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Shepherd’s Bush, London: Capital’s First Black Bus Driver Goes to the Front

Jamaican-born Joe Clough moved to the UK in 1906. He spent much of World War One driving a field ambulance around Ypres.

In 1908 Clough applied for a job with the London General Omnibus Company and is thought to have been the first black motor bus driver in the capital.

He drove a B-type bus along the route between Liverpool Street and Wormwood Scrubs. His home depot was the Shepherd’s Bush Bus Garage.

In 1915 Joe enlisted in the Army Service Corps and drove a field ambulance for four years. The area in and around Ypres was one of the bloodiest arenas of the war.

After the war, on Remembrance Day each year, Joe drove the β€œPoppy Bus” which collected donations for the Earl Haig Poppy Fund.

In the 1940s Joe became a taxi driver and retired, aged 82, in 1968. He died in 1977, aged 91.

Location: Shepherd’s Bush Bus Garage, Well Road, Shepherd’s Bush, London W12 8DA
Image: Joe Clough and B-type bus, courtesy of London Transport Museum

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8 minutes

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