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Hi guys, I'm a thread starting virgin so go easy on me during my first time!
I'm interested in finding out a little bit about the experiences of black US troops leaving the segregation of the States and coming over to Britain during WW2. I can't seem to find much out about it so I thought I'd start by asking here.
My understanding is that the first guys over here came to establish bases & air strips ahead of the white troops arriving. In the UK at the time we had no notable minority population and no segregation laws so the GI's were able to mix freely with the white population in the pubs and at the movies (and yes, date white women).
I believe that this changed as the rest of the US forces started to arrive and the British Government was put under pressure from powers that be in the US. But, is there any truth in that after the war the black troops returned to the US realising that they were getting a raw deal at home and this in turn fed in to the civil rights movement?
Hi guys, I'm a thread starting virgin so go easy on me during my first time!
I'm interested in finding out a little bit about the experiences of black US troops leaving the segregation of the States and coming over to Britain during WW2. I can't seem to find much out about it so I thought I'd start by asking here.
My understanding is that the first guys over here came to establish bases & air strips ahead of the white troops arriving. In the UK at the time we had no notable minority population and no segregation laws so the GI's were able to mix freely with the white population in the pubs and at the movies (and yes, date white women).
I believe that this changed as the rest of the US forces started to arrive and the British Government was put under pressure from powers that be in the US. But, is there any truth in that after the war the black troops returned to the US realising that they were getting a raw deal at home and this in turn fed in to the civil rights movement?
I am the son and nephew of several black WWII GIs, and will answer this more extensively in another post. I assure you, though, that blacks in the US knew they were getting a raw deal long before they went to Europe during WWII.
My grandfather (I am white) was a 1st Lt who commanded a black platoon in the Signal Corps during WWII. I am afraid I do not have much to offer. Like many of that generation, my grandfather did not speak much about the war.
I doubt he mixed much with them as he was an officer. But he said once he always tried to help them straighten out problems and encouraged them all to take advantage of VA benefits once the war was over. He hinted at the absurdity of the whole notion of segregaton. I suppose survival rather than social protest was his priority at the time. But there were reunions over the years.
I do know that they landed at Normandy at D-Day. As Signal Corp guys, they were there to set up the communications structure. Of course, they took fire and found themselves in combat from then on. So blacks did indeed fight before they were officially sanctioned to do so. They took some heavy losses that day and at the Battle of the Bulge.
I have the platoon picture framed. Needles to say, ole grandad sticks out like a sore thumb.
Here is a good article on African Americans in Europe, I'll only post a blurb to get your interest:
Quote:
Wilford Strange, sporting a Combat Infantryman Badge earned while serving with the 69th Division, found himself and his comrades denied entry to Army entertainment centers in occupied Germany. When members of his unit attempted to visit a recreation hall near Leipzig, they were told by a sentry, No ******s allowed here.
On hearing the news, their white company commander rushed out to the former country estate and demanded that his men be allowed to enter. Know who I am, the captain told the major in charge of the recreation center. I’m Captain Herbert Pickett, commanding officer of K Company. We fought for this town 13 days ago. We took it and God damn it, if we have to we’ll take it again. When my men come in here, you treat them with respect. Pickett then turned to his troops: You men go in there. I’m a Southerner, but you are in the Army and I’ll go to hell with you.
Such instances were few and far between. Soon after V-E Day, the black platoons were ordered disbanded, and the members returned to their old units or to other all-black service units for shipment home. Many of the men, who naturally believed they had earned the right to be treated as equals, rebelled and refused to follow orders. They demanded to be returned to the United States with their parent combat divisions.
Probably more than you wanted but here is the Volume in the Armies 'Green Book' Series (Their huge official history of WWII, with many available online)
My grandfather was part of a segregated unit, but he was smaller and more intelligent than the other men, so he was part of an engineering group. He went in behind the front, was in Liverpool for a bit, then went into the continent after D-Day.
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