0:00:04 > 0:00:06My name is Sam Martinez.
0:00:08 > 0:00:15I was born in Belize, formerly British Honduras
0:00:15 > 0:00:20and my age is 104 year old and a half.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25The Second World War sparked a mass migration
0:00:25 > 0:00:26of black people to Britain.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34My name is Victor Emanuel Brown.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37People ask me, "Where do you come from?"
0:00:37 > 0:00:40And the only thing I can think of is,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43"My mother says I came from heaven."
0:00:46 > 0:00:51Up to 10,000 men and women from the Caribbean colonies
0:00:51 > 0:00:54volunteered to come to Britain and defend the Empire.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00My mother said, "The mother country's at war - go, son,
0:01:00 > 0:01:03"and if you live, it will be a good thing."
0:01:03 > 0:01:04She was right.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09The fear was if Hitler got what he wanted
0:01:09 > 0:01:13that we'd be back in the square one which is slavery.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Fellas would come and stroke my head
0:01:22 > 0:01:26before they got in to the aircraft to go on flights for luck.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32This brave sacrifice confronted these men and women
0:01:32 > 0:01:35from the Caribbean with a lifelong challenge...
0:01:37 > 0:01:42..to be accepted as equal British subjects by the government...
0:01:42 > 0:01:45It's like we've dropped out the sky, nobody knew anything about us.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47They didn't know we exist.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50..and the British people.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55He also touch my neck to find out if I'm really black
0:01:55 > 0:01:58and I thought that was most unusual.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01They had a mind that anybody who was dark came from Africa.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05The rumour went around that all these guys,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08where they come from, they had tails originally.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12In the post-war years, nearly half a million West Indians
0:02:12 > 0:02:16discovered that making a home in Britain wasn't going to be easy.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19When we came out they just, "Ooh."
0:02:19 > 0:02:23"Oh, I've never seen this before." They just stared...
0:02:27 > 0:02:30I said, "Don't worry about jobs!
0:02:30 > 0:02:32"Worry about somewhere to live."
0:02:35 > 0:02:39These pioneers from the Caribbean have transformed Britain.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48It's good to be harmonious, live together peacefully
0:02:48 > 0:02:50and you can't go wrong.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Come on, I've got the weight...
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Every year on 11th November,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Britain remembers the men and women who lost their lives
0:03:13 > 0:03:15fighting in two world wars.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19At monuments across the country,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22we pay our respects to the fallen heroes.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29In November 2014 at the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32a unique memorial is about to be unveiled.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Today, we unveil
0:03:38 > 0:03:43the first FULLY African and Caribbean war memorial.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Ladies and gentlemen, Sam King.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54'My name is Sam King.'
0:03:54 > 0:03:57I was born on 20th February 1926
0:03:57 > 0:04:00'in the former colony of Jamaica.'
0:04:01 > 0:04:07Your Worshipful, the Mayor of London, distinguished guests,
0:04:07 > 0:04:12ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting me here.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16May God bless this memorial.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:04:19 > 0:04:23In 1944, Sam King volunteered to join the Royal Air Force
0:04:23 > 0:04:26and served as a ground crew engineer.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29He now lives with his family in South London.
0:04:29 > 0:04:36# Remember our heroes who left homes and wives
0:04:36 > 0:04:38# Remember... #
0:04:38 > 0:04:41The only national newspaper to report the memorial's unveiling
0:04:41 > 0:04:44was The Voice, a black newspaper.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46The design and construction
0:04:46 > 0:04:49was organised by a black community group.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54Awaiting a final resting place, the monument has now been taken down.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59# Because of them, freedom survives. #
0:04:59 > 0:05:02I don't think we are being recognised for our contribution
0:05:02 > 0:05:05and many young people don't realise that West Indians
0:05:05 > 0:05:10volunteered during the war, fought and died...
0:05:10 > 0:05:12but we just carry on.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Throughout their lives, these men and women from the Caribbean
0:05:18 > 0:05:22haven't wavered in their desire to serve Britain...
0:05:22 > 0:05:26since the outbreak of the Second World War.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28BRASS FANFARE
0:05:28 > 0:05:30'The fateful hour of 11 has struck
0:05:30 > 0:05:33'and, Britain's final warning to Hitler having been ignored,
0:05:33 > 0:05:38'a state of war once more exists between Great Britain and Germany.'
0:05:38 > 0:05:40SIREN SOUNDS
0:05:42 > 0:05:44When Britain declared war on Germany,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47black people found it extremely difficult to sign up
0:05:47 > 0:05:50to defend the Empire.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54A colour bar restricted men and women from joining the Armed Forces
0:05:54 > 0:05:57unless they were of...
0:05:59 > 0:06:02As the British government prepared the nation for war,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05this colour bar remained in place.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10When the war started,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13I was in school and the headmaster
0:06:13 > 0:06:19used to read the war headline to the school very loud and said,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21"Britain is at war and we indirectly is at war..."
0:06:23 > 0:06:29..and we were worried because the Germans had war machines
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and Britain were not prepared for a war.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37The Germans were killing people and we were well aware of that.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38It was frightening.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43In schools throughout Britain's Caribbean colonies,
0:06:43 > 0:06:45West Indian children were raised
0:06:45 > 0:06:49with a sense of loyalty to king and Empire.
0:06:49 > 0:06:56At school, the British influence was superb
0:06:56 > 0:06:58and everything was British.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00The average schoolboy would know where London is,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02they would know what happens in London,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04they'll know where Liverpool is.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, London
0:07:06 > 0:07:08and all the different big cities,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11they knew what each province supplied, where the jobs were.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15We were British subjects
0:07:15 > 0:07:18and that was something to be proud of.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23They told you Britain was the mother country and we accept that -
0:07:23 > 0:07:26we were a colony, we were at the bottom
0:07:26 > 0:07:28and England is at the top, the mother.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33My name is Allan Wilmot.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on August 1925.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Every picture here tells a story of my life
0:07:43 > 0:07:47and you can see that I have met some famous people -
0:07:47 > 0:07:48I have met the Queen four times.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55This is when we were invited to St James' Palace
0:07:55 > 0:07:57by Prince Charles.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01MARCHING MUSIC
0:08:01 > 0:08:07Allan Wilmot's first brush with military life came at an early age.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10I was five years of age when the HMS Hood came to Jamaica.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14I can remember it was such a big battleship
0:08:14 > 0:08:17that it couldn't enter Kingston Harbour.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Allan's father, Captain Charles Wilmot,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25was one of the first black skippers on the interisland cargo boats.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28As one of Jamaica's most famous seamen,
0:08:28 > 0:08:33Charles was invited to take his family on board HMS Hood.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36I had a sailor suit all made for the occasion.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40I wanted an officer's uniform
0:08:40 > 0:08:43and they ran out of costumes and I decided,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47"Well, I will accept a rating uniform
0:08:47 > 0:08:49"but I must have an officer's cap."
