Lives of the First World War

7 stowaways from Jamaica arrived in Bristol on 06.11.1916 on SS Coronado. According to the passenger list there were two fifteen, and one sixteen year olds amongst them although I'm not totally convinced that they would have been allowed to enlist. Regular recruitment was in full swing in Jamaica at this point, so I wonder if they had already been rejected owing to their youth or they feared not passing the fitness test. Either way, they were all sent off to the local recruiting office for enlistment into the British West Indies Regiment. They were initially attached to the RGA and then sent to join the 5th Battalion in Egypt in March 1917 // complete

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