The Forgotten 4,000: West Indian Airmen at RAF Hunmanby Moor, Filey

By Audrey Dewjee (December, 2023)

On 11 July 1944, an item in The Times announced that 2,000 newly arrived RAF recruits from the West Indies were now in training at an Air Force station in Yorkshire. That Air Force station was RAF Hunmanby Moor near Filey and for an eventual 4,000 men, it was their first introduction to British life and people.

In 1939 Billy Butlin had started developing the site as a holiday camp. At the beginning of the war two of Butlin’s existing holiday camps were requisitioned and soon afterwards arrangements were made for the Filey camp to be completed and handed over to the government for the duration of the war. “The main buildings, heavily glazed by virtue of their pre-war design, had to be painted with ‘black-out paint’. Hence their interiors were very dark indeed and electric lights were needed throughout the day. The boating lake was excavated, tarmacked over and used for a parade-ground.”^[1]A Village at War: The Story of the Village of Hunmanby, East Yorkshire, During the Six Years of World War 2, Ces Mowthorpe [Chairman, Hunmanby Local History Group], 1986, p.23.

RAF Hunmanby Moor had no runway and no planes. It was originally set up as a training depot for the RAF Regiment which had been raised after the loss of Crete, when it was decided that the RAF should have its own troops specifically trained to defend airfields. Subsequently the station provided weapons training courses for other branches of the RAF including aircrew members, to prepare them for the possibility of being shot down over enemy territory and having to fight to survive. Flight Lieutenants John Blair DFC (a navigator) and Arthur Wint (a pilot), both from Jamaica, attended such courses at Filey.^[2]Caribbean Volunteers at War: The Forgotten Story of the RAF’s ‘Tuskegee Airmen’, Mark Johnson, Pen & Sword Aviation, 2014, p.71. The base had accommodation for 5,000 officers and men so, when a large number of Caribbean recruits were being despatched to Britain, it had sufficient space for all of them.

Recruitment and transport difficulties

Where did all these recruits come from? Advertisements were placed in Caribbean countries from early autumn 1943. On 22 September, the Gleaner announced, “Recruitment for RAF begins today”. Volunteers were required to be between the ages of 18 and 32.

Young men flocked to answer the call. Some were very young indeed. Recruits were not asked to provide proof of age, so many lads of 16 or 17 added a year or two to their ages in order to enlist, and at least two were only 14 when they joined up.^[3]Calvin Atherton (George) Leigh born 25/01/1930 and James Luther Ferguson born 26/06/1930. Although they must have had their suspicions in some cases, recruiting officers seem to have turned a blind eye as long as the volunteers passed their educational tests and medicals.

Reasons for volunteering were many and varied. Some men were patriotic and wanted to help the “Mother Country” in her hour of need, some hoped they would get the chance to fly, some enlisted because it was an opportunity to see more of the world and escape the confines of a small island, and some volunteered just for the sheer adventure or because their friends had joined up. Others volunteered in the hope of accessing better education or skills training, and for many it was simply to gain employment. They came from a background of mass unemployment and little educational or other opportunities in the region. Conditions under British colonial rule were dire. Some of the men who enlisted had already travelled abroad to find work – many of these had been seasonal agricultural workers in the USA.

After applying and being accepted, there was a very long wait before the men could set off for Britain. The reason was a shortage of ships to transport them because all available shipping was being used to transport troops and equipment to Britain in preparation for D-Day (which took place on 6 June 1944).

Both the recruits and colonial officials in the West Indies were growing restless at the long delay – so in December 1943 it was decided to send men in “penny packets” whenever a small amount of space could be found for them in a ship. There were at least three such groups totalling 90 men in all, but there may have been others. Neil Flanigan, who was the 40th man to enlist in Jamaica, came to Britain in the second of these “penny packets,” sailing on HMT Themistocles which departed for Southampton on 14 January 1944.

An RAF instruction stipulated that men from the Caribbean must be posted to units in the south of England for their first six months’ service, to help them acclimatise to colder temperatures in Britain than those to which they were accustomed. Therefore, this second small group was despatched to RAF Cardington in Bedfordshire, to which the first group of 30 men had also been sent.

In his book about Hunmanby, A Village at War, Ces Mowthorpe wrote:

….at this period [Spring 1944], Butlins received the first Jamaican airmen. The first fifty RAF volunteers from Jamaica ended up in ‘the Regiment’ at Butlins Camp….The poor Jamaicans arrived in March when frosts were quite common. Straight out from the West Indies, these airmen suffered terribly.

