Mutiny at Bamber Bridge: How the World War II Press Reported Racial Unrest among U.S. Troops and Why It Remains in British Memory

Abstract

What began as good-natured ribbing for more libations escalated into a verbal altercation between African American troops and white U.S. military police on the night of June 24, 1943. The evening ended with a gun battle in the English village of Bamber Bridge, an event that left one soldier dead and several U.S. troops injured. Was the violence spurred by military policies limiting the roles of African Americans? Was it fueled by an uncensored radio bulletin about race rioting in Detroit accidentally transmitted to London? Or fueled by white U.S. soldiers’ growing anger over the preferential treatment the Brits extended to African Americans? Seven decades later, the event remains forged into the collective memory of residents and is reinforced by modern-day press recollections.