[2] In 1944, King responded to an advertisement in The Gleaner that called for volunteers to join the British Royal Air Force (RAF) to fight in the Second World War.

[3] Back in Jamaica King struggled to settle into civilian life, finding it difficult to get work, and it was another advertisement in The Gleaner – for tickets on the Empire Windrush – that saw him return to the UK.

[5][6] He also helped to found the West Indian Gazette, the first British newspaper written specifically for a black readership, and was its circulation manager in the mid-1950s.

[4][7] King set up the Windrush Foundation, with Arthur Torrington, in 1996 to preserve the memories of those who arrived on that voyage and to campaign on behalf of West Indian immigrants.

He recalled in a 2008 Guardian interview that "...the first time I read Swanton, he spoke of the smack of willow on leather, of the bowler holding a true line, of sunshine on the grass and pretty girls in summer frocks.

"[16] His funeral took place at Southwark Cathedral on Tuesday, 19 July, attended by some 500 mourners representing family, friends, colleagues and dignitaries.