British West Indies Regiment
British West Indies Regiment | |
---|---|
Palestine 1917–18 |
The British West Indies Regiment was a unit of the British Army during the
Formation
In 1915 the
The 1st Battalion was formed in September 1915 at
- British Guiana—A Company.
- Trinidad—B Company.
- Trinidad and St Vincent—C Company.
- Grenada and Barbados—D Company.
A further ten battalions were formed afterwards. High wastage led to further drafts being required from
The battalions of the regiment included:[4]
- 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.
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.[7]
Taranto revolt
Following the Armistice in November 1918 the battalions of the BWIR were concentrated at
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".[8]
Awards
See also
- African-Caribbean leftism
- George Blackman
- Gershom Browne
- Arthur Andrew Cipriani
- John Daley
- Sam Manning
- Stanley Stair
- Clennell Wickham
Further reading
- Joseph, Cedric L. (2008). The British West Indies Regiment, 1914–1918. Georgetown: Free Press. ISBN 978-976-8178-26-8.
- Smith, Richard (2004). Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War: Race, Masculinity and the Development of a National Consciousness. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719069858.
- Elkins, W. F. (Spring 1970). "A Source of Black Nationalism in the Caribbean: The Revolt of the British West Indies Regiment at Taranto, Italy". Science & Society. 34 (1): 99–103. JSTOR 40401466.
- Christian, Gabriel (2014). "The Interwar Years & the Caribbean Soldier in Social Transformation: A Dominican Perspective" (PDF). Dominica Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- Smith, Richard (2008). "Reading List: The British West Indies Regiment and black soldiers in the First World War". Department of Media and Communications, Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- J. B. M. Frederick, Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978, Volume I, 1984: Microform Academic Publishers, Wakefield, United Kingdom.
References
- ^ "The British West Indies Regiment in 1914-1918". The Long, Long Trail: The British Army in the Great War of 1914–1918. 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- ^ a b "Caribbean participants in the First World War". Memorial Gates Trust. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
- ^ https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/a-global-view/the-caribbean/jamaica/
- ^ Frederick, p. 71.
- ^ a b Tucker, Spencer; Roberts, Priscilla Mary. Encyclopedia of World War I. p. 508.
- ^ The Times History of the War. p. 88.
- ^ "Lest We Forget – The British West Indies Regiment". Grenada National Archives. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- ^ a b Johns, Steven (2014). "The British West Indies Regiment mutiny, 1918". libcom.org. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
External links
- Howe, Glenford D. (10 March 2011). "World Wars: A White Man's War? World War One and the West Indies". BBC History.
- "Dishonoured legion". The Guardian. 7 October 1999. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- Smith, Richard (2008). "West Indians at War". Caribbean Studies. 36 (1). Retrieved 12 November 2014.