People can attend in-person or online on 23 June
A public event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Bamber Bridge has been organised by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
On Friday 23 June, it will be exactly 80 years since a gun-shot stand-off occurred in Bamber Bridge between black American troops stationed in the town during the Second World War and their own military police.
The gun shots fired during this revolt saw some of the few shots fired in anger in England during the War. Caused by intrinsic racism in a segregated army, the Battle led to the death of one soldier and injuries to four others, as well as to the conviction of 27 black American soldiers.
Professor Alan Rice from UCLan’s Institute for Black Atlantic Research (IBAR), has helped to organise a public event to commemorate the historic occasion.
"Here, they were seen as fellow fighters against fascism and not just tolerated as extra bodies during the war effort."
— Professor Alan Rice from UCLan’s Institute for Black Atlantic Research
He said: “In what became known as the Battle of Bamber Bridge, the black American soldiers received support from local residents in a manner they would never do back home in the United States. Here, they were seen as fellow fighters against fascism and not just tolerated as extra bodies during the war effort.
“Now, 80 years on, UCLan is commemorating the event through an international symposium that is open to the public to attend either in-person or online.”
The symposium will feature discussions of historical racism in the US military, collusion by the British Government and responses by locals and the troops themselves.
Guardian journalist and author Gary Younge will also speak at the event and the African American film-maker Gregory Cooke will show his 2023 film Invisible Warriors, which documents the struggles of African American women workers in WWII, and take part in a Q&A session led by Professor Alan Rice.
"Now, 80 years on, UCLan is commemorating the event through an international symposium that is open to the public to attend either in-person or online"
— Professor Alan Rice from UCLan’s Institute for Black Atlantic Research
The Battle of Bamber Bridge 80th Anniversary Commemorative Event is organised by IBAR and UCLan’s Research Centre for Migration, Diaspora and Exile (MIDEX).
It will take place on Friday 23 June from 4.00pm – 6.00pm in Foster Lecture Theatre on the Preston Campus, followed by a reception on the Student Centre rooftop terrace.
People can book tickets to attend in-person via Eventbrite. Anyone wanting to attend online can do so via Microsoft Teams. However, the film screening isn’t available for online attendees.
For more information contact JMBWebster@uclan.ac.uk