0:08:53 > 0:08:57I was very, very proud of my father, you know, the adulation,
0:08:57 > 0:08:59everybody, "Hello, Captain, hello, Captain,"
0:08:59 > 0:09:03and I said to myself, "Well, yes, that will be me."
0:09:06 > 0:09:11Four years before Britain entered the war, all eyes turned to Africa.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16In October 1935, Benito Mussolini, the leader of fascist Italy,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19invaded Abyssinia, known today as Ethiopia.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26It was one of only two nations in Africa
0:09:26 > 0:09:30that wasn't ruled by one of Europe's imperial powers.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35'Across the barren hills and fever-laden valleys
0:09:35 > 0:09:39'of northern Abyssinia, the invader is sweeping forward,
0:09:39 > 0:09:40'crushing the Abyssinian resistance
0:09:40 > 0:09:43'under the steel tread of his mechanised army.'
0:09:49 > 0:09:52The Abyssinian people stood little chance.
0:09:53 > 0:09:59I remember my grandmother, I would be about 11 then,
0:09:59 > 0:10:05cried when she learn that Ethiopia was invaded by the Italian.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10We thought from African background that the Italians were wicked.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16The racial battle lines of World War II were being drawn.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22At the time nothing could be done about it, you could only sympathise.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25You felt that Ethiopians were your brothers.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27MARCHING MUSIC
0:10:29 > 0:10:34Black people across the world were confronted by the threat of fascism.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40They were also finding out about the German leader.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Well, when you talk about him, you're talking about the devil.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45BRASS FANFARE
0:10:45 > 0:10:48In the summer of 1936,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51just months after Abyssinia fell to the Italians,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54the Olympic Games were held in Berlin.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56CROWD ROARS
0:10:58 > 0:11:01The Olympic is for the honour and glory of sports -
0:11:01 > 0:11:04that's the oath you take,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08the honour and glory of sports but this, this did not happen.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11# ..uber alles... #
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Hitler assumed that they were master race
0:11:14 > 0:11:16and they would win everything....
0:11:18 > 0:11:20CROWD ROARS
0:11:20 > 0:11:22'Owens is ahead!'
0:11:22 > 0:11:25..and then Jesse Owens just run through them
0:11:25 > 0:11:27so they might be good...
0:11:27 > 0:11:29'..and Owens wins in 10.3...'
0:11:29 > 0:11:32..but they're not that good.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34By the end of the Games,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37the American athlete Jesse Owens had won four gold medals.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39MUSIC: The Star-Spangled Banner
0:11:39 > 0:11:42JAKE JACOBS: From what I heard at the time as a boy
0:11:42 > 0:11:46because he was a black man, Hitler refused to shake his hand.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51The rumour spread across the globe.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55What a silly man, what a silly man to refuse to shake his hand
0:11:55 > 0:11:57to congratulate him on something that he'd done.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04The truth about the Hitler-Owens handshake is disputed to this day
0:12:04 > 0:12:07but back then, people in the West Indies
0:12:07 > 0:12:11believed the incident was a signal of Hitler's intentions.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16The fear was if Hitler got what he wanted
0:12:16 > 0:12:19that we'll be back in the square one which is slavery.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25That was our, our attitude.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30Hitler was immediately an enemy.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35Some islanders used music to poke fun at the Fuhrer.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37MUSIC: Nazi Spy Ring by The Growler
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Calypso has African roots
0:12:41 > 0:12:44and became popular in Trinidad in the 19th century.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46CALYPSO MUSIC CONTINUES
0:12:46 > 0:12:49We sang beautiful song against Hitler,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54saying that he can do what he done but leave the British Empire alone.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57I... It's important to us.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00In Trinidad, we must have our calypso.
0:13:00 > 0:13:01MUSIC CONTINUES
0:13:01 > 0:13:03# Hitler, boy, change your mind
0:13:03 > 0:13:06# Is you that cause the Czechs and Polands to grind?
0:13:06 > 0:13:09# Britain has given Poland a guarantee
0:13:09 > 0:13:13# Hitler's aggression must be stopped entirely... #
0:13:13 > 0:13:16I think the calypso might be similar to the town crier
0:13:16 > 0:13:18in an English village.
0:13:18 > 0:13:25Sports, politics - anything that happen in the island.
0:13:25 > 0:13:31Local gossips, they want to take the mickey out of some personality.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33# Hitler's diplomacy got to cease
0:13:33 > 0:13:35# Blaming people and doing nothing for peace
0:13:35 > 0:13:38# He's a cold-blooded murderer, a worthless barbarian
0:13:38 > 0:13:42# But this is the last of that madman Austrian. #
0:13:42 > 0:13:44MUSIC FADES
0:13:52 > 0:13:55As Hitler's Blitzkrieg smashed across Europe,
0:13:55 > 0:14:01the Germans also had a devastating weapon lurking beneath the sea -
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Nazi U-boats brought a new danger to the West Indies.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11'Nazi submarines strike their first blows in the Caribbean.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14'Oil tankers are hit by torpedoes fired at point-blank range.'
0:14:17 > 0:14:22To fuel her war effort, Britain relied on oil
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and one of the largest oil refineries
0:14:25 > 0:14:27in the British Empire was in Trinidad.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34When the war started, U-boats, they were well placed,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38they were all over the place just waiting for the call
0:14:38 > 0:14:39and once war was declared,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41they went into operation.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47The Caribbean became a perilous war zone.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52The British ships are being sunk right, left and centre.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04To defend the vital supply routes through the Caribbean Sea,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06Britain needed more manpower.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13In October 1939, the Colonial Office had announced
0:15:13 > 0:15:19that anybody born in the colonies COULD sign up to fight.
