Over 10,000 West Indians volunteered for the RAF during the Second World War. This essay tells the story of the pilots, navigators, and engineers who flew for Britain’s survival.
While the ‘Windrush’ generation is often seen as the beginning of the Caribbean presence in modern Britain, many of those who stepped off the ship in 1948 were returning to a country they had already served. During the Second World War, over 10,000 men and women from the West Indies volunteered for the Royal Air Force (RAF), playing a crucial role in the air war against Nazi Germany.
The Call to Volunteer
In 1940, as Britain faced the threat of invasion, the ‘colour bar’ that had officially restricted entry into the armed forces was partially lifted. Across the Caribbean—from Jamaica and Trinidad to Barbados and British Guiana—thousands of young people answered the call.
They were motivated by a variety of factors: a sense of loyalty to the British Empire (the ‘mother country’), a desire for adventure, and a genuine commitment to defeating fascism. Many had to pay for their own passage to Britain or wait months for recruitment centres to open in the colonies.
Training and Combat
The West Indian volunteers served in every branch of the RAF. While many were ground crew—engineers, mechanics, and clerks—hundreds were selected for aircrew training. They trained alongside Canadians, Australians, and white Britons in the Empire Air Training Scheme.
Those who qualified as pilots, navigators, and air gunners flew in some of the most dangerous missions of the war. Figures like **Cy Grant**, a Guyanese flight lieutenant, flew numerous missions as a navigator in a Lancaster bomber before being shot down and spending two years as a prisoner of war. **Ulric Cross** from Trinidad became a highly decorated navigator in the elite Pathfinder Force, completing 80 missions over occupied Europe.
The Experience of Britain
For many West Indians, the war was their first experience of Britain. While they often encountered genuine warmth and gratitude from the British public, they also faced systemic discrimination within the military and society.
The RAF was generally considered the most ‘progressive’ of the services, but Black airmen still had to navigate a world of subtle slights and occasional overt hostility. However, the shared danger of combat often forged deep bonds between airmen of different races, creating a level of integration that was rarely seen in civilian life at the time.
Post-War and the Windrush Connection
When the war ended in 1945, most West Indian service members were demobilised and sent home. However, many found it difficult to settle back into colonial life after the freedom and responsibility they had experienced in the RAF.
This disillusionment was a key driver of the Windrush migration. Many former airmen, including Sam King and Cy Grant, returned to Britain in the late 1940s, using their service records to claim their right to live and work in the UK. They became leaders in the burgeoning Caribbean-British community, bringing the technical skills and organisational discipline they had learned in the RAF to the struggle for civil rights in Britain.
Key Sources and Further Reading
- Somerset, A. (2010): *The Lost Generation: The West Indian Contribution to the Second World War*, Ian Allan.
- Grant, C. (2007): *Blackness and the Dreaming Soul*, Shaker.
- Bourne, S. (2012): *The Motherland Calls: Britain’s Black Servicemen and Women 1939-45*, The History Press.
- Killingray, D. (2010): *Fighting for Britain: African and Caribbean People in Two World Wars*, James Currey.
