Unity & Division
E.Ita Ekpenyon with fellow St Marylebone D2 sector wardens
Winifred Ekpenyon
Shelterers with Civil Defence personnel
Copyright Westminster City Archives
A wartime Christmas party given by St Marylebone Civil Defence for local children
Copyright Westminster City Archives
By Rory Lalwan
In his account, Ekpenyon describes one evening when hostility was shown by some shelterers to others because of their race or nationality:
"the shelterers were peoples of many nations, with a variety of beliefs. They were young and old people, and children. The bombing of London forced this mixed crowd to be in one another's company, though their ways and manners and views of life in some cases were as opposite as the north and south poles. Some of the shelterers told others to go back to their own countries, and some tried to practice segregation. A spirit of comradeship was lacking. So I told the people that the British Empire ... is made up of up of peoples of many races. I said that though I am an air-raid warden in London, I am still an African. I also said that I ... would like to see a spirit of friendliness, co-operation, and comradeship prevail in this very trying time in the history of the Empire".
Ekpenyon advised that those "trying to create a spirit of disunity in the Empire" should remove to another shelter. A few did.
Elsewhere Ekpenyon expresses his loyalty to Britain, saying his volunteering "made me able to do my share for the British Commonwealth of Nations to which I belong". Many other black people shared this sense of loyalty and desire to contribute to the wartime struggle - but they were commonly frustrated and rebuffed by a widespread colour bar.