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4 - Protestors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2025

Susan L. Carruthers
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
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Summary

Ostensibly, all British former servicemen received a new wardrobe. In reality, this was reserved for British- and Irish-born veterans and denied to those from Britain’s colonies. This chapter foregrounds a ‘mutiny’ by West Indian RAF personnel in May 1946. British officials, alarmed by a ‘colour problem’ they ascribed to Black men’s excessive sensitivity to racist slurs, worked to repatriate veterans of colour, regardless of their wishes and British status. Repatriated West Indian veterans received just a promissory note. This cash entitlement varied from island to island. Enraged by racialized injustices, West Indian airmen demanded redress, staging a protest as the SS Bergensfjord transported them from Glasgow to Trinidad and Jamaica. This chapter places their demonstration within two larger frames: a wave of transnational veteran militancy in late 1945 and 1946, in which grievances over clothing were interwoven with larger imperial injustices; and a proliferation of ‘double crossings’ after the war, trans-oceanic passages in both directions, as people were removed or elected to move. Many West Indian veterans soon returned to Britain on the Windrush and other vessels.

Type
Chapter
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Making Do
Britons and the Refashioning of the Postwar World
, pp. 132 - 164
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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  • Protestors
  • Susan L. Carruthers, University of Warwick
  • Book: Making Do
  • Online publication: 24 April 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009464246.005
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  • Protestors
  • Susan L. Carruthers, University of Warwick
  • Book: Making Do
  • Online publication: 24 April 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009464246.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Protestors
  • Susan L. Carruthers, University of Warwick
  • Book: Making Do
  • Online publication: 24 April 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009464246.005
Available formats
×