We started this website in 2016 partly because we kept coming across stories from Black British history that we didn’t know about. Sometimes they were stories that we should have known but had simply missed, but often they were stories that were tucked away in obscure places that needed a lot of effort to find. We felt that much of this hidden history deserved to be more widely known. On the home page of the site we express this as
‘we are keen to raise awareness of the black and mixed heritage people who have played a part in shaping the way society looks today but whose role has been overlooked or not given the credit they are due’
We started to do our own research aimed at bringing previously untold stories into the light and we had some early successes. But we have been greatly helped by the contributions of Bill Hern, Audrey Dewjee and John Ellis, who share our passion.
This preamble introduces you to fresh contributions from Audrey and John.
It seems to us that Audrey has done more to identify the presence of Black and mixed heritage women from the Caribbean in the armed services during WW2 than anyone else. Today we publish her third article on the subject. In the previous two she has written about women from the Caribbean who served in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army), in her third article she turns her attention to the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force).
Sonia Thompson
Alma La Badie
Pearl Harry
Through painstaking research she has identified the names of almost a hundred women from the Caribbean who served in the WAAF. Many were white but some were Black or of mixed heritage. Fascinating in its own right, the article also offers a gateway for anyone interested in doing further research in this area. Audrey tells us what became of the handful of the women after the war but, as she herself acknowledges, there is much, much more to find. If one of these ladies was an ancestor of yours we would love to hear from you!
Meanwhile John Ellis has also been busy. He has previously written about women of colour in Newgate Gaol in the nineteenth century but, during the course of his research for that article, he actually identified all those of colour, men and women, who are mentioned in the prison records. John believes this list quite possibly contains the largest number of references to individuals of colour for this period thus far identified. He has not researched the men but, as with Audrey’s article, there is a wealth of information that might be of use to anyone researching the history of this period. A link to the database including all the information John discovered has now been added to the original article, there are a large number of ‘people of colour’ previously unknown to history:
At Historycal Roots we were saddened to hear of the death on New Year’s Day of WW2 veteran Jack Crawford, aged 101.
John Desmond Crawford was born in Lucea, Jamaica, in April 1923. He joined the RAF on 18th September 1944 and came to Britain with the second contingent of West Indian recruits, landing at Greenock near Glasgow in November. From there he was sent to RAF Hunmanby Moor, Filey, Yorkshire for his initial British training.
After the war Jack returned to Jamaica where he worked for the Customs and Excise in Kingston. He married Gloria Elizabeth Grant in 1948 and they had their first two children (a son and a daughter) in Jamaica.
In 1953 Jack decided to return to Britain and was accepted for an apprenticeship with the De Havilland Aircraft Company. Soon after this, two fatal crashes of De Havilland’s pioneering Comet airliners meant that the company had to get rid of staff. Jack lost his job, so he re-joined the RAF where he remained for the rest of his career. Gloria and their children joined him in England in 1955 and the couple went on to have three more daughters.
Jack served in the RAF in many parts of the world and rose to the rank of Chief Technician. In 1974 he was awarded the BEM (British Empire Medal) for his service in the RAF, in particular for his work in modifying the Artificial Horizon test equipment in the Phantom Aircraft, which he researched in his own time.
Jack had a great curiosity, love and appreciation of nature, art and classical music. He used his artistic skills to paint portraits and landscapes and everything in between, including large scale themed backdrops for events and social occasions in the Sergeants’ mess.
In 2019 he was featured in the From War to Windrush exhibition in Bradford City Hall, organised by Lincoln Anderson and MOBE (Marshfield Odsal Bankfoot Enterprise), and in 2023 he was present at the unveiling of the plaque in Filey to commemorate the West Indian ex-servicemen who trained at RAF Hunmanby Moor.
Lord Nick Bourne talking to Lincoln Anderson (in cap) in front of the Jack Crawford section of the From War to Windrush Exhibition
Last November Jack unveiled the new Commonwealth War Memorial in Bradford.
The process of re-writing British history to more fully reflect the Black presence continues apace with two new articles for Historycal Roots.
In the first, John Ellis continues his exploration of the presence of soldiers ‘of colour’ in the British Army in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This time he turns his attention to the 20th Regiment of the Light Dragoons. During the period 1797 to 1818 he has identified two dozen men of colour who served in the regiment at one time or another. He has dubbed these men ‘A Band of Brothers’ not least because the names apparently include two sets of brothers. John starts his story at the end with the discharge of a group of men in Ireland in 1818. Five of them, all born on the island of St. Domingo (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic), had enlisted, along with others, in the Caribbean on the same date in October 1798. They served together, saw colleagues die, and were discharged together after twenty years’ service. John’s article is here:
The second article is by another stalwart contributor, Audrey Dewjee. The recruitment of Black women to the ATS and WAAF (the branches of the Army and Royal Air Force that were open to women) in the latter part of World War 2 is relatively well documented. The story of one of them, Nadia Cattouse, can be found elsewhere on this site, she died recently at the age of 99.[1]https://www.historycalroots.com/nadia-cattouse/
What is less well known is that some women of colour, resident in Britain when the War started, had successfully defeated the colour bar that was in operation at the time and joined up anyway. Audrey’s article identifies twelve such pioneers. They include Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan whose story is relatively well known (she parachuted into France, was captured by the Germans and shot as a spy), and others about whom we know very little at all. Audrey’s article is here:
It is with real pleasure that we welcome Audrey Dewjee back to the pages of Historycal Roots. Her latest article describes something of the experiences of the 4,000 RAF West Indian airmen who were stationed at Hunmanby Moor in Yorkshire during the Second World War. The subject has been very close to Audrey’s heart for a long time and her article has been a real labour of love which we are delighted to lay before you. Veterans Alford Gardner and Gilbert Clarke (pictured) were among those present at the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in the nearby town of Filey in 2023. You can read Audrey’s article here:
You have to be careful about claiming to have identified the ‘first’ of anything in the past, there is always the chance someone will find an earlier example – wise words that historian Ray Costello shared over a convivial lunch in Liverpool some years ago.
John Ellis is far too canny to fall into that trap but he has identified Flight Sergeant Thomas Smith, a ‘man of colour’ from Barnstaple in Devon, as a founding member of the Royal Air Force when it was formed on 1st April 1918. As a ‘founding member’ you can’t get much more ‘first’ than that, although it is possible, of course, that there were other Black men who joined on the same day.
Perhaps others stories will emerge but, for now, we celebrate Flight Sergeant Thomas Smith. Thomas, who had a Black father, a White mother and an American grandfather, got into the RAF in spite of the provisions of the Royal Air Force (Constitution) Act of 1917 which restricted entry to men of ‘pure European descent’. Thomas was able to get round this manifestation of the institutional racism of the time because he was already serving as a Petty Officer in the Royal Navy Air Service and was able to transfer across into the newly formed RAF.
Thomas came from a humble background. His father, Moses, was a ‘hawker’ (a street trader) and his mother, Elizabeth, the daughter of a mussel gatherer, was also a fish hawker prior to her marriage to Moses. Moses, who undoubtedly faced racism, was no stranger to the Barnstable constabulary and was in the local gaol on more than one occasion. But he was also an eloquent man, well able to speak up for himself. He was also known to box at the local fair and there were occasions when he used his pugilistic skills to defend himself as the need arose.
Thomas had more than one brush with the law himself. In May 1911 he took revenge for an assault on his father by attacking both the father and sister of the culprit. He was serving in the Royal Navy at the time and his Commanding Officer spoke up for him, describing him as ‘a very good character’ and ‘a very good man’.
When war broke out in 1914 Thomas Smith was serving on the battlecruiser HMS Indefatigable and he saw active service in the Dardanelles and North Atlantic. The Indefatigable was sunk at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 with the loss of almost the entire crew of around 1,000. Fortunately Thomas, following promotion to the rank of Petty Officer, had been transferred to another ship in December 1915 – a lucky escape.
You can learn much more about Thomas Smith, including his ground-breaking time in the RAF, in John Ellis’s latest article for Historycal Roots. It really is a remarkable story:
This year’s Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph has been like no other because of covid-19. It has set me thinking about previous Remembrance Sunday commemorations – and omissions – which, to some extent, have been corrected in the very recent past.
For years and years, the BBC presenter of the Remembrance Sunday programme recited the same old script in a solemn pompous voice – while simultaneously revealing either his ignorance or his racism. For years and years the virtues of “Commonwealth” participation in the two World Wars were extolled and tribute was paid to the contribution of people from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, but there was little or no mention of the sacrifices made by people of colour, whether from the Indian subcontinent, Africa, the Caribbean or any other part of the former British Empire from which they came. I used to watch in fury, every year, and many times wrote to the BBC to tell them that they must acknowledge these contributions. Colleagues at the time did the same, but perhaps none did so for as many years as my friend Kusoom Vadgama. Our protests fell on deaf ears.
I was especially infuriated when the commentator, usually David Dimbleby, would mention the countries from which the various High Commissioners came, without ever mentioning that the people of those countries had fought and died side by side with their comrades from the British Isles. The insult was even greater when you knew that two of the High Commissioners themselves had fought in the war – Arthur Wint (Jamaican High Commissioner from 1974-1978) and Ulric Cross (High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago from 1990-1993). Arthur Wint was a pilot and Ulric Cross a navigator in the RAF.
Something else that has never been commented on – the shape of the Cenotaph itself. Many war memorials in British towns and cities include a cross, but a cross is significantly absent from the Cenotaph. As Mary Lutyens pointed out in an article in Ms London (16 November, 1981), her father, the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens who designed the monument, “refused to put a cross on it, because he said the troops marching past were of many different religions.” Good for you Sir Edwin! – at least someone had awareness and integrity.
The Cenotaph in 1925 (IWM Q37996)
Gradually, and possibly grudgingly, over recent years, things changed a little and Britons began to hear stories in the media about those who had been omitted for so long. However, the Black Lives Matter movement, the 75th anniversary of the ending of World War 2 and, in particular the VJ day anniversary this year, have resulted in a sea-change in reporting and suddenly the stories of veterans from all over the world are starting to be told – too late for many of those who would have appreciated this recognition.
I watched the 2020 Remembrance Sunday Ceremony on TV and noted with pleasure that the Queen’s equerry, Ghanaian-born Lieutenant Colonel Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah, was in attendance, as he was at the private ceremony earlier in the week, when the Queen laid a bouquet on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. [Find out more about Lt. Col. Twumasi-Ankrah on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqRUjE2MAV8 ]
On Wednesday 11th November, the actual Remembrance Day – I will be thinking, among others, of the following:
Adolphus Meheux a Sierra Leone-born merchant seaman from Hull who lost his life off the Netherlands when his ship the SS Cito was attacked by German destroyers on 17 May, 1917. His name appears on the memorial boards at the entrance to Hull Station. https://www.africansinyorkshireproject.com/adolphus-meheux.html
Jim Bailey
James Bailey, brother of Lilian Bader, a merchant seaman who along with 21 of his shipmates on board the SS Western Chief went down in the Atlantic on 14 March, 1941, after being torpedoed by an Italian submarine. He is commemorated on the Trinity House Memorial at Tower Hill in London.
The following who all died in World War 2 and are buried or commemorated in Stonefall Cemetery, North Yorkshire:
Grave of Selemani Shabani
Private Selemani Shabani of the African Pioneer Corps [East Africa]
Sgt. Pilot Isikeli Doviverata Komaisavai
Sgt. Pilot Isikeli Doviverata Komaisavai of Fiji served with 234 Squadron. He died on 19th October 1944 at the age of 24.
Flying Officer Ulric Look Yan (IWM D 15031)
Flying Officer Ulric Leslie Look Yan of Trinidad, aged 21.
Flying Officer Edward Fred Hutchinson Haly DFC of British Guiana [now Guyana], aged 23.
This site https://www.caribbeanaircrew-ww2.com/ is an unparalleled source of information about Caribbean aircrew. It contains information about the Caribbean aircrew mentioned above and many more besides.
Leading Aircraftman Isaac Roland Bryan of Jamaica, aged 21.
AC2 Ivan Copeland Ashman of Jamaica.
AC2 Wilfred Octavius Dawns of Jamaica, aged 24.
AC2 Patrick Constantine Marshall of Jamaica, aged 19
AC2 Byron Martin of Jamaica, aged 19.
The last five were ground crew members of the RAF. Just because you didn’t go into battle, didn’t mean you were safe from accident or illness. A number of non-combatants never returned to their families.
The hundreds of thousands of East Africans killed in World War 1 who don’t have individual marked graves, but who are commemorated on three memorials: one in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the others in Mombasa and Nairobi in Kenya.
