Today in Labor History September 9, 1918: Scottish & Anzac troops at the Etaples army base launched a successful five-day mutiny against harsh treatment and bad conditions by attacking the military police and carrying out daily demonstrations. Siegfried Sassoon described the terrible conditions in his poem "Base Details." English writer Vera Brittain described the atmosphere in her book “Testament of Youth.” William Allison and John Fairley wrote about it in their 1978 book, “The Monocled Mutineer.”
Today in Labor History August 23, 1917: The Camp Logan Mutiny. After months of harassment by Houston cops, including ongoing arrests and beatings, 156 Black soldiers mutinied. They opened fire in Houston, killing 5 cops and 11 white civilians. 4 mutineers also died in the gun battle. The military tried 64 of the soldiers for murder and mutiny. They executed 19 and sentenced 41 to life imprisonment. Latino author and lawyer Jaime Salazar wrote an account of the mutiny and courts martial in his book “Mutiny of Rage.”