It was a real pleasure to see Allan Wilmot at a recent Windush 70 event and to hear him speaking about his experiences. I have heard him speak before but I never tire of his stories. He drew gasps of admiration from a packed audience in Clapham’s West Indian Army Service Personnel club when he said that he had used the royalties from the Southlanders hit ‘The Mole in a Hole’ (punchline: ‘I am a mole and I live in a hole’) to buy a car. Not just any car, a white jaguar convertible.
Needless to say, the sight of a young Black man driving home from gigs in such a car in the early hours of the morning attracted the attention of the constabulary. Having been followed regularly and stopped a number of times, one night he got out of the car when he got home and, when asked by a policeman what his job was, he calmly said ‘burglar’. A risky strategy and not one I’d recommend, but he followed it up by inviting the police in for a coffee. When they saw all the publicity shots of the Southlanders on his living room walls they ended up asking for his autograph!
There can’t be many survivors of that original Windrush voyage now, Allan Wilmot is 92 ‘but I’m aiming for a hundred,’ he said. Another survivor is Alford Gardner, also 92, who has recently given a number of interviews to journalists from various illustrious papers and magazines, but none more illustrious than Historycal Roots’ very own Bill Hern.
Bill’s interview was part of the Windrush 70 Project which aims to celebrate the contributions of the Windrush generation and debunk myths that have grown up around the ship and those on board.
Bill writes: ‘Imagine if you could listen to someone describe events like the Battle of Hastings or the Great Fire of London, someone who had witnessed the events at first hand. History would feel more real and more accurate.
During the interview, Alford described his childhood in 1930s Jamaica, his time in the RAF during World War 2 and the excitement when he learned of the coming of the Windrush: ”word came that there was a ship coming to Jamaica, to the West Indies, for men who wanted to come to England to work.”
Having scraped together the £28 10 shilling fare (with help from the bank of Mum and Dad!) Alford enjoyed the voyage, in the company of famed calypsonians Lord Kitchener and Lord Beginner (‘if it move they did a calypso about it’), very much.
As soon as the Windrush docked at Tilbury, Alford and three of his friends headed for Leeds where Alford had studied as part of his RAF-sponsored training after the War. They had hardships to overcome but Alford has always seen the positive side of life. He went on to marry, have 8 children and even set up a Caribbean cricket team that played in the Yorkshire Central League.
It was a real privilege to meet Alford and his eldest son Howard. The interview was regularly punctuated by Alford’s infectious laughter as he recalled major events from his long and happy life.
Alford is still fit and healthy and he was a guest of honour at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds on 7 February 2018 when the Phoenix Dance Theatre presented “Windrush: Movement of the People” a major new dance production described as “a lively celebration of the rise of multicultural Britain. Windrush spans the spirit, history and heritage of British Caribbean culture, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the first Caribbean immigrants to the UK.” After Leeds, the show will move to: Keswick (20th February); Cheltenham (27th February); Doncaster (7th March); Leicester (9th-10th March); and London (26th-28th April). The reviews for the Leeds production were excellent – Alford and his son certainly enjoyed it.
Bill asked Alford his secret for leading such a long and happy life. He said “I haven’t allowed anything to bother me. When I worked, I worked hard. I’ve looked after my family, they’ve all grown up nicely. I’m happy they are happy and as long as they are happy I’m happy.” ‘
At the Clapham event, someone asked how things had turned out for the Windrush pioneers, clearly in the cases of Allan and Alford, the answer is very well indeed!