I was born in England. I grew up there, and as a child I heard many accounts of wartime Britain: severe rationing and air raids by the German Luftwaffe come to mind.
However, one thing I never heard about until more recently, due to decades-long censorship of the event, was the time in 1943 when White American soldiers stationed in the English town of Bamber Bridge attempted to force the locals to adopt the racial segregation common in the US. They soon found out the Brits were not going to stand for that.
Here's what happened.
Black troops of the 1511th Quartermaster Truck regiment were stationed in Bamber Bridge slightly earlier than White regiments. Welcomed by the locals, who saw them as fellow fighters on the same side of the war, they experienced equality for the first time in their lives. They were treated as friends, drinking in the same bars and going to the same shops as the White townsfolk. It would have been a refreshing change from the segregation they endured in their home country.
When the US White troops arrived a few weeks later, they were shocked to see camaraderie between White English people and Black American soldiers. This came to a head one evening when the American Military Police and other White soldiers marched into one of the town's pubs and tried to arrest one of the Black privates under the ruse of his not wearing the proper uniform. A British soldier challenged them, and the pub's patrons stood up for the soldier. A disagreement ensued regarding Black soldiers in a "White" establishment, and a fistfight led to the White troops leaving, only to return with guns. One of the Black soldiers was killed and others injured in a shootout that spilled into the street. The Black soldiers ran to base to retrieve their guns for protection after seeing more White US soldiers arrive with machine guns.
It seems to me that for the White US soldiers, shooting at their own side to enforce segregation was more important to them than concentrating on defending the world from Nazi Germany. And as we know, that deep racism remains a huge problem eight decades later.
The people of Bamber Bridge supported the Black troops, and when American commanders demanded segregation and a ban on Black soldiers socializing in the town's pubs, all three pubs responded by posting "BLACK TROOPS ONLY" signs on their doors, signaling that the White soldiers were not welcome.
You can read more about this story here: