The Kingsclere Shootout
by Nick Brazil
A quintessential English village
Kingsclere in North Hampshire is the quintessential English village. With its ancient Norman Church and timbered cottages, it is what journalists would describe as “sleepy”. One imagines that if any of its residents were asked, they would agree with this adding: “Nothing ever happens here.”
All that would change on a crisp October night in 1944.
A short distance from Kingsclere is a large house called Sydmonton Court. During the war it served as the living quarters of 3247 Quartermaster Service Company an all black American Unit who worked at the nearby USAF air base of Greenham Common. Their work would be shifting heavy loads of equipment and stores.
The US Forces "colour bar"
These were socially less enlightened times than today with a “colour bar” strictly separating the white and black American servicemen. One can imagine this hard work was not made any easier by the bad way these men were often treated by their white officers. That would certainly account tor the tragedy that ensued.
On the evening of 5th October 1944, ten members of this company left their quarters without authorisation. Still dressed in their work overalls they made for a pub in the nearby village of Kingsclere.
However, before reaching it, they were stopped by two black American MPs, Privates Anderson and Coates. They ordered the men back to Sydmonton Court to change into their full military uniforms before visiting the local pubs. As with the world over, there Is no love lost between the Military Police and the rank and file servicemen. So, this must have been a tense and angry confrontation.
Settling scores within the white helmets
Nevertheless, the ten servicemen appeared to obey the MP’s order. But, once the men reached their quarters, instead of changing, they broke into the armoury and stole some automatic weapons. They then returned to Kingsclere determined to settle scores with the MPs.
They spotted the white helmets of the two MPs inside The Crown, the pub which was just across the road from the Parish Church of St Marys. The angry servicemen then took up positions in the churchyard.
Shortly before closing time at ten o’clock, Private Anderson was shot in the chest as he left the pub. Grievously injured, he managed to run 150 yards before collapsing in a vegetable garden. That was where he died.
Opening up on The Crown with automatics
The servicemen hiding in the graveyard then opened up on The Crown with their automatics. As terrified locals dived for cover under tables, the pub was peppered with over thirty bullets. Coates, the other MP was sitting with his back to one of the windows when the shooting started. He was killed instantly by a bullet through the back of the head.
Mr Napper, the landlord, pushed his wife Rose to the floor to protect her from the gunfire. However, this was not her lucky night. A bullet ricocheting off the wall hit her in the cheek and passed out through her neck. She was rushed to hospital in nearby Newbury where she died early the next day. She was the third and last fatality of the massacre.
The fugitives scatter
After the shooting, the fugitives scattered only to be arrested over the next few days. News of the massacre soon reached The Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower. Horrified, he sent one of his senior officers down to Kingsclere to apologise to its traumatised residents.
The ten servicemen responsible for the shooting, were rapidly court-martialled in the neighbouring town of Thatcham. Nine were sentenced to full life terms with hard labour whilst the tenth received a ten year term with hard labour. They were all given dishonourable discharges and shipped back to the States to serve out their sentences. What happened to them after that is lost to history.
The Kingsclere shootout remains a secret
The whole tragedy was hushed up by the authorities with no reports appearing in the local or national press at the time. The Kingsclere Massacre as it became known remained secret for many years to be recounted only by word of mouth. This is probably why the exact details vary in subsequent historical accounts of the tragedy. This article is a distillation of those with the author opting for the most likely chain of events.
In spite of all the secrecy, there is one physical reminder of the incident that could not be erased. On a gravestone in a local churchyard there is this inscription to the unfortunate pub landlady who was killed:
‘In loving Remembrance of Rose Amelia Napper. Sweetest memories.’
© Nick Brazil 2024
Photos: Wiki
About The Author
Click to see full BMMHS event listing pages.
Contact us at [email protected]
Copyright © 2024 bmmhs.org – All Rights Reserved
Images © Nick Brazil