The Battle of Bamber Bridge — Forty Minutes Up the Road

**Forty minutes from my shed, just off the M6, there's a pub that's been pulling pints since 1616. In June 1943, it also took four hundred bullets.** This week I got in the car and went to find out why. It's the story of the 1511th Quartermaster Truck Regiment — Black American soldiers stationed in Lancashire during the war — a colour bar that didn't survive contact with Lancashire landlords, and a night the American army spent fighting itself down a village street three miles from Preston. It doesn't end where you'd expect. Lancashire keeps turning up in American history when you go looking for it. This is one of those times. If you're new here: I'm Stanley Common. I write and talk from a shed in Heywood about whatever's caught my eye that week — this one just needed a road trip first. The written version's on Substack if you'd rather read it than listen: \[link] Kettle's on. Send us Fan Mail Support the show