Thursday, June 22, 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the first Caribbean immigrants to London after World War Two.
The Empire Windrush ship brought the first of hundreds of thousands of individuals who immigrated to Britain between 1948 and 1971 to aid in the post-war reconstruction of the country on June 22, 1948, at Tilbury Docks in Essex, east of London.
Church services, processions, and exhibitions honouring the cultural contribution of the “Windrush generation” will be staged in London and across the nation to commemorate the anniversary, with the celebrations beginning at the Tilbury Docks.
According to Prince William, King Charles’ eldest son, “Their contributions to Britain cannot be overstated.
“We are a better people today because the children and the grandchildren of those who came in 1948 have stayed and become part of who we are in 2023. And for that we are forever grateful.”
A lot of the events will also acknowledge the biases that the Windrush immigrants and their descendants had to overcome.
Those who arrived via the Windrush, a German-built ship that the British took as a war prize and gave the name of an English river, slept their first nights in London in a shelter located deep underground beneath Clapham South underground station.