In the book there is a photograph of 20 men, “the first course of Jamaican volunteers” about whom Ces Mowthorpe noted, “At least two of the Jamaicans on this course were university graduates.” These men may possibly have been part of a fourth small group of recruits, or they could have been members of one or more of the three earlier groups.

At last, on 28 April, Wing Commander P.N. Shone, on behalf of the Director General of Manning, was able to inform the Air Officer-in-Charge, Records, at Wantage Hall, Reading, that “it is to be expected that a bulk shipment, composed of approximately 1,000 R.A.F. West Indian recruits, will disembark at a United Kingdom port at the end of May, to be followed some two weeks later by the second half of the main party, numbering approximately 1,200 recruits.” [As it turned out, the number of men who arrived in Britain in the second half was around 985].

The 2,000 men in this first main contingent had been recruited from many different islands and countries around the Caribbean. The vast majority enlisted in Jamaica, but there were smaller contingents from Barbados, British Guiana (now Guyana), British Honduras (now Belize) and Trinidad and Tobago. Sixteen recruits came from Grenada, two from St. Vincent and twenty-one from the Leeward Islands.  Alford Gardner, Gilbert Clarke and Ralph Ottey from Jamaica were part of this contingent, as was Prince Albert (Jake) Jacob who came from Trinidad.

The first group of 1,000 men left Jamaica on the SS Cuba, some time in May.  Their journey took them via Guantanamo Bay to Newport News in the USA. The men stayed for about a fortnight at Camp Patrick Henry, a US Army group staging ground, where to their surprise they were treated as “honorary whites” and segregated from African Americans already based in the camp. The men had an enjoyable stay and were served plenty of good food, which was an improvement on what they had had back home, and much better than they would get when they arrived in Britain, because of wartime rationing and the severe lack of availability of many imported foods.

From Camp Patrick Henry the men went by train to New York where they boarded the SS Esperance Bay for the dangerous Atlantic crossing.  To try and minimise the risks of attack by German submarines (U-boats), merchant ships sailed in large convoys, escorted by Royal Navy warships.  The Esperance Bay was part of convoy no. CU 25 which left New York on 21 May and arrived at Liverpool on 3 June 1944.  There the recruits were met by an RAF band and an official welcome party which included the Secretary of State for the Colonies.  From Liverpool, the men were sent by train to RAF Hunmanby Moor, Filey.

The SS Cuba took the second group of men to Newport News, where they also enjoyed their brief stay at Camp Patrick Henry.  Jake Jacob was a member of this group, which travelled to New York to join convoy no. CU 28.  The men left New York on 16 June on board the SS Arawa, which docked in Liverpool on 27 June.^[4]I am very grateful to Dee Wilson for providing me with the name of the ship and the exact date of its arrival in Liverpool. Again the recruits received an official welcome on their arrival in Liverpool, before being sent on to Filey.

The instruction which had declared that, on arrival in the UK, Caribbean airmen “were to be posted to units south of the Midlands,” but “may be posted to any station in England or Wales after six months’ service in the RAF,” had been rescinded.  In his letter of 28 April, Wing Commander Shone had stated that this restriction was “now to be regarded as removed and plans may be made for [the airmen’s] inclusion in the intakes at any Recruit Centre”.  However, he did add that he was instructed to request that drafting the airmen to the Arbroath Recruit Centre in Scotland should be avoided if possible. As a result, the men were exposed to the “bracing” climate of the east coast of Yorkshire. Despite their arrival being in June, the weather was not very favourable and the men really suffered from the cold.

Their initial British training included such topics as aircraft recognition, physical training, military drill and weapons instruction. The men complained that when doing gun practice, for example, their fingers were too cold to work efficiently. Their accommodation probably didn’t help either, as conditions were very basic. The men were housed in 52 rows of chalets, each equipped with a washbasin and two central-heating pipes. There were two men in some chalets, larger numbers in others, presumably because the holiday camp was intended for families of different sizes.^[5]In November 1955, the 200-acre site had approximately 3,150 chalets, which could accommodate around 8,300 guests.

At the end of their initial training, a grand passing out parade was held, the salute being taken by Air Marshal Sir Arthur Barratt. There was also a prize giving ceremony for men who had excelled in various fields during their training.

Before or after the passing out parade, the men had their photos taken in front of the main building at the camp, in groups of about a hundred. Several of these photos still survive.

