British West Indies Regiment
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The British West Indies Regiment was a unit of the British Army during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, formed from volunteers from British colonies in the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
.


Formation

In 1915 the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
formed a second
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
regiment from Caribbean volunteers who had made their way to
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. Initially, these volunteers were drafted into a variety of units within the army, but in 1915 it was decided to group them together into a single regiment, named the British West Indies Regiment. The similarity of titles has sometimes led to confusion between this war-time unit and the long established
West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...
. Both were recruited from black Caribbean volunteers and a number of officers from the WIR were transferred to the BWIR. The 1st Battalion was formed in September 1915 at
Seaford, Sussex Seaford is a town in East Sussex, England, east of Newhaven and west of Eastbourne.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. In the Middle Ages, Se ...
, England. It was made up of men from: * British Guiana—A Company. *
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
—B Company. *Trinidad and St Vincent—C Company. * Grenada and
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
—D Company. A further ten battalions were formed afterwards. High wastage led to further drafts being required from
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
,
British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,
and
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
before the regiment was able to begin training. In total 15,600 men served in the British West Indies Regiment. Jamaica contributed two-thirds of these volunteers, while others came from
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
, Barbados,
the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
, British Honduras (now Belize), Grenada, British Guiana (now Guyana), the Leeward Islands, Saint Lucia and St Vincent. Nearly 5,000 more subsequently volunteered. The battalions of the regiment included: * 1st Btn (formed 1 October 1915) * 2nd Btn (formed 1 January 1916) * 3rd Btn (formed 7 January 1916) * 4th Btn (formed 31 May 1916) * 5th Btn (formed as a reserve battalion on 7 August 1916, converted to infantry by April 1918) * 6th Btn (formed 30 March 1917) * 7th Btn (formed 31 March 1917) * 8th Btn (formed 7 July 1917) * 9th Btn (formed 21 July 1917) * 10th Btn (formed 26 August 1917) * 11th Btn (formed 2 October 1917) * 12th Btn (formed 8 December 1917) * Reserve Btn (formed April 1918)


Wartime service

The British West Indies Regiment played a significant role in the First World War especially in Palestine and Jordan where they were employed in military operations against the Ottoman Army. During the Palestine Campaign
General Allenby Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army officer and Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in the First World War, in which he led th ...
sent the following telegram to the then Governor of Jamaica William Henry Manning: "I have great pleasure in informing you of the gallant conduct of the machine-gun section of the 1st British West Indies Regiment during two successful raids on the Turkish trenches. All ranks behaved with great gallantry under heavy rifle and shell fire and contributed in no small measure to the success of the operations". While the 1st and 2nd Battalions served mainly in Egypt and Palestine, the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th Battalions served in France and Flanders, with the 5th Battalion acting as reserve draft unit. The 8th and 9th Battalions also served in France and Flanders, before being transferred to Italy in 1918, while the 10th and 11th Battalions also served in France and Italy.


Taranto revolt

Following the Armistice in November 1918 the battalions of the BWIR were concentrated at
Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...
, Italy, to prepare for
demobilisation Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milit ...
. However they were still required to work; loading and unloading ships, performing labour fatigues, and building and cleaning latrines for white soldiers, all of which caused resentment, especially when they discovered that white soldiers had been awarded a pay rise which they were not. Finally, on 6 December 1918, the men of the 9th Battalion refused to obey orders, and 180 sergeants signed a petition complaining about poor pay, allowances, and promotions. On 9 December the 10th Battalion also refused to work. Over a period of four days a black NCO was killed and a lieutenant colonel assaulted. In response, men of the
Worcestershire Regiment The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. The regiment f ...
were sent in to restore order. The 9th Battalion was disbanded and its personnel redistributed to other battalions, which were disarmed. Around 60 men were tried for mutiny, generally receiving sentences from three to five years, although one man received 20 years, and another was executed by firing squad. Bitterness persisted after the mutiny was suppressed, and on 17 December 1918 about 60 NCOs of the BWIR met to form the Caribbean League, calling for equal rights, self-determination and closer union in the West Indies. At a meeting on 20 December, a sergeant of the 3rd Battalion stated that "the black man should have freedom and govern himself in the West Indies and that if necessary, force and bloodshed should be used to attain that object".


Awards

During World War I the BWIR was awarded 81 medals for bravery and 49 men were mentioned in despatches.


See also

* African-Caribbean leftism * George Blackman * Gershom Browne *
Arthur Andrew Cipriani Captain Arthur Andrew Cipriani (31 January 1875 – 18 April 1945) was a Trinidad and Tobago labour leader and politician. He served as mayor of Port of Spain, elected member of the Legislative Council, leader of the Trinidad Workingmen's Associa ...
* John Daley * Sam Manning * Stanley Stair * Clennell Wickham


Further reading

* * * * * * J. B. M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Volume I, 1984: Microform Academic Publishers,
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.


References


External links

* * * {{cite journal , url= http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/caribbean_studies/v036/36.1.smith.html , title=West Indians at War , first=Richard , last=Smith , journal=Caribbean Studies , volume=36 , number=1 , year=2008 , access-date=12 November 2014 Regiments of the British Army in World War I Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations disestablished in 1921 British Caribbean