Review: Pilots Of The Caribbean Exhibit

Servicewoman Lilian Bader

So, last month the RAF announced that ‘Pilots Of The Caribbean’ would be a permanent exhibition at the RAF Museum in Cosford. As I live in London, I managed to view it before it closed at the Grahame Park Way, Colindale location at the end of April and unfortunately, I can't say that I was 100% impressed or happy with the execution.

  

The first thing that irked me was the first panel of the display, upon which the entire first paragraph was repeated twice. Considering how big the text/font was, how on earth someone couldn't spot the grammatical error just screamed not bothered to me. That aside, providing a (Western) chronological history, the first thing mentioned of course was the Transatlantic Slave Trade and from there, a jump to abolition and how the British introduced high levels of literacy and numeracy to the Caribbean Islands, with a prime example being Jamaica. My thought: Well gee thanks! I guess once you take away a people's system(s) of education, you should give yourself a pat on the back for eventually implementing another...

From there, was a little fast forward to the Caribbean Islands declaring Independence, the recruitment process and the 'not so bad' experiences of what it was like for Our troops to serve. This was probably the most informative part of the exhibition, as there were a few specific figures and explanations provided, describing how certain battles were won by the British, specifically due to the number of African & African Caribbean's present in certain regiments, which was one good thing. I also learned, that during the Wars, the Islands were actually sending food back here to the UK even though they themselves were low on rations. I kid you not.

The main thing tirelessly reiterated though, was how the RAF was oh so 'welcoming of diversity and not racist like the US Services or even wider society'. Despite inclusion of the facts that within the RAF, there was a bar put into to place not once but twice, restricting Black Servicemen & Women from attaining certain positions and because of the colour of their skin, they were purposely not documented. The end result of the latter was notoriously evident in the exhibition, given that beneath the few pictures provided, there was either a name and no other info or maybe two sentences (if that) and no name followed by;

 'Unfortunately due to the lack of records kept at the time, we have no further information on this person'. 

The biggest unintentional laugh though, was an artist's 'two portraits' of two different Black Servicemen; the punchline I quickly pointed out, was it's actually the same person drawn from two different angles. A bit too inclusive no?...

Finally to round it all off, the conclusion stated that after service, the African Caribbean Servicemen & Women, whether staying here in the UK or going back to their respective Islands, flourished as they went onto become successful doctors, nurses and educators which was a direct result of all they learned by serving as a part of the 'Commonwealth'. My thought: Well choke my chicken for thinking Black people existed in those professions centuries prior to partaking in colonial wars...

Some highlights I must note though, were the medals, uniforms and journals/handwritten notes on display, in addition to recorded interview footage with some of Our Brave Elders who served. 

Overall, while the idea to acknowledge Our African & African Caribbean troops who served in both WWI and WWII is the right thing to do, I personally feel as though the tone of the exhibit was quite patronizing and should be re-tweaked in parts, then made a permanent fixture in all RAF Museums.