Answering the Call

On arriving in Britain, the volunteers discovered that few British people had met a Black person before. This sometimes caused problems, but the newcomers found the natives ‘generally friendly.’ The appearance in Britain of the racially segregated American forces complicated matters.

Although the RAF took racism seriously, a minority of white personnel continued to discriminate and some of the volunteers responded by taking the law into their own hands. Despite this, most Black airmen and airwomen got on well with their white comrades.

• The Second World War, 1939 to 1945 : Recruitment
• The Second World War, 1939 to 1945 : The Home Fronts
• The Second World War, 1939 to 1945 : ‘Coming Home‘
• The Second World War, 1939 to 1945 : Segregation