0:15:19 > 0:15:20In practice,
0:15:20 > 0:15:26the Armed Forces were reluctant to change their selection criteria
0:15:26 > 0:15:29but some West Indian sailors did slip through the net
0:15:29 > 0:15:33and found themselves on the front lines of the U-boat war
0:15:33 > 0:15:34in the Caribbean.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45In 1941, Allan Wilmot volunteered to join the Royal Navy.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47You were a part of the British Empire,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50the British Empire was in trouble,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53they asked for volunteers and you felt,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56well, this was a double thing -
0:15:56 > 0:16:00you're helping them and at the same time, you're helping yourself
0:16:00 > 0:16:04because if you survived the war, at least you would have a trade
0:16:04 > 0:16:06or a start in life.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Allan was 15 years old.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Being young, you didn't realise the danger
0:16:14 > 0:16:17until you were actually there. You hear the guns fire
0:16:17 > 0:16:20and then you realise that this ain't no joke.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Allan served as ship steward on board the Royal Navy minesweeper,
0:16:30 > 0:16:31HMS Hawkins.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37In the ocean, you have the sea lanes
0:16:37 > 0:16:41and the submarines used to lay the mines there
0:16:41 > 0:16:44so we had to go and clear the passages as much as we can
0:16:44 > 0:16:46and escort the convoys.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53On the ocean in the nights, it's very, very dark
0:16:53 > 0:16:56and you can see nothing
0:16:56 > 0:17:01and the U-boats, they were there enjoying themselves.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04LOUD EXPLOSION
0:17:04 > 0:17:07You lived from day to day, you wake up in the morning,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11you say, "Well, thank God I'm still alive..."
0:17:11 > 0:17:14- ALARM BELL SOUNDS - ..until you hear the alarm goes now
0:17:14 > 0:17:17and there nobody tell you what is happening,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20you only hear the alarm goes and you take up your position.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29Hitler's U-boats were a constant menace to British ships,
0:17:29 > 0:17:33not just in the Caribbean Sea but across the Atlantic Ocean.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39In January 1942,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42two young Jamaicans were sailing through the North Atlantic
0:17:42 > 0:17:46on the Merchant Navy oil tanker, Refast.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49We did everything together -
0:17:49 > 0:17:52we'd go swimming together, we played football together.
0:17:52 > 0:17:58We became very close after 16.
0:17:58 > 0:17:59We were definitely best friends.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Victor Brown and Winston Murphy
0:18:04 > 0:18:08were the only black men in the Refast's 42-strong crew.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13As far as the Ministry of Shipping was concerned,
0:18:13 > 0:18:18it was "not desirable to mix coloured and white races"
0:18:18 > 0:18:21in the same department on board ship...
0:18:23 > 0:18:25..but by early 1942,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29the Ministry had begun to recruit African and West Indian seamen
0:18:29 > 0:18:34like Winston and Victor in to the Merchant Navy.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38It was freezing, freezing, freezing cold in the middle of January
0:18:38 > 0:18:42off Nova Scotia, you can imagine what it's like.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Victor and I were sitting in the saloon
0:18:45 > 0:18:50and we heard this big bang...
0:18:50 > 0:18:53LOUD EXPLOSION
0:18:53 > 0:18:55You can feel it, you see, the whole ship shakes.
0:18:58 > 0:18:59We rushed out on deck and we looked
0:18:59 > 0:19:04and we could see the periscope sticking out of the water
0:19:04 > 0:19:07and we realised then that we'd been torpedoed.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11So I grabbed the ship's dinner bell
0:19:11 > 0:19:13and rang it all the way to the bridge.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Everybody started running to the midship
0:19:16 > 0:19:20because that's where the two big lifeboats were.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27Its submarine command sent the torpedo into the port side.
0:19:30 > 0:19:36The lifeboat on the port side had no chance,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39the ship listed and as far as we know,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42all the crew in that side perished.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47On our side which was the starboard,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50ice had frozen up all the ropes.
0:19:50 > 0:19:57Nobody had any means of cutting the lifeboat
0:19:57 > 0:20:00away from the ship and if we had left it,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04the ship would eventually have dragged the lifeboat down with it
0:20:04 > 0:20:05and we'd all be...
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Victor was a carefree chap,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15he was strong and tough
0:20:15 > 0:20:17and he found an axe on the deck...
0:20:19 > 0:20:22And I picked it up, wham,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25and the boat fell in the water and drifted away from the ship.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Hadn't he chopped that rope,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30we would never have got clear of the boat.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41The ship doesn't sink straight away,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45it goes slowly and eventually turned like that,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48this whole ship turned like that
0:20:48 > 0:20:52and just gradually go down smooth, you know, it's quite a picture.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Winston, Victor and the rest of the survivors were now stranded
0:21:02 > 0:21:06in a lifeboat in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10It was rough.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12The waves were mountains high.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21When the ship pulled up to rescue us,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23my hands were so cold,
0:21:23 > 0:21:29I thought that I'd never be able to hold on to the net to climb aboard.
0:21:29 > 0:21:35One fellow, his hands freeze so he just dropped in the water,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37couldn't do anything for him, just...
0:21:37 > 0:21:42You couldn't pick him up, you couldn't do anything, that was it.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46The death toll for black merchant seamen was high.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50Of the 15,000 who signed up, 5,000 perished.
0:21:53 > 0:21:5470 years on,
0:21:54 > 0:21:59Winston has never forgotten his rescue by the HMS Maliarcos.
0:21:59 > 0:22:06When we got aboard, immediately they provide us with tea and coffee
0:22:06 > 0:22:08and every morning since I've retired,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12every morning I remember the Maliarcos
0:22:12 > 0:22:16and those cups of coffee that we had when we were rescued.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27Victor Brown and Winston Murphy are now 94 years old.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32These childhood friends haven't seen each other for more than a decade.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Victor has travelled from his home in Morecambe Bay
0:22:37 > 0:22:40to Nottingham for a reunion with Winston.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45Oh!
0:22:45 > 0:22:46Fantastic.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49- I cannot believe it.- Good gracious.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54- Good Lord.- I cannot, I cannot believe it.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Oh!
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Oh, it's good to see you.
0:22:59 > 0:23:00Oh, Winston.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04You've changed so much, I wouldn't have recognised you on the road.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Oh, I've forgotten my stick.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09You don't walk with a stick as well, do you?
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Oh, yeah. Yeah, you have changed.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14Chasing women is what does it!
