African And Caribbean War Memorial

The African and Caribbean War Memorial in Brixton, London, is the United Kingdom's national memorial to African and Caribbean service personnel who fought in the First and Second World Wars. It originated with a project for a memorial to Caribbean Royal Air Force veterans of World War II who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the MV Empire Windrush; this was an extension of the commemorative plaque and sculpture scheme run by the Nubian Jak Community Trust to highlight the historic contributions of Black and minority ethnic people in Britain. The memorial was originally to have been placed at Tilbury Docks, as part of the commemoration for the centenary of the outbreak of World War I. However, as the project began to evolve into a larger tribute that included both World Wars and commemorated servicemen and women from both Africa and the Caribbean, it was agreed by the memorial recipient – the Port of Tilbury – and the project organisers that a new, more accessible location needed to found. The memorial was ultimately permanently installed and unveiled on 22 June 2017 in Windrush Square, Brixton. BackgroundWhile the Imperial War Museum holds records for almost 70, 000 memorials to the First and Second World Wars in the UK, yet there was not one memorial specifically dedicated to commemorating the contributions to victory made by more than two million servicemen and -women from the Caribbean and Africa in both World Wars, until the initiation of the African and Caribbean War Memorial project by the Nubian Jak Community Trust, which set out to remedy the neglect and oversight.

The African and Caribbean War Memorial in Brixton, London, is the United Kingdom's national memorial to African and Caribbean service personnel who fought in the First and Second World Wars. It originated with a project for a memorial to Caribbean Royal Air Force veterans of World War II who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the MV Empire Windrush; this was an extension of the commemorative plaque and sculpture scheme run by the Nubian Jak Community Trust to highlight the historic contributions of Black and minority ethnic people in Britain. The memorial was originally to have been placed at Tilbury Docks, as part of the commemoration for the centenary of the outbreak of World War I. However, as the project began to evolve into a larger tribute that included both World Wars and commemorated servicemen and women from both Africa and the Caribbean, it was agreed by the memorial recipient – the Port of Tilbury – and the project organisers that a new, more accessible location needed to found. The memorial was ultimately permanently installed and unveiled on 22 June 2017 in Windrush Square, Brixton. BackgroundWhile the Imperial War Museum holds records for almost 70, 000 memorials to the First and Second World Wars in the UK, yet there was not one memorial specifically dedicated to commemorating the contributions to victory made by more than two million servicemen and -women from the Caribbean and Africa in both World Wars, until the initiation of the African and Caribbean War Memorial project by the Nubian Jak Community Trust, which set out to remedy the neglect and oversight.