In summer 1945 a Danish dockyard repaired
Monte Rosas war damage. On 18 November 1945, ownership was transferred to the UK as a
prize of war.
Monte Pascoal was damaged by an air raid on
Wilhelmshaven in February 1944. In 1946 she was filled with
chemical bombs, and the British
scuttled her in the
Skagerrak. With him on the voyage was Flight Lieutenant
John Jellicoe Blair from Jamaica. The ship departed from
Southampton on 7 May and arrived in
Trinidad on 20 May. She then stopped at
Kingston, Jamaica,
Tampico, Mexico,
Havana, Cuba and
Bermuda, before returning to the United Kingdom.'', 15th April, 1948 Several weeks before the ship left the United Kingdom, opportunistic advertisements had been placed in a Jamaican newspaper,
The Daily Gleaner, offering cheap passage on the ship's return voyage; advertisements were also placed in newspapers in
British Honduras, British Guiana,
Trinidad and Tobago and other places. However, the cheapest fares were only available to men, who were accommodated in the large, dormitory areas usually allocated to troops. Women were required to travel in the ship's two and four-berth cabins, that cost considerably more. One passenger later recalled that demand for tickets far exceeded supply, and there was a long queue to buy one. The
British Nationality Bill to give the status of
citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC status) to all British subjects connected with the United Kingdom or a British colony, was going through Parliament. Some Caribbean migrants decided to embark in anticipation that the bill would become an
Act of Parliament. Until 1962, the UK had no immigration control for CUKCs. They could settle in the UK indefinitely, without restriction.
Passengers aboard A figure often given for the number of
West Indian migrants aboard
Empire Windrush is 492, based on news reports in the media at the time, which variously announced that "more than 400", "430" or "500" Jamaican men had arrived in Britain. However, the ship's
manifest, kept in the
United Kingdom National Archives, shows that 802 passengers gave their last place of residence as a country in the Caribbean. The Jamaican artist and
master potter Cecil Baugh was also aboard. There were a number of musicians who were later to become well known. These included the
Calypso musicians
Lord Kitchener,
Lord Beginner and
Lord Woodbine, all from Trinidad; the Jamaican jazz trumpeter
Dizzy Reece and the Trinidadian singer
Mona Baptiste, one of the few women on the ship, who travelled first class. A small number of the Caribbean people aboard were
Indo-Caribbeans. One of whom, Sikaram Gopthal, was the father of the record-label owner
Lee Gopthal. They were granted permission to settle in the UK under the
Polish Resettlement Act 1947. One of them later recalled that they were given cabins below the waterline, allowed on deck only in escorted groups, and kept segregated from the other passengers. the travel writer
Freya Stark (who shared a cabin with Cunard); Lady Ivy Woolley, the wife of
Sir Charles Woolley, the governor of British Guiana; Gertrude Whitelaw, the wealthy widow of the former Member of Parliament
William Whitelaw. and
Peter Jonas, who was only two years old and travelling with his mother and older-sister. He would be later well known as an
arts administrator and opera company director. One of the stowaways was a woman called Evelyn Wauchope, a 27-year-old dressmaker. She was discovered seven days out of Kingston. Some of the musicians on-board organized a benefit concert that raised enough money for her fare, and £4 spending money.
Arrival Empire Windrushs arrival became a news event. When she was in the English Channel, the
Evening Standard sent an aircraft to photograph her from the air, and published the story on its front page. She docked at
Tilbury, downriver from London, on 21 June 1948, and, by extension, for the beginning of modern British multiracial society. The purpose of
Empire Windrushs voyage to the Caribbean had been to repatriate service personnel. The UK government neither expected nor welcomed her return with civilian, West Indian migrants. Three days before the ship arrived,
Arthur Creech Jones, the
Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote a
Cabinet memorandum noting that the Jamaican Government could not legally stop people from leaving, and the UK government could not legally stop them from landing. However, he stated that the Government was opposed to this migration, and both the
Colonial Office and the Jamaican government would take all possible steps to discourage it. The day after arrival, several MPs, including
James Dixon Murray, warned the Prime Minister that such an "
argosy of Jamaicans", might "cause discord and unhappiness among all concerned".
George Isaacs, the
Minister of Labour, stated in Parliament that there would be no encouragement for others to follow their example. Despite this, Parliament did not pass the first
legislation controlling immigration from the Commonwealth until 1962. Passengers who had not already arranged accommodation were temporarily housed in the
Clapham South deep shelter in southwest London, less than a mile away from the
Coldharbour Lane Employment Exchange in
Brixton, where some of the arrivals sought work. The stowaways were given brief prison sentences, but were allowed to remain in the UK after their release. Many of
Empire Windrushs passengers intended to stay for only a few years. A number did return to the Caribbean, but a majority settled permanently in the UK. Those born in the West Indies who settled in the UK in this migration movement over the following years are now typically referred to as the "Windrush Generation".
Previous Caribbean migrant arrivals While the 1948 voyage of the
Empire Windrush is well-known, she was not the first ship to bring West Indians to the UK after World War II. On 31 March 1947,
Orient Line's
Ormonde reached
Liverpool from Jamaica with 241 passengers, including 11 stowaways. The passengers included Ralph Lowe, who became the father of the author and poet
Hannah Lowe. On 21 December 1947,
Royal Mail Line's
Almanzora reached Southampton with 200 passengers aboard. As with
Empire Windrush, many were former service personnel who had served in the RAF in World War II. ==Final years==