Amos A Ford - Former Civil Servant, Author, Executive and Teacher of the Guitar

Portrait and interview - 1994

Amos, born in Belize City, now the Independent Nation of Belize in central America came to the United Kingdom under contract of service with the Ministry of Supply in 1941.

He was one of a thousand young patriotic young men in the territory, then known as British Honduras, who volunteered to travel to wartime Britain to work in a British Honduran Forestry Unit in the Scottish Highlands.

As a writer of both fiction and non-fictional works, he has written a book ‘Telling the Truth – The Life and Times of the British Honduran Forestry Unit in Scotland 1941-44’, which was the culmination of almost two decades of painstaking work.

Having completed their three-year stint, ninety-three of the volunteers were heading home, but were detoured via New York and ended up being held temporarily in the notorious Ellis Island Illegal Alien Centre as Britain had failed to issue them with passports.  This was, however, the final chapter in a tale of discrimination, neglect and indifference that the British Hondurans endured while in the charge of the British Ministry of Supply.  From the outset, the men had been poorly equipped and issued with clothing totally unsuitable for their arrival in a Scottish winter.  The wooden huts were no better.  Sickness and fatigue were common with three men dying from pneumonia.

Amos’ book was a challenge to Whitehall to ‘come clean’ but to no avail.  As a Civil Servant in Whitehall himself from 1960-80, Amos had chanced upon documents dealing with the war-time forestry units and was surprised that there were detailed accounts of Australian, Canadian and New Zealand units but no mention of his.  He feels certain it has been the subject of a sustained cover-up.

‘Telling the Truth’ was screened by Channel 4 television in November 1990.

Amos was previously a Civil Servant with the DHSS in Newcastle-on-Tyne but is now retired, living in Totnes.  He is an executive member of the North London West Indian Association and between 1960 and 1980 was an executive member of the British Caribbean Association.  He is Vice Chairman of the West Indian Leadership Council.

Amos has also written ‘Recollections’ which is a booklet serving as an introduction to school children on life in the Caribbean.  He is currently working on two books – The Almond Tree, a factually based novel about life in Belize and The Beginning of Slavery.  He is also a teacher of the Spanish guitar.

I am the only black man living in Totnes he would say with pride.

Update: Amos has since died.