Growing up in Jamaica, Alford Gardner had no interest in learning British history. Today, the 97-year-old has ironically become the face of it as a pioneering member of the generation of Caribbean migrants who marked the symbolic beginning of a multicultural Britain.
In May 1948, Gardner and his brother were among 492 West Indians onboard the Empire Windrush, a postwar generation that helped rebuild the country and paved the way for others to follow.
He recalls feeling his return to the UK, where he had served with the Royal Air Force as a ground engineer during the second world war, as though he were moving from one home to the next.
