Caribbean Regiment
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The Caribbean Regiment (fully the ''First Caribbean Regiment'' or ''1st Caribbean Regiment'', and sometimes referred to as the ''Carib Regiment'') was a
regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
of the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The regiment went overseas in July 1944 and saw service in Italy, Egypt and Palestine.


History

There had been resistance from the
War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...
to forming a new
West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West In ...
regiment, but those who made their own way to the UK were able to enlist in the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
. Nearly 10,000 British West Indians travelled and joined the army in Britain. Following discussion between the Colonial Office and the War Office, the Caribbean Regiment was formed in April 1944 of 4,000 volunteers. The recruits were drawn from the
Imperial fortress Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Lord Salisbury described Malta, Gibraltar, Bermuda, and Halifax as Imperial fortresses at the 1887 Colonial Conference, though by that point they had been so designated for decades. Later histor ...
of
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
and all over the
British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were the territories in the West Indies under British Empire, British rule, including Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Antigua and Barb ...
; most were members of local Volunteer Defence Forces. A few officers and non-commissioned Officers were also drafted in from other British Army units. Many Bermudians were already serving in various regiments and corps of the army (a Bermudian officer becoming a prisoner-of-war at
Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
), as well as in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
and the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
(the first Bermudian killed in the war having been fighter pilot Flying Officer Herman Francis Grant Ede, DFC, of No. 263 Squadron RAF, killed on the 8 June 1940, when the
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
HMS Glorious HMS ''Glorious'' was the second of the three s built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by the First Sea Lord, Lord John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, Fisher, they were relatively lightl ...
was sunk while evacuating 263 Squadron and 46 Squadron from the Battle of Norway) when the Second World War began, with many others joining thereafter. In Bermuda, the manpower of the reserve units (the Bermuda Militia Artillery and the
Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) was created in 1894 as a reserve for the British Army, Regular Army infantry component of the Bermuda Garrison. Renamed the ''Bermuda Rifles'' in 1951, it was amalgamated into the Bermuda Regiment in 1965 ...
, raised in the 1890s, had been joined in 1931 by the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers and in 1939 by Bermuda Militia Infantry), recruited primarily to defend the
dockyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes more involve ...
(which had been joined in the 1930s by the Royal Naval Air Station Bermuda and RAF Darrell's Island, the pre-war international airport which had been taken over by the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
as a staging point for trans-Atlantic flight) was increased by additional recruiting, which began before the declaration of war (The Bermuda Militia Artillery and the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers had been embodied and mobilised for full-time service at mid-day on 24 August 1939, in anticipation of the 1 September invasion of
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
by
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, and preparatory to the 3 September declaration of war against Germany, with the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps preparing for embodiment, but not actually embodied until 4 September 1939; the Bermuda Militia Infantry was formed after the declaration of war), but with the regular component of the garrison having been drastically reduced during post-First World War cutbacks to the regular army, the garrison would remain under-strength 'til the establishment of the Bermuda Base Command of the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
. Despite this, and the threat posed by German surface vessels, submarines, and aircraft, as during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
(when the Bermuda Militia Artillery and the
Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) was created in 1894 as a reserve for the British Army, Regular Army infantry component of the Bermuda Garrison. Renamed the ''Bermuda Rifles'' in 1951, it was amalgamated into the Bermuda Regiment in 1965 ...
had each sent two contingents to the Western Front) volunteers from the local units were soon formed into a contingent for overseas service. This was nominally a Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps contingent to the Lincolnshire Regiment, but a handful of volunteers from the Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Volunteer Engineers were attached for the transit, separating to join their parent corps in England. This contingent departed Bermuda in June, 1940, following which concern of denuding the garrison meant a moratorium was placed on any further drafts being sent overseas by the local units (although many soldiers were to train as pilots at the Bermuda Flying School on Darrell's Island, and those that qualified were discharged and transferred to the Royal Air Force). By 1943, the United States Army and
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
establishment in Bermuda was larger than that of the British Army, the threat posed by the German navy had greatly diminished, and the moratorium against overseas contingents was lifted. A detachment of 104 officers and men (Major W. W. Fuller in command, three other commissioned officers, one warrant officer, 2 Company Quarter Master Sergeants, 3 other sergeants, 14 junior non-commissioned officers, and 80 privates) from the Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Militia Infantry (conscription had been introduced to Bermuda shortly after the declaration of war, but those servicemen who were drafted to the Caribbean Regiment volunteered to serve overseas), arrived on two ships on 13 and 23 April 1944 to form the training cadre of the new regiment at Fort Eustis, a US Army base near
Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...
. The Bermudians prepared for the arrival of the volunteers from West Indian colonies (which had been divided militarily into South Caribbean and North Caribbean areas), who meanwhile had collected into two contingents beginning on 1 April 1944, one at
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
and the other at
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
. They arrived under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Wilkin, OBE, MC, The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), who became the Commanding Officer of the new regiment. Whether a badge was authorised for the regiment is unclear. Although created as a regular line infantry regiment of the British Army, the regiment never appeared in the Army List, in which the badge of a unit, if one was authorised, is described. At least some of the Bermudians wore the General Service Corps cap badge, which was used by the Bermuda Militia Infantry (for which no unique badge had been authorised) while serving with the Caribbean Regiment. A blue, yellow, and green regimental flash was authorised for the Caribbean Regiment, and the Bermudian contingent was authorised to wear the name ''Bermuda'' as a distinguishing mark. In order of the number of strength, the regiment was made up of drafts from
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
(22%), Jamaica (at the time including the
Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...
),
Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...
,
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...
, Bermuda, the
Windward Islands The Windward Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean islands or the West Indies. Located approximately between latitudes 10° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W, they extend from D ...
, and the
Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...
. Newly recruited men were tested in Virginia for fitness, with those not found fit returned to their colonies. With more experience, and a generally higher degree of education, many of the Bermudian men were made non-commissioned officers and distributed around the regiment. Some of the South Caribbean soldiers had already trained for deployment to the Pacific. The Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Militia Infantry contingent had previously joined with the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps' ''Second Contingent'' to the Lincolnshire Regiment in 1943 to form the temporary ''Command Training Battalion'', stationed at Prospect Camp (the location of the Command Headquarters of the Bermuda Garrison) while training for the war in Europe (the two contingents had separated before proceeding overseas). The new regiment trained in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, where the regiment was the first to celebrate the King's birthday in the U.S. since the
American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. The King's Birthday Parade was attended by
Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...
Sir Gordon Nevil Macready, 2nd Baronet , the Head of Mission of the British Army staff in
Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
, who reviewed the regiment and presented the Commanding Officer with special messages from the
Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...
and the
Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire. The colonial secretary never had responsibility for t ...
. The message from the
Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...
(Sir Percy James Grigg, KCB, KCSI, PC) read: The message from the
Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire. The colonial secretary never had responsibility for t ...
(Major (Honorary Colonel, TA) Oliver Stanley, , Royal Field Artillery) read: The Regiment left the USA for
Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...
, in North Africa, in June 1944. Oran was handed over to
Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...
before their arrival, and the Regiment went on to
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, in July 1944, where it was employed in general duties behind the front line. L/BDA/95 Private W.C. Baxter of the Bermuda Militia Infantry died there on 4 September 1944 of an abscess of the liver and was buried at the Naples War Cemetery. In October, it escorted 4,000 German
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
from Italy to Egypt, where it was used in mine clearance work around the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
area. The regiment never saw front line action. This was due partly to inadequate training (with only a single battalion, it had not trained as part of a larger brigade; the smallest unit the British Army normally fielded on its own) and partly because of the anticipated political impact in the British West Indies if heavy casualties had been incurred. The Caribbean Regiment left
Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...
in December 1945 on the troopship ''Highland Monarch'', reaching St. George's Town, Bermuda, on 5 January 1946. The Bermudian contingent disembarked there and was transferred by the rescue tug HMS ''St. Blazey'' to the City of Hamilton, from where the one-hundred officers and other ranks were driven in lorries to Prospect Camp. The remainder of the Regiment departed Bermuda aboard ''Highland Monarch'' for the West Indies, where the Regiment was disbanded (the ship, which also carried other British armed forces personnel returning to their homes, then continued on to
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
,
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, where it collected the crew of the ''Graf Spee'' and other Germans for repatriation to Germany). The Bermudian contingent members were returned to their original unit (the Bermuda Militia Artillery, into which the remaining personnel of the Bermuda Militia Infantry had been transferred) before being placed on the Reserve and discharged from active service. Some were recalled to form part of the contingent sent from the various Bermuda-raised units to the London Victory Celebrations of 1946, and placed back onto the Reserve on their return to Bermuda.''100 Militiamen return from overseas duty'', Page 1 and Page 8, The Royal Gazette, City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 7 January 1946


