)
Not only did the Eighth Air Force bring Coca Cola, peanut butter and chewing gum to the East of England – they also brought with them black servicemen and segregation.
At the time, there were only about 8,000 black people in Britain, living in London and some ports. Nonetheless, the black African Americans of the US forces were welcomed by the native population. Could the origins of the black Civil Rights Movement have been sown in the East of England?
Josiah Cross in Masters of the Air.
The American army that arrived in Britain was racially segregated and it would stay so until two years after World War II ended.
The first black troops arrived in Britain in the spring of 1942; soon there were about 12,000. Blacks were barred from the Marines and the air force, though many worked on airbases in often hazardous support roles such as loading and unloading bombs. Many were employed in engineer battalions, many of which built the bases in eastern England.
The black servicemen brought jazz and Gospel music.
Although Britain had a vast overseas empire, with many black subjects in Africa and the Caribbean, the resident black community in the British Isles was estimated at a mere 8,000 in 1939. In all, there were approximately 130,000 black GIs in the UK during the war. Their lot was not an easy one, though in the end everyone was on the same side.
Most English people had never met a black person, certainly not in the rural villages and towns of the East of England. As Don Miller writes in Masters of the Air, ‘To the surprise of both the American and the British governments, the African-American troops were warmly welcomed and well-treated.’
Tuskegee Airmen fought as fighter pilots.
Britain had no policy of ‘Jim Crow’ laws, and so black servicemen found it liberating to be in a society with no legal segregation. British men and women mixed freely with black soldiers in pubs and restaurants – and everyone loved the music they brought with them, particularly the late Queen Elizabeth II on VE night if you believe The Crown.
One female resident of Thorpe Abbotts recalled, ‘The white American airmen on the base couldn’t understand why a British girl would go out with a black American. To us, it really didn’t mean anything.’
Branden Cook in Masters of the Air.
To avoid trouble, President Roosevelt declared a separate-but-equal policy for black and white troops. One of his suggestions was a policy of rotating leaves, based on skin colour. This meant that in market towns and villages across the East of England, if the blacks went out drinking on Wednesday, the whites went on Thursdays.
Roosevelt’s wife Eleanor went further, campaigning with black leaders to integrate the historically all-white Army Air Corps and to put black pilots into combat. Grudgingly, an all-black fighter unit, the famous Tuskegee Airmen, was established, named for the Alabama base where they trained. They are featured in Masters of the Air.
There were around 130,000 black GIs in England during World War II.
On a number of occasions, black soldiers walking down village streets holding hands with English girls, were assaulted by white US troops, only to be defended by local civilians.
British-American journalist Christopher Hitchens recounted in his memoir Hitch-22 his experience of talking to black American cab drivers who served in World War II. They had fond memories of England. Hitchens wrote, ‘for many of these brave gentlemen, segregated on their US army units, England was the first picture they ever saw of how a non-segregated society might look.’
World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis (pictured) served in the segregated US Army here in England. ‘Lots of things are wrong with America,’ he said. ‘But Hitler ain’t going to fix them.’
The experience of African American servicemen in the East of England during World War II showed them what non-segregation could look like. The blacks, serving their country in war, happily mixed with English whites in our pubs and dance halls. Why couldn’t they have that freedom when they were back home in the US.
Tuskegee pilots from 332nd Fighter Group: (left to right) Dempsey W. Morgan, Carroll S. Woods, Robert H. Nelson, Andrew D. Turner, Clarence P. Lester.
