No letter today. Just this:
* TIDBIT *
[Note from FOURTHCHILD: Upon his return from London, Greg received the orders shown below. His name has been removed, as usual, for privacy reasons. The order was issued by Colonel Plank and signed by David C. Bunin, 1st Lt, AGD, Asst Adj Gen. Some abbreviations are explained in brackets and others are listed below the orders. Also below the orders is a *TIDBIT* within a *TIDBIT* about Colonel Plank.]
RESTRICTED
HQ EBS SOS ETOUSA APO 517
HQ EBS SOS ETOUSA APO 517
PAC TWX LN-4301, Hq SOS, 10 Sept 1943, the following named O [officers] will proceed o/a [on or about] 7 Feb 1944 to the Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, London,W.1. on temp dy [temporary duty] to attend the Inter-Allied Medical Conference on War Medicine, to be held on 7 Feb, at 0900 hours, and upon completion of such temp dy will return to proper sta [station].
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SOME ABBREVIATIONS
HQ = Headquarters EBS =Eastern Base Section
SOS=Services of Supply
ETOUSA =European Theater of Operations, US Army
AGD=Adjutant General's Department
*TIDBIT * within a *TIDBIT*
Colonel Ewart Gladstone Plank, who gave these orders, was a Deputy Chief of Staff in Britain who grew up in Missouri. He is better known for having written a memorandum reflecting his exceedingly racist concerns about Black soldiers. Graham H. Smith wrote the following in When Jim Crow Met John Bull: Black American Soldiers in World War II Britain, Tauris, London, 1987 (pp 113-114):
Plank gave special attention to the problems which Great Britain was presenting, and in doing so made some judgments which would quite clearly have distressed the female inhabitants of the country. The particular difficulty, as he saw it, was the problem of black solder/white girl relationships. The Colonel saw the situation very simply: for him three types of girls associated with black soldiers, and all could be easily categorized. There were the recognized prostitutes, who could be dealt with by the civil police; then there was the 'semi-respectable older woman of loose morals' looking as much for drinks as money; finally there was the problem of the minor, and this again could be solved by collaboration with the local police.
The limited circulation of Plank's unsigned memorandum succeeded in generating so much protest, from black and white officers alike, that Lieutenant General Devers, the Assistant Adjutant General, requested all copies of Plank's letter to be destroyed."
"Possibly the most extraordinary attempt from the American military to provide guidelines on the issue of commanding black troops came from Colonel Plank on 15 July 1943...
Colored soldiers are akin to well-meaning but irresponsible children... Generally they cannot be trusted to tell the truth, to execute complicated orders, or act on their own initiative except in certain individual cases... the colored race are [sic] easily led, extremely responsive, and under stress of certain influences such as excitement, fear, religion, dope, liquor... they can change form with amazing rapidity from a kind or bashful individual to one of brazen boldness or madness, or become hysterical... The colored man does not look for work. He must be assigned a specific task that will keep him busy... The colored individual likes to 'doll up,' strut, brag and show off. He likes to be distinctive and stand out from the others. Everything possible should be used to encourage this... In the selection of NCOs the real black bosses should be picked rather than the lighter 'smart boy.'
Plank gave special attention to the problems which Great Britain was presenting, and in doing so made some judgments which would quite clearly have distressed the female inhabitants of the country. The particular difficulty, as he saw it, was the problem of black solder/white girl relationships. The Colonel saw the situation very simply: for him three types of girls associated with black soldiers, and all could be easily categorized. There were the recognized prostitutes, who could be dealt with by the civil police; then there was the 'semi-respectable older woman of loose morals' looking as much for drinks as money; finally there was the problem of the minor, and this again could be solved by collaboration with the local police.
The limited circulation of Plank's unsigned memorandum succeeded in generating so much protest, from black and white officers alike, that Lieutenant General Devers, the Assistant Adjutant General, requested all copies of Plank's letter to be destroyed."
