UK village marks struggle against US Army racism in World War II

Clinton Smith, chair of Preston Black History Group is seen by the Ye Olde Hob Inn in Bamber Bridge near Preston, England, Thursday, June 22, 2023. What is now known as the Battle of Bamber Bridge erupted there on June 24, 1943 when white military police officers confronted black soldiers enjoying a night off in the local pub. Clinton Smith, chair of Preston Black History Group is seen by the Ye Olde Hob Inn in Bamber Bridge near Preston, England, Thursday, June 22, 2023.

BAMBER BRIDGE, England — The village of Bamber Bridge in northwestern England is proud of the blow it struck against racism in the U.S. military during World War II. When an all-Black truck regiment was stationed in the village, residents refused to accept the segregation ingrained in the U.S. Army. Ignoring pressure from British and American authorities, pubs welcomed the 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 a dispute 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 facing court martial. When Crossland’s niece learned about the circumstances of her uncle’s death from an Associated Press reporter, she called for a new investigation to uncover exactly how he died.

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