103-y-o J’can pens book as monument to World War II farm workers

He is 103 years old and has just published his first book, dedicated to the forgotten farm workers of World War II who helped to defeat Nazi Germany.

Meet John McHugh, a Jamaican and a printer by trade, but also one of the forgotten farm workers of World War II whose contribution to the war effort against Nazi Germany he has now documented in a book dedicated to those who worked in the World War II farm work programme that formed part of an American-British agreement.

The book, The Forgotten Reapers of World War II: Gallant Jamaicans Help Defeat the Axis Powers, is currently available on Amazon.

McHugh was born in St Ann’s Bay, St Ann in Jamaica and attended St Ann’s Bay Primary School. On leaving school he became an apprentice printer at Alf. E Burrowers and Son Printery in St Ann’s Bay, the same printery where Jamaica’s first national hero, Marcus Garvey, also worked.

At age 23, McHugh was part of the second batch of Jamaicans recruited under the US and British governments’ Manpower Commission, who were sent to the US as farm workers during the war.

“I came to the United States because I did not want to go to England,” he told The Gleaner in a telephone interview.

McHugh spent 15 months in the US under the programme before returning to Jamaica to resume his career as a printer.

He remained at Alf. DE. Burrowers and Son Printery, rising to the post of manager. He went on to get married, have a son and remained in Jamaica for the next 20 years.

With the travel bug getting its hooks into him, he and his family moved to England where he had three other children with his wife.

In 1968, the family moved to the US, settling in New Jersey before moving to Florida in 2013 where they still reside.

McHugh’s project is the hand-written diary he kept during his time under the war time farm work programme, in book form.

The preface to the book, which he began putting together as far back as 1995, states, “As a young man of 23 and with a daring spirit of adventure, I was among the thousands who left Jamaica for America in the second batch of farm workers in June 1944. As I ventured forth, I kept a contemporaneous written record of my travels and personal experiences, including the reports and experiences of friends who traveled with me and who were dispersed over other states of America. And as I began to draft my story, I further drew upon my memories. This book is based on those combined recollections.”

He said his desire to chronicle – and assist in – the war effort can be traced back to his creation of a map that illustrated the Nazi occupation of Europe.

“Such was my concern for the development of the conflict,” he said.

McHugh told The Gleaner that the need to write the book has been a compelling force, as he has made several attempts over the years to complete his account. However, it was in 1995, the Jubilee year commemorating 50 years since the end of the war and, simultaneously, the return of the farm workers to Jamaica in 1945 after having contributed to the war effort in America, that he was able to work on his narrative.

McHugh said there is no monument in recognition of the “forgotten farm workers” and his book is dedicated to their memories.

In the meantime, the centenarian attributed his long life to obedience to his parents and keeping active.

He recalled that he was one of the best footballers in St Ann’s Bay and that people would flock to see him play.

“I am trying to live my life out as best as I can. I am satisfied that the book has been completed that chronicles all that I went through,” he said.

He further stated that “I am satisfied with my life”.

McHugh still walks several times a day and remains very active.

There will be a launch of his book at the West Regional Library in Broward County on June 9.

An excerpt from the book states, “From the indispensable onion fields of Elba, New York State, to the glittering orchard of the ‘Big Apple’, John McHugh’s ‘The Forgotten Reapers’ spotlights the invaluable role that he and his fellow Jamaican farm workers played in saving the crops of World War II America and in maintaining necessary industry and commerce throughout America’s cities”.

The book is said to capture the magic of the US as seen from the war workers’ perspective. It brings recognition to these workers so they are not seen as mere statistics in the logistics of fighting the war, but as invaluable contributors’ who were integral to Uncle Sam winning the war.

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