After these initial weeks, the men were moved on to other RAF stations where they would commence service or begin training in the specific trade they had been selected for. In Jamaica, the men had been led to believe that they would be able to choose which trade they wanted to follow, but while some got their choice, others found they had to make do with the trade to which they were allocated. Some of the airmen had to remain at Hunmanby Moor for longer periods. If the trade training they were selected for was popular, they had to wait until a place became available. A few, like Alford Gardner, were still at Filey when the second contingent of men arrived.

In October, a further 1,935 men set sail for Britain from Jamaica. John Desmond Crawford (known as Jack) was a member of this group. Sailing on the SS Cuba, this group of airmen landed at New Orleans, and then proceeded to New York from where they sailed to Britain as part of convoy no. CU 45. Crossing the Atlantic was very dangerous and ships could be attacked at any time. Some recruits on the voyage describe watching a ship at the back of the convoy being picked off by U-boats and its bows going up in the air before it disappeared beneath the waves.

This contingent arrived in Greenock, a port on the River Clyde in Scotland, near Glasgow, in November 1944. The men were welcomed by a band and by members of the WVS (Women’s Voluntary Service) who handed out mugs of hot cocoa which the recruits greatly appreciated. Despite the fact that it was winter when they arrived, this group also was sent by train to RAF Hunmanby Moor, which they reached on 12 November.

Like so many other winters of 80 years ago, conditions in the winter of 1944-1945 were harsh and the recruits suffered badly. Training was carried out in all weathers and several men became seriously ill. Jack Crawford was one of those who suffered from bronchitis during this time. Over Christmas, he was sent to Skipton (also in Yorkshire) to recuperate in a private nursing home along with other convalescing airmen. He was fit for duty again in two weeks, but he was in no hurry to leave the nursing home as they were so well treated. The food was good despite the rationing, and ENSA came to entertain them once a week.^[6]ENSA – Entertainments National Service Association When the men were well enough to venture out, they all had to wear blue suits with white shirts and red ties. They were easily recognised within the community and were well respected. Local people would often offer to buy them drinks to show their appreciation.

Local reactions

What did the people of Filey and surrounding villages make of the 4,000 men from the Caribbean who were stationed amongst them in the last two years of the war? Ces Mowthorpe reported that the men “caused quite a sensation” but, surprisingly, few records of their encounters seem to have survived. Although the men’s training would have confined them to the camp for much of their time, they would have had some leave which resulted in interactions with local people, and their route marches and cross country runs during training would often have taken them far outside the camp gates.

Alford Gardner has commented that RAF officers and NCOs didn’t know what to expect when the West Indian men arrived at Filey. They were suddenly confronted “with all these black men, white men, Chinese – they couldn’t understand all these different colours, different shades of people, different nationalities, all talking the same way, and we all got on so well. Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Barbadians, Guyanese – we were all one.”^[7]Interview with Alford Gardner 4 December 2017

It is often overlooked that the West Indian recruits came from all kinds of racial antecedents. Although the majority had African ancestry, many were from families with Indian, Chinese or European forbears, and a great many had more than one set of ancestral roots, as even a brief look at the names of the men who enlisted will confirm.

The arrival in the area of several thousand Caribbean men must have been something of a culture shock to the local population. Given that British people were not taught a great deal about the Colonies, it may have been difficult for them to grasp that these men – who came in every skin shade from white to black, and who all spoke English, but with different accents – were all from the West Indies. And life at Filey camp was certainly a culture shock to the new arrivals.

Alford remembered one encounter with local people. “One day we were on a route march and this big lad, about 6 foot 10, picked up this little kid and put him on his shoulder. ‘Mammy, mammy, I’ve got a big black man all to myself!’ His mother’s dying, she was that scared! At the time 90% of them had never seen a black person.”^[8]Interview with Alford Gardner, 4 December 2017

In an interview for Reminiscence Theatre Archive, Alex Eldon recounted a similar reaction during his time at Hunmanby Moor when he and colleagues went to have their photos taken. “Four of us entered this photographers. The bell rang as you opened the door. A woman came down the stairs and she came from behind the curtains and she saw the four of us. And she bolted. Whoosh! Right back inside. We waited and then a man came down and peeked from behind the curtain. Then eventually he came out, ‘Can I help you?’ We said, ‘Yes. We want to take some photographs to send back home.’ So he came and he done it. But they hadn’t seen many black people before.” Alex added, “But they were all right once they got to know you.”

