RAF Exhibition Wins Highly Commended Award

The RAF Museum exhibition “Pilots of the Caribbean: Volunteers of African Heritage in the RAF” was given a Highly Commended Award in the ‘Best Temporary Exhibition’ category at the Museums and Heritage Awards 2015 held recently in London, UK.

“Pilots of the Caribbean: Volunteers of African Heritage” in the RAF tells the story of Black servicemen and women from the Caribbean, Africa and Britain who volunteered to serve in the Royal Air Force in two World Wars and the subsequent peace.

The exhibition featured Bermuda’s Philip Lamb, who was one of four black Bermudians to serve in the Royal Air Force in World War Two.

Mr Lamb, who died in 2013 at age 90, reached the rank of leading aircraftsman with the RAF and among other wartime exploits lived through a German bombing raid which left him hospitalised with serious injuries.

World War Two newsreel on Caribbean and Bermudian servicemen in the United Kingdom

A spokesperson said, “These volunteers fought and died for their mother country and for freedom, and the exhibition commemorates and celebrates their vital contribution to the defence of Britain, her Empire and Commonwealth.

“The exhibition also highlights the RAF’s success in embracing diversity, demonstrating how the rich, cosmopolitan nature of modern Britain owes much to the Black men and women who wore air force blue.

“‘Pilots’, was curated in partnership with Black Cultural Archives with an initial call out to the Black British community which encouraged a dialogue, engagement and sharing of stories. The exhibition display incorporates these stories along with archive materials, video footage and photographs.

“The temporary exhibition was opened in November 2013 at the Museum’s North London site by Baroness Floella Benjamin OBE. In 2014 it was on display at the Mitchel Library in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games and it is currently on display at the Museum site at Cosford in the West Midlands.

“It has been an incredibly popular exhibition with visits from Black History Groups across the country, local dignitaries and celebrities such as JLS and Reggae icon Eddy Grant.

“An online version of the exhibition is in development and plans are now afoot to tour the exhibition across RAF Stations around the UK.”

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Category: All, History