The son of a World War Two fighter pilot who lived in Huddersfield is appealing for people who knew his dad to come forward.
Edem Duke was a remarkable man who many will remember in the town.
Now an independent film-maker, Justin Aggett, is considering doing a film about his life and Edem’s son, Tony, has asked people with memories to contact him.
Edem was a fighter pilot in France, Belgium and Burma during World War Two. He sang with the Aub Hirst dance band, peformed on radio and had his own Edem Duke Orchestra as well as appearing in variety and on the northern club circuit.
He played in Huddersfield U3A Band, worked as an engineer at valve manufacturers Hopkinsons in Birkby, and played golf at Longley Park.
Edem lived in Birkby and then Newsome and had lots of fans and friends. Edem - the name is Nigerian - was born in Lancashire and died in 1996 aged 75.
He was married to Molly, who is now 93 and still living in Newsome, and has two children, Tony, 63, and 65-year-old Diane.
Tony said: “The RAF is also doing a project at the moment about black pilots who served in the war and how they should be seen as role models by today’s young people.”
According to the National Archives: “Few people are aware of the important contribution made by 500 RAF aircrew recruited from the Caribbean and West Africa. Overcoming the legacy of the official British colour bar to serve over Europe as pilots, navigators, flight engineers and air gunners, these men were pioneers in the truest sense. After suffering a loss rate of more than 30% and, in some cases, incarceration as black PoWs in Nazi Germany, the men returned to their countries of origin and were lost from the historical record.”
According to the website http://www.caribbeanaircrew-ww2.com/ set up to honour Caribbean aircrew who served in World War Two: “The general public in the United Kingdom and elsewhere is scarcely aware of the involvement of Caribbean crew in the air war of 1940-1945. In 1940 no so-called ‘men of colour’ could have joined the Royal Air Force but by the end of the war in 1945 there were between 300 and 500 aircrew from the Caribbean out of a total of around 6,000 volunteers who served during World War Two. About 70 were commissioned and 103 received decorations.”
Anyone who has information about Edem should email Justin Aggett at justfilms@yahoo.com
