19th June 2022
I went to a very interesting lecture given by Kate Werran and her father at the Palace theatre in Paignton on Thursday morning. This was about a confrontation between a company of USA soldiers and military police in the town centre of Launceston, Cornwall in September 1943. Guns were fired and apparently there are still some bullet holes in one of the buildings over looking the war memorial. This was due to the racial intolerance of the USA military. I had never heard about this and I found it to be particularly interesting because my mother was born in Launceston and I have visited this town on numerous occasions. In fact I was there for a brief visit last month. What was also very interesting is that the subsequent court martial took place in a building in Paignton which is almost next door to the theatre where the lecture was given. I would like to write a song about it for one of my albums. I have written some lyrics but so far there is no tune.
Fact is stranger than fiction
Often this is true
A strange shoot out in Launceston
During World War Two
In the town there was a mutiny
One evening in nineteen forty three
They tried to keep a tight lid on the case
Without mentioning colour or race
Fact is stranger than fiction
What followed was front page news
A court martial in Paignton
That the underdogs would lose
This is forgotten history
When we were fighting for liberty
The segregation of black and white
Led to a protest one Autumn night
There was racial intolerance in the USA military
For the English reporters this was plain to see
Fact is stranger than fiction
It was in the town square
As a boy Kate's father heard about
What had happened there.