RAF wartime exhibition celebrates the forgotten fewest of the Few
Heritage Royal Air Force museum showcases black and Asian pilots who battled for Britain.
Mohinder Singh Pujji was one of 18 qualified Indian pilots to join the RAF in 1940. Now 90 he is the only one left to tell the tale and is still disgusted at the lack of recognition given to the role of black and Asian airmen and women during the war.
Pujji was treated as a hero in wartime Britain. He was ushered to the front of cinema queues and often treated to free meals in restaurants. But after the war films such as The Dam Busters presented a white-only view of the RAF - a fact that appalled him.
In an attempt to put the record straight a new permanent exhibition was opened yesterday at RAF Museum Cosford in Shropshire, called Diversity in the Royal Air Force. The launch comes in a week when Prince Harry's comments have reignited the debate about racism in the armed forces and the RAF is hoping that the exhibition will help to challenge negative perceptions by celebrating the racial diversity of its history.
It features men such as Indra Lal Roy, who fought in biplanes over first world war trenches or Princess Noor Inayat Khan, who served in the WAAF before being parachuted behind enemy lines to become the first woman wireless operator to infiltrate occupied France.
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Mohinder Singh Pujji was one of 18 qualified Indian pilots to join the RAF in 1940. Now 90 he is the only one left to tell the tale and is still disgusted at the lack of recognition given to the role of black and Asian airmen and women during the war.
Pujji was treated as a hero in wartime Britain. He was ushered to the front of cinema queues and often treated to free meals in restaurants. But after the war films such as The Dam Busters presented a white-only view of the RAF - a fact that appalled him.
In an attempt to put the record straight a new permanent exhibition was opened yesterday at RAF Museum Cosford in Shropshire, called Diversity in the Royal Air Force. The launch comes in a week when Prince Harry's comments have reignited the debate about racism in the armed forces and the RAF is hoping that the exhibition will help to challenge negative perceptions by celebrating the racial diversity of its history.
It features men such as Indra Lal Roy, who fought in biplanes over first world war trenches or Princess Noor Inayat Khan, who served in the WAAF before being parachuted behind enemy lines to become the first woman wireless operator to infiltrate occupied France.