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The Jamaican Society: Case Study
Marcia Hylton
Awareness of Afro-Carribbean Culture
Dual Heritage
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Dual Heritage
Location: Leeds
Alford Gardner's Story - A Jamaican man's account of what life was like in the British Army
Alford Gardner was a youngster looking for the chance to see more of the world. So when the RAF arrived on the island of Jamaica on their latest recruitment drive, he joined up.
Joining up in 1944
For him and thousands of other eager young men it was an opportunity too big to pass. This was their chance to experience a bigger world, whilst doing a much-needed duty for their ‘mother country’ - the hope of learning to fly and fight the Germans was a tantalising prospect.
Alford already knew the sacrifices that are part and parcel of military life - his father saw action in the First World War alongside 15,000 other West Indians troops. After going through a series of selection procedures, Alford was one of 13 men who were signed up in June 1944.
Liverpool at last
Alford’s first views of England took in smoking chimney stacks across the Liverpool skyline, as far as the eye could see: ‘What a lot of factories! That was the first impression.’ From there he was transferred to Filey, where training began in earnest with 12 weeks ‘square-bashing’.
Alford’s contribution to the war effort was directed to ground personnel duties in Yorkshire. By the time he arrived, opportunities for flying were few and far between for West Indian volunteers. He was selected for training as a motor mechanic and it was his job to get motor cabs running and keep them in good working order.
From Guantanamo Bay to Greenland
His journey from Jamaica began on the SS Cuba, which took a storm-lashed two weeks before arriving at the first stop off point at Guantanamo Bay. After reaching the US, he joined other recruits and continued on to England via Greenland. Experiencing sub-zero temperatures for the first time turned out to be an eye-watering episode: ‘About 4 days out of England, it got cold. …Everything covered in ice. That was the first frost we’d run into. Lads went down and put on their long johns. No matter what you put on, it was still cold.’
The colour bar
Although black communities had existed in port cities like Liverpool and Bristol for nearly 400 years, outside of these areas black faces were a rarity. Filey residents were about to meet black British subjects for the first time. Alford recounts how locals were perplexed to see so many black people in large numbers. ‘There were just about 1000 of us, and so many different colours. That was one of the things that baffled them, so many shades of black and they were all talking the same way, all Jamaicans’. Occasionally, he and other West Indian recruits would come across trouble in the local bars: ‘You find the odd times, there had to be a little skirmish. It happened because someone would say something out of turn.’
Face to face with the enemy
Despite being limited to crew duties in the UK, Alford came into contact with Germans who had been taken as prisoners of war. He remembers one individual in particular who was assigned to cleaning duties: ‘He had had half his face shot away. He was a good lad and I had the task of asking him to do things. He knew the job.’
By the time Alford started his career in the RAF, there were only months left before the war would end. The cease of hostilities marked the beginning of a different chapter in Alford’s life. For an 18 year old Jamaican man, post war Britain held new challenges and battles in the years to come.
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