This site aims to provide a permanent archive of the volunteers from the West Indies who flew for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

The general public in the United Kingdom and elsewhere is scarcely aware of the involvement of Caribbean crew in the airwar of 1940-1945.

In 1940, no so-called ‘men of colour’ could have joined the Royal Air Force; but by the end of the war in 1945, there were between 300 and 500 aircrew from the Caribbean out of a total of around six thousand volunteers who served during World War 2.

About seventy were commissioned and one hundred and three received decorations. Yet these facts are not generally known even to the present Black British population in Britain.

Since so little is recorded, we encourage surviving crew as well as their relatives and descendants to add to this body of information. Anyone who has a story to tell, information to share, or pictures to show is heartily invited to contribute to this website.

How does this site work?

The main body of this site consists of a list of names of aircrew that are known to us. The names are accessible either by country of origin, rank or decoration or by entering a name in the search-box.

Each entry offers the option to add a comment.Here you can submit your information regarding the individual concerned. Pictures are best sent directly with a reference to the webmaster, who will place them in the entry.

Spitfire pilots

Flight Sergeant James Hyde of San Juan, Trinidad, a Spitfire pilot who arrived in Britain in 1942 to begin his training, here pictured in 1944 with his Squadron’s mascot, a dog called ‘Dingo’. He is wearing a life jacket, known universally as a Mae West, and is holding an oxygen mask and his flying gloves. Most air battles took place at altitudes in excess of 15,000 feet (c. 5000 metres) and oxygen and thermal protection were vital. [Source: www.movinghere.org.uk - Imperial War Museum (IWM) Reference CH11978]

Flying Officer Julian Merryshow (on the right) with B-flight of 602 Sqn at Sumburgh (Shetlands) in January 1943. [Photo: Royal Air Force Museum - Click on image to enlarge] “In September 1942 the squadron moved north to the Orkney and Shetland Islands to intercept the high level German reconnaissance raiders over Scapa Flow. It flew from bases in the south of England from January 1943 and transferred to the Second Tactical Air Force in November flying offensive sweeps over France and providing fighter escorts. Involved in the “D” Day Invasion, 602 later flew from airfields in Europe before returning to England in September 1944 to concentrate on strikes against V2 rocket sites and other prime targets. The squadron disbanded on 15 May 1945 by which time it was credited with the destruction of 150 enemy aircraft.” [Source: 602 (City of Glasgow) RAuxAF museum]

RAF honours ethnic minorities

To celebrate the contribution that members of the Afro-Caribbean, Indian and other ethnic communities have made to the growth and development of the Royal Air Force, as well as the defence of the U.K. during times of adversity, the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford will be honouring their achievements with a permanent exhibition Diversity in the Royal Air Force. This display does not explicitly address the historial perspective of West Indians who volunteered to serve in the Royal Air Force in WW2 of whom about 400 actually flew as aircrew, with an estimated 103 honoured with distinguished service medals. Despite the MOD’s ‘We Were There’ Touring Exhibition, the current exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum’s ‘War to Windrush’ and  the RAF Cosford Museum’s ‘Diversity in the RAF’ we still do not have a complete record of the contribution of volunteers from the Caribbean. There seems to be no official record at the Ministry of Defence, the Air Ministry or the National Archives. This site makes an attempt to redress this oversight. .

Royal Mail issues RAF Uniforms stamps

Royal Mail issued a series of six unique stamps focusing on the RAF’s illustrious history as reflected through its uniforms and flying kits. Each stamp bears an illustration of a uniformed member of the RAF by the artist Graham Turner, who illustrated last year’s Army Uniforms stamps. (Click on image to go to Royal Mail website)

Telegraph supports Bomber Command Association

The Telegraph has joined the Bomber Command Association to help raise funds to erect a permanent memorial to the 55,000 bomber aircrew killed in the Second World War. The website of the newspaper features many articles with stories and backgrounds about the men who flew the risky missions for Bomber Command. Article fails to recognize Caribbean contribution Under the heading ‘Bomber Command to be honoured after 63 years‘ the website of the Telegraph features an article on the campaign for a memorial for the men of Bomber Command that served during the Second World War. In all, 55,573 were killed and 8,325 were lost. Sadly, where numbers of casualities from Canada, Australia and New Zealand are separately quoted in this article, the Caribbean contribution remains unmentioned. The Telegraph has however published an interview with Guyanese Navigator and POW Cy Grant.