The British people welcomed African American servicemen with open arms

‘Black Yanks’, written by Kate Werran, is the story of how Leroy Henry, an African American soldier from Missouri, ended up on death row in D-Day Britain – and the extraordinary campaign that set him free. It unravels one of the earliest successes of the British Civil Rights Movement and re-examines the UK and USA's 'special relationship' in the build up to D-Day, 6 June 1944. Kate Werran unearths archival material to reveal the story behind the first significant – if uncelebrated – win in the civil rights movement. We asked her some questions by e-mail about her book that was published April 2024.

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