The Bitter Road to Freedom: The Human Cost of Allied Victory in World War II Europe by William I. Hitchcock Page A
Authors: William I. Hitchcock
African-American. 62
Executions of US Soldiers in ETO through October 31, 1945
The evidence presented at the courts-martial sheds light on the hidden underside of the liberation and occupation of northern France. It is plain from these records that some American soldiers—how many can never be known—assaulted French people, in some cases with sadistic and lethal force. The evidence shows that sexual violence against women in liberated France was common; it also shows that black soldiers convicted of such awful acts received very severe pun-
ishments, while white soldiers received lighter sen- tences. 63
Why the disparity in sentencing? Simply, it was much easier for a condemned white man to get a capital sen- tence reduced than it was for a condemned black man to receive the same leniency. This is because the Army, at the express request of General Eisenhower and the War Department, gave weight to an accused soldier’s combat record during sentencing. The War Depart- ment in an order of August 2, 1945, stated that “while a creditable combat record does not endow the indi- vidual with any special immunity, neglect to give it due weight is equally an injustice and an impairment of public respect for the Army’s administration of mili- tary justice.” Yet not only a creditable combat record was required; even combat fatigue and “exhaustion on the battlefield” were considered as mitigating cir- cumstances. Since African-American troops rarely saw action in the front line, they usually had no combat re- cord to shield them. 64
French North African soldiers offer a bag of candies to African-American soldiers. African-Americans were strictly segregated from white troops in the U.S. Army.
U.S. National Archives
A second reason for the severity of sentences toward black troops is that Army justice saw sexual violence by African-American troops as dangerous and threat- ening not simply to French women but to the moral or- der that the Army wished to establish in France. The Judge Advocate General Board of Review, in consider- ing the conviction for rape by two privates of a woman in Bricquebec, near Cherbourg, just three weeks after D-Day, made plain its opinion that the rape of French
women by “colored American soldiers” was part of “a pattern which has made its unwelcome appearance with increasing frequency.” This alleged pattern was denounced by the provost marshall of the Norman- dy Base Section as well: “the reputation of American troops was badly besmirched at this time by the mis- behavior of a small percentage of troops,” and he noted that “most of these undisciplinary attacks were caused by colored troops and great efforts were made to bring this situation under control, with special attention to the colored units.” In short, black soldiers were target- ed for special measures, to deflect scrutiny away from white soldiers’ misbehavior and to deflect criticisms aimed at the American army. 65
In the context of liberation, this evidence, when placed alongside police reports from French archives, sug- gests a broader conclusion: that French and American authorities collaborated to impose a racial order onto liberated Normandy. Some American soldiers pillaged, robbed, raped, and murdered French people during 1944 and 1945, but black men paid a far higher price for such transgressions, and French and U.S. authori- ties found a degree of common cause in exacting that bloody toll.
* * *
A
S THE WAR moved onward through France and into Belgium and to Germany itself, the interest of the Allied armies in Normandy’s fate waned
and the citizens of Calvados felt bereft. The region’s housing shortage was severe, and food was still strictly rationed in Caen, with bread down to 100 grams per day and 120 grams of meat per week. A particular griev- ance of the locals was that the 12,000 German POWs in Calvados, who were put to work on road-building crews, were given better rations and clothing
Executions of US Soldiers in ETO through October 31, 1945
The evidence presented at the courts-martial sheds light on the hidden underside of the liberation and occupation of northern France. It is plain from these records that some American soldiers—how many can never be known—assaulted French people, in some cases with sadistic and lethal force. The evidence shows that sexual violence against women in liberated France was common; it also shows that black soldiers convicted of such awful acts received very severe pun-
ishments, while white soldiers received lighter sen- tences. 63
Why the disparity in sentencing? Simply, it was much easier for a condemned white man to get a capital sen- tence reduced than it was for a condemned black man to receive the same leniency. This is because the Army, at the express request of General Eisenhower and the War Department, gave weight to an accused soldier’s combat record during sentencing. The War Depart- ment in an order of August 2, 1945, stated that “while a creditable combat record does not endow the indi- vidual with any special immunity, neglect to give it due weight is equally an injustice and an impairment of public respect for the Army’s administration of mili- tary justice.” Yet not only a creditable combat record was required; even combat fatigue and “exhaustion on the battlefield” were considered as mitigating cir- cumstances. Since African-American troops rarely saw action in the front line, they usually had no combat re- cord to shield them. 64
French North African soldiers offer a bag of candies to African-American soldiers. African-Americans were strictly segregated from white troops in the U.S. Army.
U.S. National Archives
A second reason for the severity of sentences toward black troops is that Army justice saw sexual violence by African-American troops as dangerous and threat- ening not simply to French women but to the moral or- der that the Army wished to establish in France. The Judge Advocate General Board of Review, in consider- ing the conviction for rape by two privates of a woman in Bricquebec, near Cherbourg, just three weeks after D-Day, made plain its opinion that the rape of French
women by “colored American soldiers” was part of “a pattern which has made its unwelcome appearance with increasing frequency.” This alleged pattern was denounced by the provost marshall of the Norman- dy Base Section as well: “the reputation of American troops was badly besmirched at this time by the mis- behavior of a small percentage of troops,” and he noted that “most of these undisciplinary attacks were caused by colored troops and great efforts were made to bring this situation under control, with special attention to the colored units.” In short, black soldiers were target- ed for special measures, to deflect scrutiny away from white soldiers’ misbehavior and to deflect criticisms aimed at the American army. 65
In the context of liberation, this evidence, when placed alongside police reports from French archives, sug- gests a broader conclusion: that French and American authorities collaborated to impose a racial order onto liberated Normandy. Some American soldiers pillaged, robbed, raped, and murdered French people during 1944 and 1945, but black men paid a far higher price for such transgressions, and French and U.S. authori- ties found a degree of common cause in exacting that bloody toll.
* * *
A
S THE WAR moved onward through France and into Belgium and to Germany itself, the interest of the Allied armies in Normandy’s fate waned
and the citizens of Calvados felt bereft. The region’s housing shortage was severe, and food was still strictly rationed in Caen, with bread down to 100 grams per day and 120 grams of meat per week. A particular griev- ance of the locals was that the 12,000 German POWs in Calvados, who were put to work on road-building crews, were given better rations and clothing
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