Efforts were made by local people to make the men feel welcome. Ted Bradshaw, a resident in the nearby village of Reighton recalled spending many enjoyable evenings with the airmen. “They used to come up to the chapel every weekend. My mother and father used to entertain them and so did other people in the village. They were thousands of miles away from home and some were very lonely. We used to have supper in the chapel and have a good old sing-song. We enjoyed their company because they were happy-go-lucky lads.”^[9]Filey and Hunmanby Mercury, 25 June, 1994. A photograph was taken of the congregation of Reighton Chapel along with visiting airmen. Members of other churches and religious organisations also entertained them. Another photograph survives of a group of airmen in the grounds of the local Roman Catholic church.

One Sunday in June 1944, the Woolston family invited Guyanese airman Harold Sinson home for lunch. The family were members of the Salvation Army and had met Harold when he visited their local branch. Although 15-year-old Pauline Woolston took “quite a shine” to Harold, she didn’t think a relationship with him could thrive because of the racial difference and, in any case, Harold was soon posted away from Filey. However, fate eventually stepped in; they met again several years later and were married in 1953. The story of their family was told in an online BBC article in 2017.^[10]https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44520490  [accessed 13/11/2023]

Jim Garton was eight years old when the recruits arrived. Before the war Jim’s father had been a gardener, maintaining the public gardens in Filey. When war broke out, he found a job at RAF Hunmanby Moor. He and his wife were in the habit of inviting airmen round for tea, and Jim still has fond memories of the family’s meetings with West Indian airmen when he was a child.^[11]Conversation with Jim Garton at Filey, 01/04/2023.

Brenda Grey’s outstanding memory was how the harsh east coast weather caused many cases of pneumonia in the weeks after the men arrived in November 1944. She especially remembered that 24-year-old Wilfred Dawns died from the condition in January 1945. In fact, there had been two earlier deaths from illness in the camp. Patrick Constantine Marshall and Byron Sylvester Martin were both aged only 19 when they died from meningococcal meningitis and meningococcal meningoencephalitis in July and August 1944 respectively. All three were buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Harrogate.

Third contingent and those left behind

In March 1945, a third large contingent consisting of 1,551 airmen from countries all around the Caribbean arrived in Greenock on HMS Carthage. There was no band to greet them, only an Air Ministry Official, but the WVS gave them a warm welcome along with hot drinks and biscuits. This group was sent to RAF Melksham in Wiltshire for their initial British training. Another group of approximately 1,000 airmen completed their service in the Caribbean and never came to Britain. The war in Europe ended on 5 May 1945, and although it had been anticipated that a lengthy campaign would be necessary to end the war with Japan, the dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought hostilities to an end on 2 September. These events meant that no further recruits were needed.

After the War

Billy Butlin lost no time in regaining his property, and Butlin’s Filey opened its doors to a public that was desperate for holidays and fun after the dark and difficult days of the war.

Airmen looked forward to the day when they would be demobbed but, before that, they were entitled to apply for a free course of training in the trade of their choice, in order to fit themselves for employment after they left the RAF. Many West Indians took advantage of this training, but it seems that not all of the Caribbean airmen were advised of this opportunity.

At the end of their war service, it was British Government policy to repatriate them and demobilise them in their countries of origin, and a number appear to have been despatched back home in a hurry. However, there was no legal bar to their remaining in Britain as they were all British Subjects and some of the men who trained at Filey settled in the UK immediately after the war. Others signed on for a further number of years’ service in the RAF.

Before being returned home, a number of the ground crew men were selected to take part in the Victory Parade held in London on 8 June, 1946. A couple of days before the parade, the King and Queen, along with the Princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, visited them in one of the London parks where they were encamped along with thousands of troops from all parts of the British Empire who had served in the war. A film was made of the Victory Parade in which the airmen make a brief appearance about minute 16.45. It can be watched, free of charge, on this link:  https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-victory-parade-1946-online

Those who did return home found conditions in the Colonies pretty similar to those they had escaped from a few years earlier. The return of five thousand men with various skills all seeking suitable employment had only made matters worse. Although a few found jobs in line with their experience and expertise, most were either under- or unemployed. Some left for a further season of agricultural work in the United States.

