The Life of African American GIs in Britain in WWII: A War Within A War

When African American GIs in the segregated US military came to Britain they faced the same racism, rough military justice and violence from white American GIs that they suffered in the States.What made their British posting so different was that away from their bases they were shocked to find there was no segregation.They received a warm welcome from civilians who generally treated them as equals and were appalled at the treatment from their fellow Americans.Black GIs were able to form friendships and romances with white British people which would have been unthinkable in America.Forbidden by the US military from marrying their white girlfriends they left behind many broken hearts and an estimated two thousand ‘Brown Babies’. Using material from American military archives, personnel records, court martial papers and a trove of a family archives, including personal letters, this book highlights the lives of some of the African Americans who served in Britain.It follows a typical Quarte