On 4th December 1942, a black seaman of the United States Merchant Marine appeared in court in Belfast. The charge was being drunk and disorderly at the American Red Cross Club on Chichester Street, Belfast.
Detective Sergeant Swindall and U.S. Army Lieutenant Cole claimed the seaman and a black soldier of the United States Army had come to the club at around 0300hrs to cause trouble. Swindall gave evidence that he put the accused into a military truck with some trouble and he threw a bottle of whiskey out of the truck onto the road. The whiskey, of course, was no longer available for evidence.
The seaman, Bell, claimed he was out with the soldier and had gone to the club for a coffee. He stated they were helped into the truck, not because they were drunk, but because they could not get in by themselves. He also added that black soldiers in Northern Ireland were persecuted by the American authorities. He would use his appearance in court to take a stand against it. The Resident Magistrate had other ideas:
You need not shoulder the welfare of the coloured troops in Northern Ireland even if what you say is true, but which I do not for a moment believe.
Resident Magistrate Mr. Campbell.
Campbell did not believe the accused seaman’s story of going to the club for coffee and standing up for his soldier friend. He imposed a fine of 40 shillings adding:
You are quite an intelligent young man and there is no colour bar in this country. The Americans didn’t want you at the club, not because you are a coloured man, but because you made a nuisance of yourself.