It wasn’t long before ideas began to form of a return to the UK, where there was paid work aplenty as Britain was being rebuilt after the war. Men came back in small groups on ships such as the Tetela, Carthage, Ormonde, Johan de Witt and Almanzora in 1947; but when the Empire Windrush offered space for a large number of passengers on its sailing for England in May 1948, ex-airmen rushed to join the other intrepid migrants. More returned in the so-called “Windrush Era” which followed, and their arrival transformed British life.

These men raised families and worked hard in the rebuilding of Britain and most survived the hostile reception that – to their great surprise and shock – many found themselves receiving. While they had been welcome during the war because they had come to help in the fight, once the war was over racist sentiments began to resurface and many of the ex-airmen had a very difficult time. Refused jobs and housing and subject to racial attacks and abuse, it is a credit to their courage and determination that eventually they and their families thrived.

When Ralph Ottey, who held a diploma in business studies, went to the Labour Exchange to seek employment, the clerk who interviewed him told him that he would never get a clerical job befitting his qualifications in the area and suggested he applied for a job as a driver instead.  Ralph proved him wrong, eventually becoming the regional managing director of Amalgamated Foods, one of the largest grocery wholesalers at the time.

Some of the Filey airmen became successful businessmen while others became well-known entertainers. The latter included Frank Holder who had success as a jazz musician^[12]https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/nov/14/frank-holder-obituary; Harry and Allan Wilmot who formed the Southlanders with two friends, Frank Mannah and Vernon Nesbeth; and Cliff Hall who became a member of the Spinners.

Others like Sam King and George Powe became deeply involved in local politics and their local communities. Euton Christian, Lauriston Davis and Eric Irons were appointed Justices of the Peace.

Those who returned to the West Indies, or who emigrated to Canada and the USA, also made important contributions to post-war life. Ernest Grafford Peart went back to Jamaica where he became a government minister, returning to Britain in 1978 as Jamaican High Commissioner. Hedley Jones, who had qualified and served as a radar engineer in the RAF, became famous as the inventor of the sound system. Carl Chantrielle became Chairman of Cable and Wireless Jamaica. These are just a few examples of the achievements of the men who trained at Filey.

1994 Commemoration

The men didn’t forget their stay at Hunmanby Moor and in June 1994 members of the West Indian Ex-Servicemen’s Association (now known as WASP – West Indian Association of Service Personnel) held a reunion in Filey to mark the 50 years since the first contingent of men arrived. It was well attended both by veterans and local people, and was reported in a two-page spread in the Filey and Hunmanby Mercury of 25 June 1994.

A special service was held at the Methodist Church at which both the Methodist deacon and the Vicar of Filey officiated. The High Commissioners of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean attended along with the Mayor of Filey. Led by York Railway Institute Band, the ex-servicemen then took part in a parade around the town, during which Laurent Phillpotts carried the Association’s standard. Hector Watson, Secretary of the Association, and Mike Cockerill, the Mayor of Filey laid wreaths at the Filey memorial.

After the parade the men walked around the town to reminisce about the time they spent in Filey in 1944, but it was “a real shock” for the men to discover that the Butlin’s Holiday Camp had gone. Although it had had been hugely successful for many years, Butlin’s Filey closed in 1983. The site is now occupied by Primrose Valley Holiday Park and the Bay Holiday Resort.

2023 Plaque unveiling

A more recent commemoration took place on Saturday 1^st April 2023, when a plaque was unveiled in Filey in memory of the Caribbean airmen. The event was organised by Leeds barrister Glenn Parsons, two of whose uncles had trained at RAF Hunmanby Moor.^[14]Gilmour Garnett Westcarr and Edwin Edward Samuels On a dry but very chilly day, 200 people watched the unveiling ceremony.

Six veterans (five of whom had served at Filey) braved the cold along with friends and members of their families. They were joined by members of the local community, history enthusiasts and well-wishers from many parts of the country. Jim Garton (mentioned earlier), now aged 87, travelled to the event from South Yorkshire and enjoyed reminiscing with the veterans.

Air Commodore Adam Sansom, Regional Air Officer North England (above), unveiled the plaque and gave a speech. Veterans Gilbert Clarke (left) and Neil Flanagan (right) were among those watching.  Other speakers included Glenn Parsons and Johanna Lewin, a retired Major and former helicopter pilot in the Jamaica Defence Force, who is currently Chair of the Royal Air Forces Association Jamaica.  Retired Warrant Officers Donald Campbell and Kenneth Straun from the Forgotten Generations organisation were standard bearers, and Graham Walker, musical director of Hunmanby Silver Band, sounded the Last Post.

