uniform at the Ye Olde Hob Inn public house in Bamber Bridge.
In a confrontation on the street afterwards, a white MP shot and killed Private William Crossland. More military police then arrived armed with machine guns and grenades, and black soldiers armed themselves with rifles from their base armoury for protection. Both sides exchanged fire through the night. Although a court martial convicted 32 African American soldiers of mutiny and related crimes, poor leadership and the racist attitudes of the MPs were acknowledged as causes.
Background
During the Second World War, Bamber Bridge hosted American servicemen from the 1511th Quartermaster Truck regiment, part of the Eighth Air Force. Their base, Air Force Station 569 (nicknamed "Adam Hall"), was on Mounsey Road, part of which still exists now as home to 2376 (Bamber Bridge) Squadron of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets. The 1511th Quartermaster Truck was a logistics unit, and its duty was to deliver materiel to other Eighth Air Forces bases in Lancashire. The 234th US Military Police Company were also in the town, on its north side.
The US Armed Forces were still racially segregated, and the soldiers of 1511 Quartermaster Truck were almost entirely black, and all but one of the officers were white, as were the MPs. Military commanders tended to treat the service units as "dumping grounds" for less competent officers, and the leadership in the unit was poor.
Racial tensions were exacerbated by the race riots in Detroit earlier that week, which had led to 34 deaths, including 25 black casualties.
According to Anthony Burgess, the people of Bamber Bridge supported the black troops, and when US commanders demanded a colour bar in the town, all three pubs in the town reportedly posted "Black Troops Only" signs.
Arrests and courts-martial
By one later account, the violence left one man dead and seven people (five soldiers and two MPs) injured. Although a court martial convicted 32 black soldiers of mutiny and related crimes, poor leadership and racist attitudes among the MPs were blamed as the cause. None of the white MPs were charged, including the one who killed the black soldier, by shooting him in the back.
Two trials were conducted. In August, four of the black soldiers involved in the initial brawl were sentenced to hard labour, one to two and a half years and the others to three, and all to dishonourable discharges, with one of those convictions being overturned on review. The second trial involved 35 defendants. It concluded on 18 September with seven acquittals and 28 convictions. Sentences for those convicted ranged from three months to 15 years, with seven sentences of 12 years or more. Reviews resulted in the release of one man and reductions in all other sentences. Fifteen of the men returned to duty in June 1944 and six other sentences were further reduced. The defendant with the longest sentence returned to duty after serving 13 months.
General Ira C. Eaker, commander of the Eighth Air Force, placed most of the blame for the violence on the white officers and MPs because of their poor leadership and use of racial slurs. To prevent similar incidents happening again, he combined the trucking units into a single special command. The ranks of that command were purged of inexperienced or racist officers, and the MP patrols were racially integrated. Morale among black troops stationed in England improved, and the rates of courts-martial fell. Although there were several more racial incidents between black and white American troops in Britain during the war, none was on the scale of that of Bamber Bridge.
Reports of the mutiny were considerably censored, with newspapers disclosing only that violence had occurred in a town somewhere in North West England. The author Anthony Burgess, who lived in the Bamber Bridge area after the war, wrote about the event briefly in The New York Times in 1973 and in his autobiography, Little Wilson and Big God.
Popular interest in the event increased in the late 1980s after a maintenance worker discovered bullet holes from the battle in the walls of a Bamber Bridge bank.
Aftermath
The Battle of Bamber Bridge was one of the few instances during World War II where racial tensions and clashes erupted between American soldiers on foreign soil. Similar events took place in Australia at the “Battle of Brisbane”, and in New Zealand at the “Battle of Manners Street”. These instances stand out as significant events that shed light on the racial discrimination and segregation that existed within the U.S. military at that time.
The incident occurred in a small town in England, rather than on a battlefield, which further sets it apart from traditional wartime conflicts. The clash between African American soldiers and white military police in Bamber Bridge was a direct result of racial segregation policies within the military and the racial tensions that arose from them.
Furthermore, the Battle of Bamber Bridge had repercussions beyond the immediate incident. It sparked discussions and debates about racial integration and equality within the U.S. military, leading to subsequent changes in policies and practices. The event has been described as a "precursor to battles that would unfold on American streets for decades to come, during the Civil Rights era."
Commemoration
In June 2013, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the incident, the University of Central Lancashire held a symposium. It included a screening of the 2009 documentary Choc'late Soldiers from the USA which was produced by Gregory Cooke, and a performance of Lie Back and Think of America, a play written by Natalie Penn of Front Room, which had played at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
In June 2022, a memorial garden commemorating the battle was created opposite the pub where the Battle of Bamber Bridge started. The incident inspired the plot of the film The Railway Children Return.
See also
- Freeman Field mutiny
- African-American mutinies in the United States Armed Forces
