US military police attempt to arrest a black soldier in Bamber Bridge, England, sparking the Battle of Bamber Bridge mutiny that leaves one dead and seven wounded.
The Battle of Bamber Bridge was an outbreak of racial violence between black and white American servicemen stationed in the village of that name in Lancashire, a county in the north of England. The incident, which occurred a few days after the 1943 Detroit race riot, was started when white American Military Police (MPs) attempted to arrest several African American soldiers from the racially segregated 1511th Quartermaster Truck Regiment at the Ye Olde Hob Inn public house in Bamber Bridge.
After the arrival of more military police armed with machine guns, black soldiers armed themselves with rifles from their base armoury. Both sides exchanged fire through the night. One black soldier was killed, and several MPs and soldiers were injured. Although a court martial convicted 32 African American soldiers of mutiny and related crimes, poor leadership and racist attitudes among the MPs was blamed as the cause.
Bamber Bridge is an urban village in Lancashire, England, 3 miles (5 km) south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". The population was 13,945 at the 2011 Census.