Blacks in the RAF

[Graham Boak]

I've seen the odd references to individuals here and there, mainly in Bomber Command books, but I don't know of any collated source. One problem with records is that not all Jamaicans were black, so this could mislead. I suspect that this might have been raised by other studies into black history in Britain, so an inquiry to the national Archives might "cut the corner", as it were.

[Amrit1]

Cy Grant in A Member of the RAF of Indeterminate Race states that there were between 300 and 500 West Indian aircrew, out of about 5000 West Indians who joined the RAF.

Lest We Forget: The Experiences of World War II Westindian Ex-Service Personnel has a number of stories from a number of black aircrews and ground crews.

A specific memoir of a ground crew is Jamaica Airman by
E. Martin Noble, which is a good read

And an article of African's in the RAF called Achtung! The Black Prince can be found in Africans in Britain By David Killingray. Interestingly, google books allows access to the entire article on-line:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JPCKe-X7d3EC&pg=PA145&lpg=PA145&dq=%22achtung!+the+black +prince%22&source=web&ots=PCNLhUkM9V&sig=XJZTNJko5 JL6-E67ZayzS0jYrK4&hl=en

And over the last couple of weeks I have been working on casualties listed on the CWGC with a West Indian connection. I have yet to establish which were black and which white, except a few Barbadians. You can find my list here:

http://ww2chat.com/forums/west-indies/

And a few famous names:

http://www.wewerethere.defencedynami.../ww2/wi_1.html

A

[Steve Brew]

I seem to recall that Brian Cull (I think that's who it was) was seeking this information a while back. Might be worth checking with him?

Steve

[Vraa84]

Hi

Ashley Jackson's "The British Empire and the Secon World War" has a picture of FS James Hyde from Trinidad. A black pilot who served with 132 sqn. The pictures is taken in dec. 1943.

regard
Nicolaj

[SMF144]

Al Bundy.