Pilots of the Caribbean
Posted on Thursday 17th April 2014
Air gunners Sergeant J.C. Dickinson RCAF and Sergeant Leslie Gilkes, 9 Squadron, 1943 (Courtesy of Audrey Dewjee). Sergeant Dickinson survived the war, but Sergeant Gilkes was shot down and killed on 3 August 1943. The Trinidadian has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.



William Robinson Clarke was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 4 October 1895. ‘Robbie’ Clarke joined the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in July 1915 and was selected for flying training. On 26 April 1917, he qualified as a pilot, receiving Royal Aero Club certificate number 4837. The young Jamaican was promoted to Sergeant and posted to 4 Squadron at Abeele in Belgium.
Sergeant Clarke flew R.E.8 biplanes over the Western Front. While on a reconnaissance mission on the morning of 28 July 1917, he and his observer, Second Lieutenant F.P. Blencowe, were attacked by five enemy aircraft. Clarke was wounded but landed safely.
William Clarke’s Royal Aero Club certificate shows him in RFC uniform and wearing his ‘wings.’ Though born in Jamaica, the index card for the certificate describes him as ‘British’.



Warrant Officer Akin Shenbanjo served as a wireless operator/air gunner with 76 Squadron. In December 1944, the Nigerian was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Shenbanjo is pictured with his crewmates who named their Halifax bomber 'Achtung! The Black Prince' in his honour. (Courtesy of W.R. Chorley)

Photograph showing Vincent Bunting as a Flight Sergeant in conversation with Group Captain Adolph ‘Sailor’ Malan, RAF Biggin Hill, January 1943. (RAF Museum)
Born in Jamaica, Flight Lieutenant Vincent Bunting flew Spitfires from 1942 to October 1944, when he was posted to 154 Squadron, which operated Mustang fighters. On 27 March 1945, Bunting shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw190 near Lübeck in Germany.
Group Captain Malan was an expert fighter leader and tactician who later fought against apartheid in his native South Africa.

Combat Report filed by Warrant Officer Vincent Bunting, 27th March 1945. (RAF Museum)

Aircraftman First Class Michael Odunasu was one of a group of 60 black African volunteers who served with the RAF in this country. Sir William Rothenstein drew AC1 Odunasu in 1943 but nothing more is known about him.
Further Reading
Caribbean Volunteers at War
(Hardback - 216 pages)
ISBN: 9781783462919
by Mark Johnson
Only £19.99
All of a sudden there was the rush of an immense shadow coming towards him at terrific speed. It was the ground reaching up to gather him. The date was 26 June, 1943 and Cy Grant was the rarest of things - a black West Indian RAF crew member, blown out of his exploding Lancaster bomber.
The heroic exploits of the Caribbean men and women who volunteered their services to the Allied effort during the Second World War have, until now, passed by with little fanfare…
Read more at Pen & Sword Books...
Of further interest...

Australia's First Blood and the Battle of Britain
Wed 15th JulyDuring the summer and autumn of 1940, Germany launched its air campaign to gain superiority over the RAF. It was not successful, and this defeat marked a turning point in the Allies’ favour. A handful of the 3000 or so airmen who fought in the Battle of B Read article...

Allied air power lays the foundation for the conquest of Sicily
Wed 7th AugustBryn Evans, author of With The East Surreys in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy 1942-45, looks back to 70 years ago, when Allied air forces took their revolutionary new strategy for air warfare into the invasion of Sicily. Read article...

Bomber Harris
Tue 31st MayThe Second Front written for Warfare Magazine by Martin Mace. Read article...

RAF PLAYS SANTA CLAUS TO DUTCH CHILDREN
Thu 1st DecemberRAF PLAYS SANTA CLAUS TO DUTCH CHILDREN. Read article...