It is estimated that approximately 16,000 West Indians volunteered for service alongside the British in the Second World War. As with the First World War, it must be remembered that many also joined armed forces in North America. In October 1939, the regulation that prohibited people who were not of ‘pure European descent’ to enlist and receive commissions was lifted for the duration of the conflict. It was permanently removed in 1947. This created new kinds of opportunity, however, in practice, it was far from the end of a colour bar. It was still considered problematic for ‘coloured’ officers to command lower ranks who were ‘white’, and discrimination and segregation continued across the armed forces between troops who were considered ‘colonial’, and those who were considered truly British.
Many territories that were part of the British Empire during the Second World War gained independence in two decades after 1945, and this has affected the location of records of those who were in the armed forces. Some military records were passed from colonial administrations to the governments of newly independent territories, particularly in relation to pensions. Your research may need to take place in both UK and Caribbean archives. In general, the records of those who travelled to the UK and enlisted here are more likely to be held in the UK. The records of those who were recruited in the Caribbean are more likely to be held in Caribbean archives. We know, however, that there are exceptions to this general rule.
Service records
The service records for individuals who served in the Second World War may be difficult to find for a number of reasons. The first is that certain types of record with personal information are closed for the lifetime of individuals. A ‘lifetime’ is usually assumed to be 100 years. For records with details of medical information for example, the closure period may be longer. As a rule of thumb you should consider that records for those born after 1923 may not be available to view, unless the individual concerned can be proved to have died, or you are a direct family member.
The second reason is that the National Archives has only recently started to receive the service records for the armed forces from the Second World War. These records were previously held at the Ministry of Defence. There are processes in place to try to locate records for individuals while this transfer of more than 9 million records is taking place. Currently no records for the Royal Navy or the RAF have been transferred. Until a record is entered into our online catalogue, it is not directly orderable by members of the public, although you can make requests to search for records that are still in transition. Read more about the MOD service records project.
Medal records
Medal records for the Second World War are not always easy to locate either. The records for ‘campaign medals’ (those awarded for participation in particular conflicts) are not with the National Archives. They are with the Armed Services Medal Office. The National Archives does hold records of ‘long service and good conduct’ medals, and our guide to campaign and service medals explains more about what these are and how to search for these. For medals awarded for particular acts of bravery (‘gallantry medals’) your best starting point is searching the online archives of the London Gazette (free), again see our online guidance to gallantry medals for more details.
Army
As with the First World War, some individuals from the Caribbean served with local ‘militia’ forces (recruited in the Caribbean itself) and others (nearly 10,000) travelled to the UK to sign up. The War Office was initially reluctant to form a new West Indian regiment, but in April 1944, did form the ‘Caribbean Regiment’. This regiment was posted to North Africa, Italy and the Middle East. However, those who travelled to the UK to enlist served in diverse parts of the British Army, including the Royal Engineers, and in a very wide range of contexts. For advice on searching Army records for the Second World War, see our online guide to British Army soldiers in service after 1918.
Navy
The Admiralty was strongly opposed to the lifting of the colour bar. And correspondence to the Admiralty by those were rejected from enlistment due to the colour of their skin demonstrates that the colour bar in fact persisted, after having theoretically been lifted in 1939. Individuals were often encouraged to join locally based forces, such as the local Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves, rather than to travel to the UK to join the Royal Navy itself. Although it is not currently known how many, some men certainly did enlist in the Royal Navy itself. That number included Allan Wilmot, who worked as a minesweeper on HMS Hauken, and also served in the RAF during the Second World War before settling in the UK. Allan Willmot was a founder member, and later President of the West Indian Association of Service Personnel. For more information on finding records see our online guides to Royal Navy ratings enlisted after 1918 and to Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel.
RAF
The RAF recruited around 6,000 men in the Caribbean. The Caribbean hosted the first RAF centre for assessing and training recruits beyond the UK. Of the 6,000 recruits, at least 400 had flight crew postings, and of these seventy received commissions. More than 5,000 more men joined the West African Air Corps, and supported the RAF there. Eighty Caribbean women joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. It is estimated that a third of those who arrived at Tilbury on Windrush had been volunteers with the RAF, including Edwin Ho from British Guiana. For more information on the history of Caribbean World War flight crew listen to our podcast featuring the author and veteran Mark Johnson. Read our online guide to researching RAF personnel for information on finding RAF records.
In 1945 Ulric Cross, of Trinidad, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. This citation (or reason given for the award of a medal) describes him as “a brave and resolute member of aircraft crew, whose exceptional navigational ability has been an important factor in the successes obtained”. Supplement to the London Gazette, 2 January 1945 (image use under Open Government Licence)
Women in the Second World War
Women from the Caribbean took on a wide variety of forms of service in the Second World War, many of them also paying their way to the UK in order to volunteer. The issue of ‘race’ made that process at least as difficult for many women as it did for men. Despite these additional obstacles many women eventually enlisted and fought to be recognised for their skills.
The army’s branch for women, the Auxiliary Territorial Service, retained the colour bar after 1939, which made it even more difficult for many West Indian women to serve. In 1943 the ATS mistakenly admitted a black Bermudian and from that point was forced to change its recruiting policy. It has been estimated that by the end of the Second World War there were several hundred Afro-Caribbean ATS recruits. To begin your search for records of members of the ATS, see our online guide to records of Women in the British Army. The history of Caribbean women in the Women’s Royal Naval Service, and the Women’s Royal Air Force still needs to be explored.