Remembering the remainder of the 1st Battalion, and the 2nd Battalion British West Indies Regiment who sailed from Trinidad (100 men of the 2nd Contingent)/Barbados (54) on HMT Magdalena on 17/18 November arriving in Plymouth, England on 3 December 1915. There were also men from Grenada (52), Guyana (30), St. Lucia (10) and St. Vincent (5), and 20 stowaways from Panama, Trinidad and Barbados. 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. The 2nd Battalion transferred to Alexandria, Egypt on 9 February, arriving 21 February 1916. 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 // Barbados BWIR service numbers from 1299 to 1548 // incomplete
Created by: , Deborah102878
British Army 1545 Private British West Indies Regiment 2nd Battalion
Born 1895
British Army 1323 Private British West Indies Regiment 2nd Battalion
British Army 1323 Private British West Indies Regiment 1st Battalion
Born 1897
Died 1916
Other Empire Force 2999 British Guiana Militia
British Army 1494 Private British West Indies Regiment 1st Battalion
Born 1888
Died 1918
British Army 1343 Private British West Indies Regiment 1st Battalion
British Army 1343 Private British West Indies Regiment 2nd Battalion
Born 1889
Other Empire Force 2980 Private British Guiana Militia
British Army Lance Corporal British West Indies Regiment 2nd Battalion
British Army 1513 Private British West Indies Regiment 2nd Battalion
Born 1884
Other Empire Force 537 Trinidad Light Infantry Volunteers 3rd Battalion
British Army 1361 Private British West Indies Regiment 1st Battalion
British Army 1361 Private British West Indies Regiment 5th (Reserve) Battalion