Lives of the First World War
Discover, explore and remember millions of personal stories from the First World War
RMS Danube Oct 1915 British West Indies Regiment plus Merchant and Planters Contingent (1st)
RMS Danube Oct 1915 British West Indies Regiment plus Merchant and Planters Contingent (1st)
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
-
British Army 1032 Acting Serjeant British West Indies Regiment 1st Battalion
British Army 79688 Acting Serjeant Royal Army Medical Corps
More about Allan H Ferry -
Born 1898
Died 1916
British Army 2004 Private British West Indies Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Clarence Algernon Lochart Mais -
Born 1893
British Army Artists' Rifles O.T.C.
British Army Second Lieutenant British West Indies Regiment
Air Force (RAF/RFC) Flight Second Lieutenant (Observer) Royal Flying Corps
…
More about Joseph Henry Maingot -
Born 1885
British Army Second Lieutenant Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
British Army Second Lieutenant 2nd King's African Rifles
More about John Noel Crawford -
Died 1918
British Army 1046 Serjeant British West Indies Regiment
More about Olliver Leopold Jordon -
British Army 1315 Trooper King Edwards Horse
More about Frederick O'brien Fahey -
Born 1896
Died 1967
Air Force (RAF/RFC) 15466 Air Mechanic 2nd Class Royal Flying Corps
Other Empire Force Trinidad Light Infantry Volunteers
British Army M2/150359 Acting Lance Corporal Royal Army Service Corps Motor Transport
…
More about Claude Mcclean Vincent -
-
British Army Major Royal Fusiliers 26th Battalion
British Army Major Royal Fusiliers
More about Alfred Sidney Bowen -
-
British Army 1018 Serjeant British West Indies Regiment
More about Frank Benjamin Bollers -
British Army 1020 Private British West Indies Regiment
More about Ernest O Barnwell -
Born 1887
British Army 1855 Private King Edward's Horse 2nd Battalion
British Army 61215 Private Northumberland Fusiliers
British Army 302872 Private Tank Corps
More about Stanley Radcliffe Clarke -
-
British Army Second Lieutenant Royal Warwickshire Regiment 10th Battalion
British Army 5009 Private London Regiment 28th london regiment (artist Battalion
More about Andrew Joseph Bernard -
Born 1894
British Army S2/SR/04655 Private Army Service Corps
More about Harold Stuart Bynoe -
-
Died 1918
British Army 1308 Private King Edwards Horse 1st Battalion
British Army 1308 Lance Corporal King Edward's Horse 1st Battalion
More about Victor Collins -
-
Died 1918
British Army 29528 Private Royal Welsh Fusiliers
British Army Lieutenant Royal Welsh Fusiliers
More about Gordon William Burke