Contribution of West Indians in War Highlighted in Exhibition

An exhibition looking at the contribution of West Indians in the war, and stories of those who later settled in Britain, is the focus of an exhibition that opened last week at the Imperial War Museum in London to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the ‘Empire Windrush’ .
The arrival of the Windrush at Tilbury, in Essex, 60 years ago this month, heralded the start of the mass migration from Jamaica and other West Indian islands to the United Kingdom.
The exhibition entitled, ‘From War to Windrush’, chronicles the role played by Caribbean people in both world wars, including the discrimination they faced from men on their own side.
More than 10,000 West Indians volunteered to leave home and join the fight against Hitler, with thousands more serving as merchant seamen. The Royal Air Force (RAF) gained more recruits from the Caribbean than any other part of the British Empire, with about 400 flying as air crew and 6,000 working as ground staff.
The majority of the 492 West Indians on board the Windrush, each of whom paid the