Billy Strachan | |
|---|---|
 Strachan in 1942 | |
| Born | William Arthur Watkin Strachan 16 April 1921 Kingston, Colony of Jamaica, British Empire |
| Died | 26 April 1998 (aged 77) |
| Other names | Bill Steel (pseudonym) Caliban (pseudonym) |
| Education | Wolmer's Boys' High School, Kingston Diploma in Administration with Education and Administrative Law. Bachelor of Law degree from the University of London |
| Occupation(s) | Civil servant, RAF bomber pilot, newspaper publisher, Chief Clerk of Courts |
| Organization(s) | Caribbean Labour Congress Movement for Colonial Freedom Seretse Khama Fighting Committee |
| Known for | Communist activism Human rights activism Wartime service in the RAF |
| Notable work | Founder of Caribbean News |
| Political party | Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) |
| Spouse(s) | Joyce Smith (m. 1942; div. 1970s) Mary Collins (m. 1983) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Air Force, No. 99 Squadron RAF, No. 101 Squadron RAF, No. 156 Squadron RAF of the Pathfinder squadron |
| Years of service | 1940–1946 |
| Rank | Flight Lieutenant |
| Battles / wars | Second World War |
William Arthur Watkin Strachan (16 April 1921 – 26 April 1998) was a British communist, civil rights activist, and pilot. He is most noted for his achievements as a bomber pilot with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War, and for his reputation as a highly influential figure within Britain's black communities.
As a teenager in Jamaica at the outbreak of the Second World War, Strachan sold all his possessions and travelled alone to Britain to join the RAF. He survived 33 bombing operations against Nazi Germany during a time when the average life expectancy for an RAF crew was seven operations. He survived numerous life-threatening situations including being shot by the Nazis, a training crash, the Nazi bombing of the hotel he was staying at during his honeymoon, and a near mid-air collision with Lincoln Cathedral. Rising to the rank of flight lieutenant, an extremely rare achievement for a Black person in Britain during the 1940s, he was charged with investigating incidents of racism on RAF bases throughout Britain, boosting the morale of many Caribbean men in the British military.
Postwar, Strachan became a communist and a human rights activist, campaigning for universal suffrage and worker's rights, and promoting anti-colonial and anti-imperialist politics. He was a leading member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), an admirer of both the Cuban Revolution and the Viet Minh, and a committed communist activist for the rest of his life.[1] His communist beliefs saw him become the victim of political persecution, once kidnapped by the United States for his communist politics, and being banned from legally travelling to multiple countries, including British Guiana, St Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad, and even his home country of Jamaica.
Between 1952 and 1956, Strachan published the newspaper Caribbean News, one of the first monthly Black newspapers in Britain. He was a mentor to many leading black civil rights activists in Britain, including Trevor Carter, Dorothy Kuya, Cleston Taylor, and Winston Pinder, and was a close personal friend of the president of Guyana, Cheddi Jagan. In later life, Strachan was called to the bar, becoming an expert on British laws regarding drink driving and adoption. He also helped found a charity that taught disabled people how to ride horses. He is recognised by numerous historians, activists, and academics as one of the most influential and respected black civil rights figures in British-Caribbean history, and a pioneer of black civil rights in Britain.
- ^ Horsley, David (2019). Billy Strachan 1921–1988 RAF Officer, Communist, Civil Rights Pioneer, Legal Administrator, Internationalist and Above All Caribbean Man. London: Caribbean Labour Solidarity. p. 1. ISSN 2055-7035. Retrieved 8 May 2023.