McCarthy, Liam: The Life of African American GIs in Britain in WWII

When African American GIs arrived in Britain as part of the racially segregated US military, they encountered the same racism, harsh military justice, and violence at the hands of white American GIs that they had known back home. What made their posting to Britain so different, however, was the surprising discovery that racial segregation did not exist outside the military bases. They were warmly welcomed by the civilian populationpeople generally treated them as equals and were appalled by the way they were mistreated by their fellow Americans. Black GIs were able to form friendships and romantic relationships with white Britonsthings that would have been unthinkable in America. Because the US military forbade them from marrying their white girlfriends, they left behind many broken hearts and an estimated two thousand "Brown Babies." Drawing on American military archives, personnel files, court-martial records, and a wealth of family archivesincluding personal lettersthis book sheds light on the life stories of some of the African Americans stationed in Britain. It follows a typical transport unit (a Quartermaster Truck Company) on its journeys across the country, where the soldiers encountered both racist violence from fellow Americans and the affection of the British public. Relationships between black GIs and local women were often at the heart of conflicts among the American soldiers; in a sense, they were waging a "war within a war" against their white compatriots. Black GI Louis Edmead and his English girlfriend Patriciathe couple featured on the book's covermet while Louis was stationed in the port city of Bristol; their romance flourished, and they married in England in 1947a union that would have been illegal in many US states. The book illustrates how the struggle of Black GIs for equality during their time in Great Britain in World War II laid a crucial foundation for the post-war civil rights movement in the United States. This previously overlooked history is now increasingly being addressed in film, television, and local historical accounts.