The first, as you can see on this slide, entitled ‘World War One Black Fliers’ was Eugene Bullard. There were quite a number, probably about a dozen, but there are three in particular who are best known.
There were actually black airmen active during the First World War, who are rarely mentioned. The Caribbean volunteers, however, were not the first black fliers to make a contribution to Britain. So what I’m going to do for the next 45 to 50 minutes is walk you through the history of the contribution made to the Royal Air Force during the Second World War by Caribbean volunteers – not all black, but the ones I’ve focused on are the black Caribbean volunteers, for reasons that are probably obvious and which I will dive down into in the next few slides. The author posts regular updates on his website at Well, good afternoon and welcome back to those of you I’ve met before and welcome to those I haven’t. His first history title, which tells the largely unknown story of the black RAF aircrew volunteers, is Caribbean volunteers at war (Pen & Sword). Mark Johnson is a former soldier, a cyber-security writer and historian. He outlines their backgrounds and motives for joining up and also describes their combat experiences and explores the possible significance of their legacy for integration and race relations. Mark Johnson has spent 17 years researching this tale, based on personal interviews with survivors, one of whom was his Jamaican great-uncle, a former navigator with Bomber Command’s No 102 (Ceylon) Squadron and a holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After suffering a loss rate of more than 30% and, in some cases, incarceration as black PoWs in Nazi Germany, the men returned to their countries of origin and were lost from the historical record. Overcoming the legacy of the official British Colour Bar to serve over Europe as pilots, navigators, flight engineers and air gunners, these men were pioneers in the truest sense. While the United States could boast the black fliers of Tuskegee, few people are aware of the important contribution made by 500 RAF aircrew recruited from the Caribbean and West Africa.
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