New Exhibit at Wiltshire Museum Opens; Lest We Forget: the Black Contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire

Intriguing and divergent is my two word summary of the latest exhibition at Devizes’ Wiltshire Museum, from one who grew up with first-hand second World War stories from my family’s East-end perspective and became fascinated with subtle similarities and vast differences to that of rural Wiltshire, this opens a whole new Pandora’s box…..

A double show, the first does what it says on the tin, Lest We Forget: the Black Contribution to the World Wars in Wiltshire, exploring the stories and experiences of the Black community living and working in the Armed Forces in Wiltshire during the World Wars. The second focuses on renowned Caribbean writer Eric Walrond, who lived a period of his later life in Bradford-on-Avon, but poor mental health led him to self-refer to Roundway Hospital in Devizes.

Dispersed by several artefacts the walls tell the often shocking realities and hardships faced by Afro-Caribbean and Afro-American soldiers stationed in the UK in general, and relates them to examples and incidents in our county. I shouldn’t leave spoilers here, for it’s truly something you need to digest in the fullness of the displays, but for an example, the secret government attempts to curb interracial relationships as African American troops mingled with “local white women” are particularly upsetting, and show just how high up ingrained prejudices were. The defence of the realm act was used to prosecute women found fraternising with black GIs on military premises but outside these confounds little could be done to prevent them, especially in rural areas like here. It goes on to show images of orphanages where mixed-race children were abandoned because of the shame it would bring to families and the extent of the abuse their mothers received.

To reflect this to local affairs is to suggest the Afro-American soldiers were far more hospitable and welcomed than their white counterparts, displaying an image of the Three Horseshoes in Burbage, where it was said the Afro-American soldiers would entertain locals on piano while the white GIs tended to remain at the back of the bar not caring to mingle. Such would’ve been social standards in segregated States, sprinkled with jealousy locals found these “negros” intriguing I suspect.

But this is only one of many of the enlightening and frank nuggets of information on display. Amidst uniforms, Caribbean enlistment posters, medals, pins and documentations, these panels bring to life the true accounts with astounding and, more often than not, appalling happenings, yet respectfully pieced together with wonderful and intense research. One such source was Birmingham based The Forgotten Generations, a not-for-profit organisation with aims and objectives to provide historical and current information of British African and Caribbean people for educational purposes.

I was honoured to meet director and trustee of the TFG, retired Warrant Officer Royal Air Force, Donald Campbell at the opening event, who passionately expressed the story of fellow trustee and WWII veteran Albert Jarrett, of whom he encouraged to re-apply for medals he earned but didn’t care to claim at the time, leading him to be honoured at Downing Street. Sadly Albert passed away soon after, but I was delighted to meet his wife Barbara Campbell, a dietitian and psychiatric nurse during the war.

Albert’s story is one of many displayed, and an installation in this exhibition is thoughtful creative responses from Tidworth’s Crafty Club. Supported by the Army Welfare Service, the community club provides socialising opportunities to explore crafts. There’s a sequential woven decoupage playing tribute to Albert, alongside other artworks.

Centrepiece of the alternative exhibit, of which you can flow between the two, is a portrait of the writer Eric Walrond by Jamaican born local artist Clifton Powell. Clifton is a keen participant of the charity Arts Together, who you may have seen on television recently contributing a portrait of Gilda Oliver to the Windrush Portraits of a Pioneering Generation project for the Royal Collection Trust. The portrait of Eric on display has attracted the attention online of his New Yorken granddaughter Joan Stewart, who thanked Clifton and said “you nailed the eyes, they’re perfect.” But for want of a local connection the bridges of Bradford-on-Avon and the gates of his final resting place, Roundway Hospital in Devizes are depicted within the painting.

Harlem Renaissance writer and journalist Eric Walrond led a busy life, born in British Guiana, he moved from Barbados to Panama and onto New York before ending his days in Wiltshire. His magnum opus being a 1926 novel Tropic Death, stories viscerally charting stone quarry workers and builders of the Panama Canal. He was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Harmon Foundation Award for achievement in literature. An early edition of the book is on display, yet also you’ll find a ledger from the Avon rubber factory in Melksham, where Walrond laboured.

Fascinating to note such a renowned author needed employment in a factory, after his often misinterpreted relationship with Marcus Garvey, as a journalist for publications of his Universal Negro Improvement Association in New York, the very foundations of the later American Civil Rights Movement. But that thought is a reflection of the two exhibitions combined, fascinating though it is, the hardships they faced, even on a local level, is one of many often forgotten sides to the history of the world wars. Ultimate respect should be awarded to the creators of these exhibits, especially over Remembrance, one which opens today and runs until 17th February 2024 at Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, do go to see it.

I am truly humbled to have been invited to preview this at the opening evening and meet the researchers and honourable guests, not forgoing the scrumptious Caribbean themed spread, naturally, which was supplied by Abrilli of Tonka Bean; I nipped back inside for seconds when no one was watching! Honestly, you have to keep an eye on me no matter how interesting the exhibit may be….