0:23:14 > 0:23:15Oh, I know.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17THEY LAUGH
0:23:17 > 0:23:22I've still got the ship's bell that I rung
0:23:22 > 0:23:25and ran all the way to the lifeboat
0:23:25 > 0:23:29where you rescued our lives by the chopping of the rope
0:23:29 > 0:23:35and in the lifeboat I can recall you were tough.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Funnily enough, when I look back over the years
0:23:38 > 0:23:40I didn't have any fear at all.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45I'm delighted that you're still around
0:23:45 > 0:23:49because most of the people of our age have disappeared.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Well, it has... I never probably mentioned to you
0:23:52 > 0:23:58but it had always been my ambition to live at least to 105
0:23:58 > 0:24:01at which age, I was hoping to be shot by a jealous husband.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08Oh, well, you were always famous for the ladies, I can remember that.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14It's almost like a miracle because I never, ever thought
0:24:14 > 0:24:16that we'd live long enough to meet again
0:24:16 > 0:24:18after all the years we've been separated.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20MUSIC: What'll I Do by Irving Berlin
0:24:20 > 0:24:26# When I'm alone with only dreams of you
0:24:26 > 0:24:31- # That won't come true - True
0:24:31 > 0:24:34# What will I do? #
0:24:34 > 0:24:38Fantastic.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42- Fantastic.- Oh, it's good to see you, so good to see you.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52At the start of the war, the Royal Air Force
0:24:52 > 0:24:57only recruited people who were of pure European descent.
0:25:00 > 0:25:06I think they were concerned about how people who were not Caucasian
0:25:06 > 0:25:09would mix with Caucasian people
0:25:09 > 0:25:15but I think as the toll of the early years of the war manifested itself,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18they changed their attitude.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24By November 1940, hundreds of British airmen had been killed
0:25:24 > 0:25:28in the Battle of Britain and the defeat of the Luftwaffe
0:25:28 > 0:25:32had created an opportunity to attack the German home front.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Now, the RAF cast its recruitment net wide,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41the Air Ministry told the Colonial Office
0:25:41 > 0:25:44it would accept aircrew volunteers from the colonies
0:25:44 > 0:25:46on condition that the...
0:25:55 > 0:25:59In January of 1941,
0:25:59 > 0:26:03the Daily Gleaner, a Jamaican leading newspaper,
0:26:03 > 0:26:08carry an advertisement asking for young men to volunteer
0:26:08 > 0:26:11for aircrew in the Royal Air Force.
0:26:12 > 0:26:18I just fancied the intrigue of getting up there
0:26:18 > 0:26:22and flying and doing everything that I could do in an aircraft.
0:26:25 > 0:26:285,000 West Indian volunteers were put through
0:26:28 > 0:26:30a rigorous selection process.
0:26:30 > 0:26:36500 were selected as the Caribbean's brightest and best.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41I hated the Germans, I hated Hitler
0:26:41 > 0:26:45and there was a strong feeling
0:26:45 > 0:26:48that I would like to take part in bringing them down.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55In 1942, the Commander-in-Chief of the RAF's Fighter Command
0:26:55 > 0:26:57visited the Caribbean.
0:26:57 > 0:27:02Wing Commander Sholto Douglas wanted to inspire the West Indian pilots.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08My father made a speech to the people of the West Indies,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11really to encourage them
0:27:11 > 0:27:14in their role in World War II.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38Ricky Richardson and Roy Augier answered the Empire's call
0:27:38 > 0:27:41and joined the RAF's Bomber Command.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46People wanted to fly with me
0:27:46 > 0:27:51because in Scotland, if a dark person crosses your door
0:27:51 > 0:27:55on New Year's Day, that's luck
0:27:55 > 0:27:57and fellows would come and stroke my head
0:27:57 > 0:28:02before they got in to the aircraft to go on flights for luck.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10You know beforehand that you are at risk
0:28:10 > 0:28:15so you concentrate on doing everything you can
0:28:15 > 0:28:18to save your life.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22Ricky and Roy's Commander-in-Chief was Arthur Harris,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25also known as Bomber Harris.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28He developed a devastating military tactic,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31known as the Thousand Bomber raid.
0:28:33 > 0:28:40In order to get the bombers over the target in time,
0:28:40 > 0:28:45the squadrons had to line up in very precise positions
0:28:45 > 0:28:49before we set out over the Channel to go over Germany.
0:28:49 > 0:28:50We went out -
0:28:50 > 0:28:56840 aircraft from different squadrons.
0:28:56 > 0:29:01We had Lancasters, we had Halifaxes and so on
0:29:01 > 0:29:08and before we hit the enemy coast, they started shooting us down
0:29:08 > 0:29:11and by the time we got to the enemy coast,
0:29:11 > 0:29:14I had logged 30 aircraft shot down.
0:29:16 > 0:29:22We carried through and finished the exercise, got back
0:29:22 > 0:29:25and in the Air Ministry reports the next day,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28we had lost 96 aircraft.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32The average loss was...
0:29:32 > 0:29:38We have about 20-25 aircraft on a squadron,
0:29:38 > 0:29:43you go on an operation, you lose maybe four or five aircraft.
0:29:45 > 0:29:50Of the 500 West Indians who joined the RAF as aircrew,
0:29:50 > 0:29:55219 lost their lives in combat
0:29:55 > 0:29:58and 103 were awarded medals for bravery.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05I didn't think about the possibility of being shot down.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10I was concerned with saving my life
0:30:10 > 0:30:12and the life of the crew
0:30:12 > 0:30:14and that's it.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20Like the RAF, the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy,
0:30:20 > 0:30:25the British Army had begun the war reluctant to relax the colour bar
0:30:25 > 0:30:30but in 1944, a Caribbean regiment was finally raised.
0:30:30 > 0:30:35Over 1,000 men received training but they never saw action.
0:30:35 > 0:30:41'The need for more helpers is very great today
0:30:41 > 0:30:45'and I should like to think that many hundreds
0:30:45 > 0:30:50'were able to offer their services to the country
0:30:50 > 0:30:56'and to follow the example of those who I see before me today.'
0:30:56 > 0:30:59The Army also made it clear
0:30:59 > 0:31:01that any women recruited from the Caribbean...
0:31:04 > 0:31:05The Colonial Office was concerned
0:31:05 > 0:31:09that this policy was sapping morale in the West Indies.
0:31:09 > 0:31:14In 1943, it asked the War Office to recruit black Caribbean women
0:31:14 > 0:31:19in to the female branch of the Army, the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
0:31:19 > 0:31:20It said...
0:31:27 > 0:31:30The Secretary of State for War, James Grigg, relented
0:31:30 > 0:31:34and 30 black women were recruited but he warned...
