Competition and Accommodation: the Development of the Windward Islands Banana Export Trade and the Problems of Caribbean Rivalry

Abstract

Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, the Windward Islands had exported bananas to Canada, although not to the UK. After the defeat of the Axis Powers in the summer of 1945, despite the Windward Islands not having an established shipping service attempts were made, particularly on Dominica, to resume banana exports. A number of small-scale shipments were made between 1945 and 1948, involving companies such as A.C. Shillingford, the Grayson Shipping Line, and the Alcoa Shipping Line (author’s interview; Dominica Tribune, 11 September 1948 and 18 June 1949; West India Committee Circular, July 1948; and CO 852/902/2). However, it was not until 1949, that a regular banana shipping service was established, again solely on the initiative of private interests, which in time led to the establishment of a new source of bananas for the UK.