Gallery

File:Three BVRC Senior NCOs at Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda ca 1940.jpg, Bermudian CSM Edward A. Lee (right) of the Caribbean Regiment circa 1940, during his earlier service with the
Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) was created in 1894 as a reserve for the British Army, Regular Army infantry component of the Bermuda Garrison. Renamed the ''Bermuda Rifles'' in 1951, it was amalgamated into the Bermuda Regiment in 1965 ...
. File:The Caribbean Regiment during the Second World War E31193.jpg, 1st Battalion, Caribbean Regiment soldiers armed with a Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle and Bren light machine gun training in Egypt in 1945 File:The Caribbean Regiment during the Second World War E31194.jpg, 1st Battalion, Caribbean Regiment soldiers train with the
Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy gun", "Chicago typewriter", or "trench broom") is a blowback-operated, selective-fire submachine gun, invented and developed by Brigadier General John T. Thompson, a United States Arm ...
in Egypt in 1945 File:The Caribbean Regiment during the Second World War E31212.jpg, 1st Battalion, Caribbean Regiment soldiers training in Egypt rush from a
Universal carrier The Universal Carrier, a development of the earlier Bren Gun Carrier from its light machine gun armament, was one of a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other companies. The first carriers – the Br ...
to take up position with a Bren gun in 1945 File:The Caribbean Regiment during the Second World War E31201.jpg, 1st Battalion, Caribbean Regiment dance band in Egypt in 1945


See also

* West India Regiments * British West Indies Regiment *
Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...


References


External links

{{more footnotes, date=November 2014
The Royal Gazette: Bermuda's losses in the Second World War
Infantry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 Caribbean Sea operations of World War II Regiments of Caribbean nations Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II British colonial regiments Military units and formations of Barbados in World War II Antigua and Barbuda in World War II Military units and formations of British Leeward Islands in World War II Trinidad and Tobago in World War II British Guiana in World War II