0:31:43 > 0:31:47The Air Ministry was more easily persuaded -
0:31:47 > 0:31:51it believed, "it is clear that there is a strong desire
0:31:51 > 0:31:56"on the part of the women in a West Indian colony to serve overseas,"
0:31:56 > 0:31:59and 80 West Indian women came to Britain
0:31:59 > 0:32:02to join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Thousands of West Indians also came to Britain
0:32:08 > 0:32:10to support the civilian war effort.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15My name is Sam Martinez.
0:32:17 > 0:32:23I was born in Belize, formerly British Honduras,
0:32:23 > 0:32:271910, 18th February
0:32:27 > 0:32:32and my age is 104 year old and a half.
0:32:35 > 0:32:42We arrive in to Scotland on 26th November 1942.
0:32:42 > 0:32:48800 men were divided all over Scotland, different camps.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53We were working in the forestry immediately
0:32:53 > 0:32:58because there was no hanging up during the war -
0:32:58 > 0:33:01get going, get out, get working,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04no time for skylarking.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12The forestry workers were necessary for the war effort.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15We are Britishers,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18our country is British crown colony
0:33:18 > 0:33:21and we come to help our mother country.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24In those days, that's what we think
0:33:24 > 0:33:26and we still think so today.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30JAZZ MUSIC
0:33:31 > 0:33:34Despite the reluctance to relax the colour bar,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37in public the British Government presented an image of racial harmony
0:33:37 > 0:33:39in wartime Britain.
0:33:49 > 0:33:54'During the war years, we in this country have seen many new faces.
0:33:54 > 0:33:55'What about these people for example
0:33:55 > 0:33:58'who are making their way to Broadcasting House in London?
0:33:58 > 0:34:01'Do you know what part of the world they come from?
0:34:01 > 0:34:02'Are they from West Africa?'
0:34:02 > 0:34:03In 1944,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06this Ministry of Information film was screened across the country.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10If I could navigate you on a magic carpet,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14we'd find West Indians at their stations all over the country.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17Friendships are being made between people who before the war
0:34:17 > 0:34:19knew little or nothing about each other
0:34:19 > 0:34:22and we find it impossible to believe that these friendships
0:34:22 > 0:34:25will just fade out when the war is won.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29The experimental integration of 500 West Indians
0:34:29 > 0:34:33into the RAF was a success and so in 1944,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36the Air Ministry - still desperate for manpower -
0:34:36 > 0:34:39launched another recruitment drive.
0:34:39 > 0:34:44By the end of the war, 5,500 West Indian men had come to Britain
0:34:44 > 0:34:46to serve as RAF ground crew.
0:34:47 > 0:34:52Britain have always dared to stretch your hands out to help.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56They have done in the West Indies,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59they have done all over the world
0:34:59 > 0:35:06and it's time we start doing a bit of paying back.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12This was a mass migration of black people to Britain.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16We went to a beach in Scarborough
0:35:16 > 0:35:24and I have never seen so many people in my life...
0:35:24 > 0:35:28so we went out, big-headed as ever,
0:35:28 > 0:35:31I took one dive in that water
0:35:31 > 0:35:34and since then, I've never been back in.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38It was ruddy cold,
0:35:38 > 0:35:39I'll tell you that!
0:35:41 > 0:35:45When I landed on 9th November 1944
0:35:45 > 0:35:48in Greenock, Scotland, to four inches of snow -
0:35:48 > 0:35:51it was shocking
0:35:51 > 0:35:53and it stayed on the ground for two weeks.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56I thought I was going to die.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01We didn't know there were poor people, as far as you were concerned
0:36:01 > 0:36:04all Britain was a rich place, everybody here was rich.
0:36:06 > 0:36:11The average man in England was living in rented place.
0:36:11 > 0:36:18Most of the houses didn't have their bathroom inside and toilet inside.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22Materially, England was worse-off than what we thought.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27All the buildings were a dark colour and all that
0:36:27 > 0:36:30and the clothes, even the clothes, the people here have on -
0:36:30 > 0:36:32a dark suit and all that -
0:36:32 > 0:36:34and coming from a place where everything is colour,
0:36:34 > 0:36:38you know, it looked very, very dim to us.
0:36:39 > 0:36:40It was drab.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42They haven't painted the place for a long time -
0:36:42 > 0:36:44of course! Because there was a war on.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48About 20% of Britain were destroyed,
0:36:48 > 0:36:51even Buckingham Palace were bombed,
0:36:51 > 0:36:54there were bomb site all over the place.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59Being British, you feel that, well, yes, you're coming home
0:36:59 > 0:37:02but when we came here, it's like we've dropped out the sky,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05nobody knew anything about us. They didn't know we exist.
0:37:11 > 0:37:12- NEIL FLANIGAN:- In those days,
0:37:12 > 0:37:16English people had never seen black people.
0:37:16 > 0:37:21JAKE JACOBS: I can remember getting on a bus, sitting down
0:37:21 > 0:37:24and after travelling for about a few mile,
0:37:24 > 0:37:30I felt someone put their hands on my head
0:37:30 > 0:37:33feeling my hair. When I look around,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36I had a smile of a gentleman
0:37:36 > 0:37:40and he was trying to see if my hair was real.
0:37:40 > 0:37:45I mean... And then not only that,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48he also touched my neck!
0:37:48 > 0:37:51The side of my...to find out if I'm really black
0:37:51 > 0:37:54and I thought that was most unusual.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56Up to today, I cannot understand why.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03They had a mind that anybody who's dark came from Africa.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06The rumour went around that all these guys,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09where they come from they had tails originally
0:38:09 > 0:38:12but coming to Europe, they got the tails cut off
0:38:12 > 0:38:16but the stump was still there. So if we go to a dance hall,
0:38:16 > 0:38:18you're dancing with a girl, a local girl,
0:38:18 > 0:38:21you could feel her hand going down
0:38:21 > 0:38:25see, because her friends, you know, they discuss about them
0:38:25 > 0:38:28and she say "Oh, take that opportunity
0:38:28 > 0:38:30"and see if you can feel for the stump."
0:38:30 > 0:38:35Whatever the colour was, we were one nation, we were British -
0:38:35 > 0:38:37the same as the Englishman was.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43I think they accepted us because we're in the Royal Air Force uniform
0:38:43 > 0:38:46but there was a war, man! People haven't got time for prejudice
0:38:46 > 0:38:49when bombs dropping all over the place and you helping.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51MUSIC: Over There by George M Cohan
0:38:51 > 0:38:56But the white Americans, they came here with the racist business
0:38:56 > 0:38:58and the whole scene changed.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00MUSIC CONTINUES
0:39:00 > 0:39:04In early 1944, 1.5 million American soldiers
0:39:04 > 0:39:07were based in Britain, preparing for D-Day.