The Askari Monument, Dar es Salaam
The inscription on the Askari Monument in Nairobi
The inscription (in English, Kiswahili and Arabic) on both monuments reads as follows:
This is to the memory of the native African troops who fought: to the carriers who were the feet and hands of the army: and to all other men who served and died for their King and Country in Eastern Africa in the Great War 1914-1918.
If you fight for your Country even if you die your sons will remember your name.
Karun Krishna Majumdar (IWM CL 1176)
Wing Commander Karun Krishna Majumdar, who flew and survived the war in Europe, only to die fighting in Burma in February, 1945.
Man Mohan Singh
Flying Officer Man Mohan Singh, who came to Britain in 1939 and was eventually stationed in Australia where he was killed in a Japanese air raid.
Pilot Officer Gurbachan Singh, who was killed in an accident when his plane hit a telephone wire in Wiltshire and crashed on 12 April, 1941, aged 21.
Pilot Officer Hukum Chand Mehta, who died when his Hurricane IIB flew into the ground at Kielder in Northumberland, during a formation practice on 3 November 1941, aged 24.
Flight Sergeant James Hyde (he was promoted to Warrant Officer before he died) (IWM CH 11978)
Warrant Officer James Hyde
a Spitfire pilot from Trinidad (featured on this film around minute 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViGwxJloI70 ), who was killed in a dogfight over Nijmegen in the Battle of Arnhem on 25 September, 1944, aged 27.
Sergeant Osmund William St. Clair Alleyne, Wireless Operator/Gunner, from Dominica, killed in action on 5 August, 1943.
Victor Emmanuel Tucker (IWM CH5312)
Pilot OfficerVictor Emmanuel Tucker from Jamaica, he was shot down 4 May 1941 and crashed into the Channel, aged 25.
These are just a handful of stories of the people who were lost in two World Wars. Their stories are important: we need to tell them, especially to our children, and we need to ensure that they become part of mainstream British history.
Today, on the anniversary of his passing, we celebrate the life of Ronald Fitzherbert Hall. Ron’s name will not be widely known beyond the circle of his friends and family but he contributed greatly both during and after World War 2. Our story, which you can find here http://historycalroots.com/ronald-fitzherbert-hall-navigator-here focuses mainly on his time in the RAF during the War.
Ron is just one of the many unsung black heroes who deserve a place in our collective history. We hope you enjoy reading about him.
We make our own contribution to the VE (Victory in Europe) anniversary celebrations by adding a new page to the Windrush Generation section of this site.
Alford Gardner was on the Empire Windrush when she docked at Tilbury in June 1948 but he had also served in the Royal Air Force during World War Two.
Alford (right) with his friend Dennis Reid
The page has been written by Audrey Dewjee and is a revised version of an article she first wrote over two years ago. Audrey has updated it following recent conversations she has had with Alford who is still enjoying life to the full at the age of 94.
When does an ‘ordinary’ life become ‘extraordinary’?
Travelling over 4,500 miles from a Caribbean island to serve your king and “Mother Country” in the Second World War is not bad for starters.
Overcoming racism to make a new life for yourself in a land distant from your birth is a good way of continuing the story.
Marrying and bringing up a family of four children, holding down a job, paying your taxes for 38 years sounds good too.
Charlie Dawkins’ life was all these things and much more.
Although his story is not unique, it is well worth remembering. It also shines a light on the little-known story of the 4,000 West Indian recruits who trained at RAF Hunmanby Moor, Filey, in 1944.
Charlie lived a relatively quiet but very worthwhile life. He was much loved by his wife and children. He passed good old fashioned values on to the next generation. He instilled in them good Christian principles, such as honesty, integrity and self-discipline. He was kind and thoughtful, well-informed and wise beyond his years and the limited educational opportunities that were open to him.
Charlie Dawkins was indeed a very special person. You can read an article about him by Audrey Dewjee on a new page in the ‘Windrush Generation’ section of this site: http://historycalroots.com/charles-austin-dawkins
It is with real pleasure that we welcome Audrey Dewjee back to the pages of Historycal Roots. Her latest article describes something of the experiences of the 4,000 RAF West Indian airmen who were stationed at Hunmanby Moor in Yorkshire during the Second World War. The subject has been very close to Audrey’s heart for a long time and her article has been a real labour of love which we are delighted to lay before you. Veterans Alford Gardner and Gilbert Clarke (pictured) were among those present at the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in the nearby town of Filey in 2023. You can read Audrey’s article here:
