Remembering the second contingent of the 1st Battalion BWIR and a Contingent of Merchant and Planters (168 men in total) who sailed from Trinidad (109) / Barbados (29) on RMS Danube on 18/19 October, stopping at Plymouth (where BWIR were landed) and arriving at Tilbury Docks on 1 November 1915. The contingents, including servicemen from Grenada, Guyana (30) and St. Lucia were invariably given a hearty send off by their friends and well-wishers. On arrival in London, the Merchants and Planters were received by Mr AE Aspinall, Hon. Secretary of the West India Committee, who put them in touch with various recruiting centres, and assisted them in joining their respective regiments. Between October 1915 and March 1916, Seaford was used as a training camp for the men from the West Indies in preparation for fighting in Europe. Withnoe camp, Whitsand Bay, Plymouth was also an arrival camp. The new arrivals were inadequately clothed for the harsh realities of the British cold in winter and the huts badly insulated. As a result the camps became rife with diseases and men lost their lives totally unnecessarily. For those who died extra information has been collected from the Soldiers' Effects records, but for lots of these men there are only medal records because they managed to survive; (the medal rolls are however split by island and show their original battalion). So they sailed from home, served in the war and then sailed home again, with the regiment not invited to the Peace (Victory) Parade held in London July 1919. Still to find: Ralph Lionel Fabien b1887 [c1901 Student in Hertfordshire], Vicente (Vincent) Leon Farfan b1885. // Barbados BWIR service numbers from 1015; Trinidad BWIR numbers from
http://caribbeanrollofhonour-ww1-ww2.yolasite.com/1st-merchants-contingent.php
Created by: , Deborah102878
Died 1917
British Army Second Lieutenant Gloucestershire Regiment 4th gloucest Battalion
British Army 5013 Private London Regiment (Artist's Rifles) O.T.C. 28th Battalion
British Army Second Lieutenant Gloucestershire Regiment 4th (City of Bristol) Battalion (Territorial)
Born 1886
British Army 7482 Private Inns of Court Officer Training Corps
Other Empire Force Trinidad Light Infantry Volunteers
Born 1896
Air Force (RAF/RFC) 13357 Air Mechanic 2nd Class Royal Flying Corps
British Army Royal Warwickshire Regiment 10th Battalion
Air Force (RAF/RFC) Lieutenant (Observer) Royal Air Force
Born 1898
Died 1916
British Army 5226 Private London Regiment 28th london regiment (artist Battalion
British Army 6251 Private London Regiment 2/20th lond Battalion
Born 1899
British Army 12269 Private Army Cyclist Corps
British Army 3771 Trooper Life Guards 2nd Battalion
Born 1887
Other Empire Force 140 Private Barbados Volunteers
British Army 1047 Private British West Indies Regiment 2nd Battalion
British Army Captain Trinidad Volunteers
British Army 760828 Private London Regiment 28th london regiment (artist Battalion
British Army 5031 Private London Regiment 28th london regiment (artist Battalion
…
Born 1894
British Army 1041 Acting Colour Serjeant British West Indies Regiment 1st Battalion
British Army 1041 Corporal British West Indies Regiment 5th Battalion
British Army 10095 Acting Serjeant Machine Gun Corps
British Army 1145 Acting Serjeant British West Indies Regiment 1st Battalion
British Army 1858 Acting Serjeant London Regiment 31st Battalion
Born 1898
Died 1918
British Army 1433 Private British West Indies Regiment 1st Battalion
Born 1894
British Army Captain Tank Corps
British Army Temporary Second Lieutenant Tank Corps
Born 1892
British Army 5011 Private London Regiment
British Army Lieutenant Royal Warwickshire Regiment
British Army 5011 Private London Regiment 1/28th lond Battalion
…
Born 1890
British Army 1082 Private British West Indies Regiment 2nd Battalion
Born 1889
Died 1968
British Army Second Lieutenant Royal Garrison Artillery
British Army 76959 Corporal Royal Engineers Signals Depot
British Army Second Lieutenant Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
British Army 760824 Private London Regiment 28th london regiment (artist Battalion
British Army 5022 Private London Regiment 28th london regiment (artist Battalion
…
Born 1895
Other Empire Force Trinidad Light Infantry Volunteers Motor Cycle Section
Air Force (RAF/RFC) 15476 Air Mechanic 2nd Class Royal Flying Corps
Air Force (RAF/RFC) Temporary Flight Second Lieutenant Royal Flying Corps