0:39:07 > 0:39:08Hup!
0:39:08 > 0:39:12The British Government's Ministry of Information made this film
0:39:12 > 0:39:15to introduce them to the country.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17Now, let's be frank about it,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20there are coloured soldiers as well as white here
0:39:20 > 0:39:23and there are less social restrictions in this country.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25Look, that might not happen at home
0:39:25 > 0:39:29but the, the point is we're not at home.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31JAZZY MUSIC
0:39:32 > 0:39:35To some Americans, if you were black
0:39:35 > 0:39:38you shouldn't be dancing with an English girl,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40especially Americans from the South.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43JAKE JACOBS: Oh, they, they'll walk up to you and say,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46"What you doing here? Get out of here,"
0:39:46 > 0:39:49and you say, "I pay my money to come in here."
0:39:49 > 0:39:52We West Indians, we don't mess about,
0:39:52 > 0:39:55we don't mess about. There's something in us,
0:39:55 > 0:40:03we have a resistance from slavery days, we have a resistance.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07There'd be some fisticuffs - fights in simple words.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12Just punches and, you know, sticks and bricks and all that.
0:40:12 > 0:40:18You'd get on a table, you know, or a trailer or anything like that.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22The British women always react on our side
0:40:22 > 0:40:28because most of them didn't like the Americans at all, their attitude.
0:40:28 > 0:40:29If they know there's trouble,
0:40:29 > 0:40:32they will walk up to you and tell you,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35"Listen, there's some trouble over there."
0:40:35 > 0:40:37The British man, he'll do the same -
0:40:37 > 0:40:40he would try and stop it, nip it in the bud.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42Attention!
0:40:42 > 0:40:47Black GIs were segregated from white American soldiers.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52They were used to discrimination and less likely to defend themselves.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54We got friendly with the black Americans
0:40:54 > 0:40:56and we might be in a pub
0:40:56 > 0:40:59having a drink with some local girls and all that
0:40:59 > 0:41:03and you have three or four white Americans come through the door
0:41:03 > 0:41:06and they come through the door, "Hey, nigger, get outta here,"
0:41:06 > 0:41:10right? Well, when you tell a West Indian or Jamaican about nigger,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13it's like you're putting a red cloth before a bull
0:41:13 > 0:41:16and we used to go haywire.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21Then after a while, the white Americans, they realised that
0:41:21 > 0:41:25"Keep away from these British black fellows.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28"They are different, they don't know about discrimination,
0:41:28 > 0:41:29"they'll fight like that,"
0:41:29 > 0:41:33because a black American couldn't think of even hitting
0:41:33 > 0:41:37a white American in defence. That wasn't done
0:41:37 > 0:41:41and when they see these West Indians like myself rushing them,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44they got such a shock.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47Were you involved in some of those fights yourself?
0:41:51 > 0:41:57I think I would say I had a small altercation in those days,
0:41:57 > 0:41:58to be polite to you.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03On 8th May 1945,
0:42:03 > 0:42:07Britain celebrated Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11The British Government was now forced to tackle a thorny issue -
0:42:11 > 0:42:14what to do with the thousands of Caribbean people
0:42:14 > 0:42:17who'd come to help the war effort.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20The Secretary of State for Air had some good news
0:42:20 > 0:42:22for the lumberjacks from Belize.
0:42:22 > 0:42:28SAM MARTINEZ: Harold Macmillan came to our hostel and he says,
0:42:28 > 0:42:32"You boys will be repatriated such a time
0:42:32 > 0:42:34"but those that want
0:42:34 > 0:42:38"to go home can go
0:42:38 > 0:42:42"and the others who want to stay can stay
0:42:42 > 0:42:46"and no-one can send them home
0:42:46 > 0:42:50"because this is your country as well as mine."
0:42:50 > 0:42:51Those were Macmillan's words.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55But despite their contributions to the war effort,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58the British Government encouraged thousands of Caribbean servicemen
0:42:58 > 0:43:00and women to return home.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04- SAM KING:- I wanted to stay in the Royal Air Force
0:43:04 > 0:43:06but they said "No.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09"You are from the colony of Jamaica, you are to go back to the colony."
0:43:09 > 0:43:14And for Jake Jacobs, this meant leaving his wartime sweetheart.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16And I was waving
0:43:16 > 0:43:19and he was leaning out of the window, I could see him.
0:43:19 > 0:43:25Yes, I went back home to Trinidad, I'd keep writing,
0:43:25 > 0:43:26whether I'll come back, I don't know.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28That's the end.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34Returning to the West Indies after serving as RAF air crew
0:43:34 > 0:43:37was the chance to make a new start.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42Many, like Ricky Richardson, embarked upon professional careers.
0:43:42 > 0:43:49Roy Augier became a distinguished academic and was knighted in 1996...
0:43:52 > 0:43:58..and RAF navigator Errol Barrow carved out a new life in Britain.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01After the war, he enrolled on a law course
0:44:01 > 0:44:04at the London School of Economics.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07Katherine Campbell's father was a lecturer there.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11The London School of Economics was at that time
0:44:11 > 0:44:14known for its left-wing politics.
0:44:14 > 0:44:20Errol studied there and went on to study law and become a barrister
0:44:20 > 0:44:22but all of this was laying the groundwork
0:44:22 > 0:44:24for his return to Barbados.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30In 1961, Errol Barrow became the Premier of Barbados
0:44:30 > 0:44:34and when the country secured independence in 1966,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37he became Prime Minister of the new nation.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43Errol and I -
0:44:43 > 0:44:46to celebrate the friendship between our two countries -
0:44:46 > 0:44:49we decided to jump into the pool together
0:44:49 > 0:44:53holding the flags of our respective nations.
0:44:55 > 0:44:5812 of Britain's former crown colonies in the Caribbean
0:44:58 > 0:45:01have now won their independence.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05Today, Errol is remembered as the father of Barbados,
0:45:05 > 0:45:10a shining example of the RAF's West Indian officer class.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15People would actually come out of their homes
0:45:15 > 0:45:19and stand on their doorsteps or stand out in the street
0:45:19 > 0:45:21and say, "Morning, Prime Minister.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25"How are you doing today, Prime Minister?"
0:45:25 > 0:45:29He was obviously greatly loved by the people who'd voted for him.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37But for thousands of sailors and RAF ground crew,
0:45:37 > 0:45:40the return to the Caribbean wasn't successful.
0:45:42 > 0:45:43Well,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47I thought I was a bigger man than I was
0:45:47 > 0:45:50and the island was too small for me.
0:45:50 > 0:45:55I went back to my job hoping I'll get promotion
0:45:55 > 0:45:57but didn't get it...
0:46:00 > 0:46:04..and I decided, "Well, enough is enough,
0:46:04 > 0:46:06"I think I'll return back to England."
0:46:06 > 0:46:10Nearly all of us that wanted to get back to England, you know,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13with the idea that it would be a better life
0:46:13 > 0:46:14than staying in Jamaica.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17There were few jobs in the Caribbean
0:46:17 > 0:46:21but war-torn Britain needed workers to help rebuild its cities.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23'Arrivals at Tilbury -
0:46:23 > 0:46:26'the Empire Windrush brings to Britain 500 Jamaicans.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28'Many are ex-servicemen who know England.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30'They served this country well.'
0:46:30 > 0:46:33MUSIC: London Is The Place For Me by Lord Kitchener
0:46:37 > 0:46:41# London is the place for me
0:46:41 > 0:46:45# London, this lovely city
0:46:45 > 0:46:48# You can go to France or America
0:46:48 > 0:46:50# India, Asia or Australia
0:46:50 > 0:46:55# But you must come back to London City... #
0:46:55 > 0:47:01Well, about two weeks before the Empire Windrush came to Jamaica,
0:47:01 > 0:47:04there was a notice in the local newspaper, The Gleaner,
0:47:04 > 0:47:08to say tickets for England, £28.10,
0:47:08 > 0:47:13sailing on 24th May 1948.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16In those days, £28.10 - the average man didn't have that.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19That's the equivalent to about three cows
0:47:19 > 0:47:22but my father disposed of some cows
0:47:22 > 0:47:25and I had the money and I book the ticket.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28I arrived in England on 22nd June
0:47:28 > 0:47:30and it changed my life.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32Now, why have you come to England?
0:47:32 > 0:47:35- To seek a job.- And what sort of job do you want?
0:47:35 > 0:47:38Any type, so long as I get a good pay.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42- SAM KING:- 492 of us, eight women.
0:47:42 > 0:47:47In the West Indies, you didn't have a job - to get jobs was not easy.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50People were coming up, "Will I have a job in England?"
0:47:50 > 0:47:52I said, "Don't worry about jobs!
0:47:52 > 0:47:55"Worry about somewhere to live,"
0:47:55 > 0:48:02and 232 of them had nowhere to go when they came out off the boat
0:48:02 > 0:48:04so they took them to Clapham deep shelter
0:48:04 > 0:48:08and the nearest labour exchange was Coldharbour Lane, Brixton.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11That's how my people came to be in Brixton
0:48:11 > 0:48:12and they all had jobs -
0:48:12 > 0:48:16within a month, everybody had jobs and left that shelter.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21# Well, believe me, I am speaking broad-mindedly
0:48:21 > 0:48:25# I am glad to know my mother country
0:48:25 > 0:48:27# I've been travelling to countries years ago
0:48:27 > 0:48:30# But this the place I wanted to know
0:48:30 > 0:48:34# London, just the place for me... #
0:48:34 > 0:48:38Anyone that had done service, they would find a job for them.
0:48:38 > 0:48:39I went to the Post Office.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41I went to the Post Office.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45I found little jobs in little nightclubs.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47I went back into the Royal Air Force.
0:48:47 > 0:48:52I helped build prefabs, that was my first job.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56# ..London, that's the place for me... #
0:48:56 > 0:48:58Over the next 30 years,
0:48:58 > 0:49:03nearly half a million West Indians settled in Britain
0:49:03 > 0:49:07but finding a job wasn't the only thing on their minds.
0:49:07 > 0:49:12For Jake, this was his chance to get married to Mary.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15We got married in the little registry office,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19close to the lady where I was staying.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23To a lot of the girls' surprise that Mary used to work with,
0:49:23 > 0:49:26whether they were disappointed, I don't know,
0:49:26 > 0:49:28but when we came out, they just, "Ooh."
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Mouths open,
0:49:34 > 0:49:36people looking,
0:49:36 > 0:49:39"Oh, I've never seen this before."
0:49:41 > 0:49:44- They just went dumb, they just... - Unusual, it was unusual.
0:49:44 > 0:49:45..they just stared.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51Like thousands of mixed-race couples who married in post-war Britain,
0:49:51 > 0:49:56Jake and Mary discovered that finding a home was a struggle.
0:49:56 > 0:50:00I'd learned that as soon as Jake appeared, doors closed.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05They'd come to the door, "Yes, can I help you?
0:50:05 > 0:50:07"I'm sorry, we've got no room."
0:50:09 > 0:50:15I can walk away, a minute after, Mary knocked that very door,
0:50:15 > 0:50:17"Yes, you can come in."
0:50:18 > 0:50:21That was the difference.
0:50:21 > 0:50:27If we go together, on no uncertain manner, the answer is no.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32You haven't got a chance in hell, no.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34And it wasn't funny, it was awful.
0:50:34 > 0:50:39- It was awful.- It was awful. I spent days and days crying.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46ALLAN WILMOT: In those days, there were signs all over the place,
0:50:46 > 0:50:50"No blacks, no Irish, no dogs."
0:50:52 > 0:50:55"No Irish, no coloured, no dogs,"
0:50:55 > 0:51:00very hurtful but it help us realise we had to club together
0:51:00 > 0:51:02and buy a property.
0:51:02 > 0:51:07By 1951, we were the first black people to buy a house in Camberwell
0:51:07 > 0:51:11and from there, we spread out over the place.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13We had to
0:51:13 > 0:51:16because our people were coming in hundreds
0:51:16 > 0:51:20and the host nation were not letting them have a room
0:51:20 > 0:51:23so we had to buy, so it develop automatically.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26It turned out to be a good thing.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28By the way, a property in those days,
0:51:28 > 0:51:30that'd be 2,500.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33Today, it's a lot of money, man.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36MUSIC: I Am A Mole And I Live In A Hole by The Southlanders
0:51:36 > 0:51:37# Ba-ba, ba-ba-ba, baa
0:51:37 > 0:51:40# Ba-ba, ba-ba-ba, ba-ba, baa
0:51:40 > 0:51:44# I'm not a bat or a rat or a cat... #
0:51:44 > 0:51:48As the West Indians settled down with families, homes and jobs,
0:51:48 > 0:51:53Caribbean culture became woven into the fabric of British life.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56# ..I am a mole and I live in a hole... #
0:51:56 > 0:52:01In 1950, Allan Wilmot joined a black vocal quartet
0:52:01 > 0:52:03called The Southlanders.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05Before we came on the scene,
0:52:05 > 0:52:09anything in black entertainment in this country was American.