After the unveiling, a Caribbean lunch was served and participants had the opportunity to chat with each other and to view an exhibition created by the IBCC Digital Archive and Reimagining Lincolnshire (both at the University of Lincoln) as well as many other historic photographs that were on display.

You can see a short video of the event on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD9CUEH9ysk

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Although ground crew men were exposed to fewer dangers than those who flew, nonetheless nineteen of the Filey trainees did not return home to their loved ones.

IN MEMORIAM

713013 AC2 John Cunningham Brooks of Kingston, Jamaica, age 26
713063 LAC Stanley Hope Bernal of Kingston, Jamaica, age 31
713104 Sgt. Clarence Constantine Samms of Whitfield Town, Jamaica, age 34
713133 AC2 Gilbert William Harvey of St. Andrew, Jamaica, age 23
713170 AC2 Aloysius Joseph Abbott of Cross Roads, Jamaica, age 21
713273 AC1 Ferdinand David Byfield of Jamaica, age 21
713784 AC2 Henry James Grant, of Dunkeld, St. Catherine, Jamaica, age 27
713813 AC2 Stanford Alexander Munroe, of Kingston, Jamaica, age 20
714017 AC2 Byron Sylvester Martin of Jamaica, age 19
714152 AC2 Patrick Constantine Marshall of Spanish Town, Jamaica, age 19
714721 AC2 Herbert Mannasey Watson of St. Mary, Jamaica, age 20
714463 AC2 Roy Clement Bennett of Vineyard Town, Jamaica, age 26
714783 AC2 Victor Elliott Beckford of Orange Bay, Jamaica, age 33
715104 AC1 Oswald Winworth Rhodd of Santa Cruz, Jamaica, age 20
715778 AC2 John Gay of Fellowship, Portland, Jamaica, age 24
716106 AC2 Leslie Augustus James of Georgetown, British Guiana [Guyana], age 24
723088 AC2 Ernel Uriah Morgan of Mount Pleasant, Jamaica, age 20
723376 AC2 Ivan Copeland Ashman of Jamaica, age 19
723562 AC2 Wilfred Octavius Dawns of George’s Plain, Jamaica, age 24

At least five of the volunteers who did their initial training at RAF Melksham also died in England.

724273 AC2 Percival Elie Gordon, of Cambridge, Jamaica, age 32
724737 LAC Isaac Roland Bryan of Fair Prospect, Long Bay, Jamaica, age 21
725412 AC2 Clifford Charles Reid of Fraser Mt., Cavaliers, Jamaica, age 19
727039 AC2 David Grenada Cummings of Buxton, Demerara, British Guiana [Guyana], age 23
727102 AC2 Ram Chandar Prasad Lall of East Coast, Demerara, British Guiana
[Guyana] age 20

Further information about the Filey airmen:

The African Stories in Hull and East Yorkshire website has an almost complete list of names of ground crew members who did their initial UK training at RAF Hunmanby Moor.  https://www.africansinyorkshireproject.com/ww2-roll-of-honour.html   (Please notify any omissions.)

The website includes a number of articles about the airmen in the “Service Members” section https://www.africansinyorkshireproject.com/servicemembers.html

It also has a page where families are encouraged to submit short articles about relatives who trained at Filey along with a photo (in RAF uniform if possible).  https://www.africansinyorkshireproject.com/raf-ww2-recruits.html    If you would like to submit a story, use the contact form.  https://www.africansinyorkshireproject.com/contact.html

Books:

Lest We Forget: The Experiences of World War II Westindian Ex-Service Personnel, Robert N. Murray, Nottingham West Indian Combined Ex-Services Association/Hansib Publishing, 1996.

The Motherland Calls: Britain’s Black Servicemen & Women 1939-45, Stephen Bourne, The History Press, 2012.  (Contains chapters on Sam King, Eddie Martin Noble, Allan Wilmot and ‘Baron’ Baker.)

Finding Home, Alford Dalrymple Gardner & Howard Gardner, Jacaranda Books, 2023.

A Jamaican in Lincolnshire: From the wartime RAF to a Life in Boston, by Ralph Ottey, Lincoln Record Society (due for publication on 25 June, 2024).

Other Websites:

https://www.georgepowe.net/  The Story of Oswald George Powe who arrived at Filey in November 1944

https://theforgottengenerations.com/world-war-i-ii/  The Forgotten Generations website – there are interviews with several ex-airmen on this site.