Carmen in her house in Balham © Steve Reeves.
Steve Reeves commemorates the vital accomplishments of the Caribbean men and women who came to help rebuild Britain after the war
The full title of this charming book is Britain Called and We Answered – Portraits and Stories of Those Who Came from the Caribbean to England to Help Rebuild the Country After the 2nd World War, and that says it all; simple but effective, it is a collection of shots of ‘elders’, as Reeves respectfully calls them, paired with short insights into their lives. Some stories are just a few lines long, others a couple of pages; some end with a single sentence offering date of birth and death. This generation will not be with us for much longer, making the simple act of recording their experiences valuable. In the face of rising racism in the UK (and beyond) acknowledging their contribution is also a critical counterbalance to ill-informed stereotypes and insinuations.
The people shown here came to the UK because Britain asked them to do so, making calls throughout its Empire inviting workers to help in the motherland, stricken after years of war. Some who answered sought badly needed work but others were youngsters seeking adventure, leaving already well-established, prosperous lives. Carmen, shown here, was shocked by the living standards in the UK, in particular the accommodation she saw in Balham, London – paltry compared to where she had grown up in Jamaica. When she wrote home, Reeves notes, “She didn’t dare mention the conditions to her mum”.
Others speak of the racism they encountered in England, one cheerily noting that the National Front supporters on her estate were the ones working the dead-end jobs
But Carmen, like the others, built a life, eventually moving into her own house (which she owns outright). Balham is now a wealthy area, with prosperous families regularly moving in and out; sometimes people ask her what she is doing there, she says, and she replies she has lived there since before they were born. Carmen is also proud of her grandson, who is starting a degree in Edinburgh soon; “If you get an education, it’s in your head,” she notes. “Nobody can steal that.”
Her story testifies to the challenges she faced but also her resilience and sheer gumption; others speak of the racism they encountered in England, one cheerily noting that the National Front supporters on her estate were the ones working the dead-end jobs. Many of those depicted contributed to public services such as the NHS, set up at the end of the war; migrants should not have to prove their worth, but their actions – and the NHS – speak of a more optimistic time, of ideals about community and how we might contribute, share and support.
Created in partnership with the charity Positive Network, Reeves’ publication is being made freely available to local residents as part of Wandsworth’s year as London Borough of Culture; as Marsha De Cordova, Labour MP for Battersea, Balham & Wandsworth, writes in her foreword, this in itself is a powerful statement. It speaks, she adds, of the fact “that access to history matters, that culture belongs to everyone, and that we have a responsibility not only to remember the Windrush generation, but to act on the lessons their experiences demand”.
Britain Called and We Answered is published by Reeves & Reeves, available at Steve Reeves’ website, priced £29.