0:52:09 > 0:52:14# ..I am a mole and I live in a hole... #
0:52:14 > 0:52:17I am a mole and I live in a hole.
0:52:17 > 0:52:22We were the first non-American group in this country
0:52:22 > 0:52:26and of course others followed since.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30Victor Brown became a stage star
0:52:30 > 0:52:34when he doubled up with Chester Harriot in the variety act,
0:52:34 > 0:52:35Harriot & Evans.
0:52:35 > 0:52:36I met up with Ches
0:52:36 > 0:52:41and we worked together for about 20 years after that
0:52:41 > 0:52:44and everything was all right.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48We never quite made the top
0:52:48 > 0:52:50but we did...
0:52:50 > 0:52:53We did quite well, we did quite well.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56STEEL DRUM MUSIC
0:52:56 > 0:53:00'In a famous London ballroom, a West Indian get together,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03'a Caribbean carnival they call it, I believe.'
0:53:03 > 0:53:05Britain's West Indian communities
0:53:05 > 0:53:08began to celebrate their Caribbean heritage.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11- SAM KING:- Well, in the West Indies,
0:53:11 > 0:53:16if your community have a carnival, it get everybody working together.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21The Notting Hill Carnival began in 1964
0:53:21 > 0:53:25with the aim of unifying London's increasingly diverse population.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29It soon became the largest street festival in Europe.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33As a West Indian, we must contribute something
0:53:33 > 0:53:35that people can see that we are here.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38We must have our carnival, my God.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41You get rid of carnival, you get rid of Trinidadians.
0:53:41 > 0:53:46After many difficult years of struggle, conflict and riots,
0:53:46 > 0:53:51the Carnival has become a symbol of racial integration.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55It's a vivid celebration of Caribbean culture in Britain
0:53:55 > 0:54:00but the pioneers' wartime experience has largely been forgotten.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02MARCHING MUSIC
0:54:06 > 0:54:09Caribbean veterans are now making a public statement
0:54:09 > 0:54:12about their contribution to Britain's war effort.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14MUSIC CONTINUES
0:54:17 > 0:54:19For the last three years,
0:54:19 > 0:54:22local cadets have been joining the West Indian veterans
0:54:22 > 0:54:25to march through Brixton to Windrush Square.
0:54:25 > 0:54:30The parade usually takes place a month before Remembrance Day.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33- NEIL FLANIGAN:- The march past in Brixton,
0:54:33 > 0:54:37great realisation that there was a body of dignified men
0:54:37 > 0:54:39who served in the British forces.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42They march through the streets of Brixton
0:54:42 > 0:54:46celebrating the lives of people who serve in the British forces.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49MUSIC CONTINUES
0:54:49 > 0:54:50Halt!
0:54:50 > 0:54:53Fall out, the veterans and the flag-bearers.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57Stand at ease!
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Stand easy.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02Ladies and gentlemen,
0:55:02 > 0:55:04welcome to the annual march past
0:55:04 > 0:55:08of the West Indian Association of Service Personnel.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11It is indeed a pleasure that so many of you woke up
0:55:11 > 0:55:15so early in the morning to come and participate in this parade.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21The West Indian Ex-Servicemen's Association, now known as WASP,
0:55:21 > 0:55:25protect the rights of men of colour who joined the British forces,
0:55:25 > 0:55:29they give them pride and they give them dignity.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33- ALLAN WILMOT:- Well, it was a thing for collective recognition.
0:55:33 > 0:55:35If we didn't form that association,
0:55:35 > 0:55:42the public wouldn't know the participation of black West Indians
0:55:42 > 0:55:46who served the British Empire in their hour of need.
0:55:46 > 0:55:48GUITAR MUSIC
0:55:48 > 0:55:52# Of our heroes, we should be proud
0:55:52 > 0:55:56# Calling the names out loud
0:55:56 > 0:55:59# When the whole world had gone to war
0:55:59 > 0:56:04# Africans and Caribbeans helped even the score
0:56:04 > 0:56:12# The British Government came and asked us to help the mother country
0:56:12 > 0:56:19# And many volunteered right away to rid this world of tyranny... #
0:56:22 > 0:56:25I did not want my children to grow up in a colony.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29I thought they would have a better chance growing up in England
0:56:29 > 0:56:32and so far, it work.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36I didn't dream that I would remain in England that long
0:56:36 > 0:56:38but you come here for ten years
0:56:38 > 0:56:42and you're gone 50 or 70 years
0:56:42 > 0:56:46because you get so much absorb in the country
0:56:46 > 0:56:51that when you go back to your own country, you are a foreigner
0:56:51 > 0:56:54and here, you more or less know your way around
0:56:54 > 0:56:58so you remain here for a while.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00MUSIC CONTINUES
0:57:00 > 0:57:03The Caribbean pioneers from the Second World War
0:57:03 > 0:57:08have created an enduring, multicultural legacy.
0:57:12 > 0:57:18VICTOR BROWN: It is a long way ahead but we're getting to the stage where
0:57:18 > 0:57:25people are not so class and colour conscious as they were 50 years ago.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29It's going to be all right, it's going to be all right.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32- NEIL FLANIGAN:- All people aspire for the best things for themselves
0:57:32 > 0:57:36and their families and as a family,
0:57:36 > 0:57:38we have done well,
0:57:38 > 0:57:40thanks to the country.
0:57:43 > 0:57:48I love my country and I love Scotland.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53It's in my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren -
0:57:53 > 0:57:56I think there are about 21 of us.
0:57:56 > 0:58:02It's good to be harmonious, live together peacefully
0:58:02 > 0:58:04and you can't go wrong.
0:58:15 > 0:58:23# So remember our heroes who left homes and wives
0:58:23 > 0:58:31# And journeyed to Europe just to fight for all our lives
0:58:31 > 0:58:39# Because of them, freedom survives. #