A new short film, Cornwallis Cloth, commissioned by Imperial War Museums (IWM), uncovers the largely overlooked role of Caribbean workers in the Allied victory during the Second World War. The film, which premieres at the Old Royal Naval College in London, sheds light on the thousands of labourers recruited from across the British West Indies to build air and naval bases in the western Atlantic and Caribbean.
These bases were part of the 'destroyers for bases' deal between UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D Roosevelt, where the US provided warships in exchange for land on British territories. The bases in Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Guiana, Jamaica, St Lucia, and Trinidad proved critical for anti-submarine warfare, securing the Atlantic and freeing resources for Europe.
Despite their vital contribution, the Caribbean civilians received little recognition in the UK. The film, produced by Tony Thompson and Rebecca Goldstone, draws on 30 years of research, including testimonies from Caribbean elders, veterans, and German U-boat crew. It explores the era's civil rights struggles through the story of Bonita Skeete, inspired by the 1942 German torpedo attack on the SS Cornwallis in Barbados.
Thompson noted that the war effort forced colonial powers to grant civil rights concessions to Caribbean workers, who had been at the forefront of labour movements in the 1930s. The film aims to address what he calls an 'archival silence' around this history. The accompanying exhibition at the Old Royal Naval College runs from Saturday, with an IWM spokesperson describing the project as exploring the 'transformational impact of war' on Caribbean people.
