The arrival
It was the advertisement that did it. Jamaica's Daily Gleaner newspaper ran an offer of cheap transport for anybody who wanted to travel to the UK for work.
With a need to fill the ship's capacity, a cutprice fare of £28/10 (£28.50) was offered. The ship was to depart Jamaica on 24 May 1948.
For numerous former servicemen and women who had fought in the second world war (many as volunteers), only to return to the Caribbean where opportunities were thin on the ground, the Empire Windrush, taking them to jobs in the "mother land", seemed a good prospect.
As passenger Sam King told Mike and Trevor Phillips in their book Windrush: "In my case it cost three cows. The average Jamaican did not have three cows." He continues: "They [the other passengers] were people like myself… looking for hope, betterment."
The ship took a month to sail to Britain, picking up passengers in Trinidad (others from Guyana, British Honduras, now Belize, also boarded there).
On its voyage, the passengers were unaware of the debates underway in the Houses of Parliament, where MPs had become aware that 492 Caribbean people were on their way. The debate was provoked by fear of how long they would stay, who invited them, how qualified they were. In fact, two-thirds of those arriving at Tilbury Docks in East London on 22 June 1948 were ex-servicemen and women.
The exhibition
From War to Windrush is an exhibition opening this month at the Imperial War Museum (IWM), London. Marking the 60th anniversary since the Windrush docked in Britain, the exhibition will tell the personal stories of the "West Indians", people who fought during the first and second world wars and then made their way to Britain in 1948 or after.
The IWM will be showing artefacts that include the Windrush's passenger list and items relating to the service of many West Indians during the second world war.
Cecil Baugh, a Jamaican, was born in 1908 and was one of a small number of West Indians who served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. After leaving the army in 1946 he returned to Jamaica.
Baugh returned to Britain on the Empire Windrush as a British Council scholar. He studied pottery in St Ives, Cornwall, with potter Bernard Leach and returned in 1950 to become the leading ceramicist in Jamaica.
When the Windrush arrived, 236 of the passengers were temporarily housed in a deep shelter, created to provide protection from air raids during the war, at Clapham South in London. The shelter is now used as storage for banks and insurance companies.
The legacy
Why was the Windrush so significant? People from the British colonies had been coming to Britain well before 1948. But it was the Windrush veterans that made the difference, says Arthur Torrington, secretary of the Equiano Society and the Windrush Foundation.
"These were the people who ensured that the next generation were not going to have to fight. The Windrush did the fighting and stood firm," says Torrington.
Most of the veterans are in their 80s now, says Torrington, who is conducting oral history interviews for the Windrush Foundation and is to launch an educational DVD in July featuring 21 men and women talking about their experiences.
Torrington tells the story of Lord Woodbine (Harold Phillips), a Trinidadian who served in the Royal Air Force and arrived on the Windrush in 1948. "Woodbine introduced the drum kit to the Beatles," says Torrington. "He was a Windrush pioneer - being involved in a group that changed world music. Woodbine convinced them that the beat was in the drums, not the guitars."
Windrush was special, says Torrington: "We are looking at people who were involved in change - in changing society forever."
It was the advertisement that did it. Jamaica's Daily Gleaner newspaper ran an offer of cheap transport for anybody who wanted to travel to the UK for work.
With a need to fill the ship's capacity, a cutprice fare of £28/10 (£28.50) was offered. The ship was to depart Jamaica on 24 May 1948.
For numerous former servicemen and women who had fought in the second world war (many as volunteers), only to return to the Caribbean where opportunities were thin on the ground, the Empire Windrush, taking them to jobs in the "mother land", seemed a good prospect.
As passenger Sam King told Mike and Trevor Phillips in their book Windrush: "In my case it cost three cows. The average Jamaican did not have three cows." He continues: "They [the other passengers] were people like myself… looking for hope, betterment."
The ship took a month to sail to Britain, picking up passengers in Trinidad (others from Guyana, British Honduras, now Belize, also boarded there).
On its voyage, the passengers were unaware of the debates underway in the Houses of Parliament, where MPs had become aware that 492 Caribbean people were on their way. The debate was provoked by fear of how long they would stay, who invited them, how qualified they were. In fact, two-thirds of those arriving at Tilbury Docks in East London on 22 June 1948 were ex-servicemen and women.
The exhibition
From War to Windrush is an exhibition opening this month at the Imperial War Museum (IWM), London. Marking the 60th anniversary since the Windrush docked in Britain, the exhibition will tell the personal stories of the "West Indians", people who fought during the first and second world wars and then made their way to Britain in 1948 or after.
The IWM will be showing artefacts that include the Windrush's passenger list and items relating to the service of many West Indians during the second world war.
Cecil Baugh, a Jamaican, was born in 1908 and was one of a small number of West Indians who served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. After leaving the army in 1946 he returned to Jamaica.
Baugh returned to Britain on the Empire Windrush as a British Council scholar. He studied pottery in St Ives, Cornwall, with potter Bernard Leach and returned in 1950 to become the leading ceramicist in Jamaica.
When the Windrush arrived, 236 of the passengers were temporarily housed in a deep shelter, created to provide protection from air raids during the war, at Clapham South in London. The shelter is now used as storage for banks and insurance companies.
The legacy
Why was the Windrush so significant? People from the British colonies had been coming to Britain well before 1948. But it was the Windrush veterans that made the difference, says Arthur Torrington, secretary of the Equiano Society and the Windrush Foundation.
"These were the people who ensured that the next generation were not going to have to fight. The Windrush did the fighting and stood firm," says Torrington.
Most of the veterans are in their 80s now, says Torrington, who is conducting oral history interviews for the Windrush Foundation and is to launch an educational DVD in July featuring 21 men and women talking about their experiences.
Torrington tells the story of Lord Woodbine (Harold Phillips), a Trinidadian who served in the Royal Air Force and arrived on the Windrush in 1948. "Woodbine introduced the drum kit to the Beatles," says Torrington. "He was a Windrush pioneer - being involved in a group that changed world music. Woodbine convinced them that the beat was in the drums, not the guitars."
Windrush was special, says Torrington: "We are looking at people who were involved in change - in changing society forever."
