Summary

  • Today marks 75 years since passengers on the Empire Windrush disembarked at Tilbury in Essex

  • The ship brought people seeking jobs from the Caribbean to fill post-war labour shortages in the UK

  • The passengers, and other arrivals between 1948 and 1971, became known as the Windrush generation

  • "We have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go," Lorna James, who arrived in 1963 aged 14, tells the BBC

  • The 75th anniversary is being marked with a series of concerts, exhibitions and celebrations across the country

  • King Charles III has hailed the Windrush generation's "profound and permanent contribution to British life"

Live Reporting

Edited by Jack Burgess

  1. Who are the Windrush Generation?

    Immigrants on board the Empire Windrush reading a newspaperGetty Images

    The Windrush Generation were the first large group of people arriving in the UK from the Caribbean.

    The symbolic term encompasses that 1948 group as well as thousands more who came from the Caribbean up until 1971, when British immigration laws changed.

    Many of the Windrush Generation had served in the British armed forces in World War Two and large numbers became nurses in the newly-established NHS and transport workers.

    Watch more here.

  2. What was the Windrush?

    A picture of the Windrush ship

    Originally a German cruise ship before becoming a German troop ship during World War Two, the liner was taken as a British prize of war and re-named the HMT Empire Windrush in 1947.

    In 1948 the Windrush, docked at Kingston, Jamaica, to pick up more than 100 British servicemen on leave and bring them back to the UK.

    The ship was largely empty, so an advertisement was placed in the local newspaper offering a £28 cut-price journey to Tilbury docks in Essex, which attracted many former servicemen from Jamaica and neighbouring Caribbean islands.

    The ship brought passengers from the Caribbean to fill post-War labour shortages in the UK.

  3. It was 75 years ago today…

    Jack Burgess
    BBC News Live reporter

    ...that the passengers of the HMT Empire Windrush ship disembarked at Tilbury Docks in Essex - a major moment in modern British history.

    The ship carried the first of thousands of Caribbean migrants encouraged to come to the UK to fill post-War labour shortages.

    King Charles III has hailed the Windrush generation's "immeasurable" impact and says those who came to the UK had made a "profound and permanent contribution to British life".

    Events across the UK are marking the anniversary today and we're expecting the King to appear at a service at Windsor Castle.

    Stick with us as we bring you the latest.