Five members of the West Indies Auxiliary Territorial Service sitting on a military vehicle, 1943-47...

In the early stages of the Second World War black Caribbean women wishing to support the war effort were given little support or encouragement by the British government. Voluntary groups in the West Indies were given no financial support from the War Office in London and those wishing to travel to Britain were discouraged either by the racial prejudice of recruiting officers or by policies such as that which stipulated that those wishing to serve in Britain had to pay there own passage across the Atlantic. However, in face of the exigencies of war which necessitated the total mobilisation of the Empire and Commonwealth citizens it became clear that this discriminatory policy could not stand. By 1943 West Indian Women were allowed to join the uniformed services and by the end of the war many hundreds had seen service with these organisations and thousands more contributed through work in essential industries and agriculture.