We often think of the British Armed Forces as exclusively male, but it may surprise you to know that many Caribbean women served in World War II.
Historically, most Armed Forces were almost exclusively composed of men. However, many women joined the British Armed Forces during WW2. The exact number of Caribbean women serving in the British Armed Forces is difficult to determine. Nevertheless, Richard Smith, writing in the Oxford Companion to Black British History, said that “about 600 West Indian Women were recruited for the Auxiliary Territorial Service, arriving in Britain in the Autumn of 1943. The enlistment of these volunteers was accomplished despite official misgivings and obstruction.”
Around 80 Caribbean women joined the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force), and 30 joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS).
Constance Mark’s early life
I previously wrote about Lilian Bader being among the first Black women to join the British Armed Forces. In WWII, Constance Mark, known as Connie, exhibited the loyalty typical of Caribbean women who wished to serve their country during its hour of need.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 21 December 1923, Constance Mark (nee McDonald) was 16 when World War Two was declared. In 1943, when she was 19 years old, Mark was recruited into the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). In this role, she served in Jamaica as a medical secretary to the assistant director of medical services in the British military hospital.
Her duties included typing up the medical reports of the people who had been injured in the war, including documenting the horrific injuries they had received from bombings and combat.
After six months of service, she was promoted to lance corporal and requested a pay increase. However, a pay increase was denied on the grounds that ATS officers were not entitled to it.
She was promoted six months later to full corporal, yet again, a pay increase was denied.
After the war, Connie’s commanding officer submitted a request for her to receive the British Empire Medal, but this was denied.
Speaking of that time, she said: “There was a mood of fear in Jamaica. They put the fear of God in us.”
She added: “We were definitely positively told that the Germans wanted us because we were a stepping-stone to the coast of America. So we were on our tenterhooks all the time.“
When the war ended, Connie viewed it as a relief. “Everybody was happy, ’cause as far as we were concerned, the war was finished”, she commented.
Settling in Britain
Following the war, Mark married Stanley Goodridge, a young Jamaican fast bowler, in 1952. He won a contract to play cricket for Durham in the UK. She joined him in Britain in November 1954 with their baby daughter, Amru Elizabeth. Their son, Stanley, was born in 1957. The couple later separated, and she married Michael Mark.
Connie settled in Britain, worked as a medical secretary, and became involved with several charitable, community and educational projects. These included the Mary Seacole Memorial Association, of which she was a founder member and president. She was also a member of the West Indian Ex-Servicemen and Women’s Association. Mark received a British Empire Medal for meritorious service in 1991 and a Member of the British Empire (MBE) award for her community service two years later.
She participated in Imperial War Museum’s “Their Past Your Future” campaign.
The contributions of West Indians during WW2 were being overlooked. Connie decided to educate people about the contributions of Black people during WW2. She related a story about an Age Concern Meeting that she attended. She brought along some photographs of West Indian ex-servicewomen.
People were surprised and said, “We never knew there were black ex-servicewomen”, and that we even came to England”.
Her next step was applying for a Greater London Arts Council grant. Photographs were obtained from the Imperial War Museum and West Indian ex-servicemen and women. She put together an exhibition for the 50th Anniversary of the end of WW2.
In 1991, Mark was awarded the British Empire Medal for meritorious service. Two years later, she was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) for her community service. Connie died at the age of 83 in 2007.
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