The 800 West Indians who walked down the gangway at Tilbury to make new lives in England in June 1948 had been encouraged to think of the country as their motherland. The literary contribution of the Windrush generation is just one example of how Caribbean-British people enriched the nation, but it offers an important opportunity to witness the transformative moment when empire came home, changing stories of Britain forever.
With their colonial education, these British subjects were already familiar with Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, and could likely have recited poems by Wordsworth, Shelley or Keats. Many were returning servicemen whose valiant contribution to the war effort had given them a strong affiliation with Britain as a land of freedom fighters. They were keen to contribute to the progressive reconstruction of their post-war homeland.
When Pathé News handed the microphone to Lord Kitchener, the suave young Trinidadian calypsonian, his homecoming serenade, London is the Place for Me, began a post-war tradition of Caribbean-British voices confidently bringing a new style and substance to expressions of belonging and nationality.
