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War diary of the 7th Battalion British West Indies Regiment
War diary of the 7th Battalion British West Indies Regiment
After arriving at Brest in June 1917 the 7th Battalion BWIR (6th Jamaica War Contingent) were moved to their final destination of 'International Corner' at Hazebrouck. As they left the train, almost immediately they were under shell fire and one burst 400 yards from the men. Whilst marching to camp another burst in front of a platoon, with shrapnel just missing a sergeant. This was to be their norm; they were working at the railhead and ammunition dumps and almost every day of the war diary lists men evacuated to base hospital or clearing stations. There was brief respite on 6 July when the battalion lined Zwynland Road for His Majesty King George V. On the 12 September the camp area was bombed. 6 men were killed and 39 men were wounded. On 11 December alone there were 56 casualties. Unusually for a war diary, all of the men are listed individually with number, rank, name and initial, but unfortunately the number used at the beginning of the diary is for JWC, and a mixture of JWC and BWIR in the middle! Names have been cross-referenced with the BW & V medal roll with a high proportion of unique names matched successfully. A few men from 6th Battalion are also in the casualty lists. Amongst the names in the community are men from other regiments. This is because army regulations did not allow black soldiers to rise to senior ranks and it was therefore necessary for senior NCOs to be attached to BWIR to complete the establishment. The battalion moved to Taranto at the end of December 1917.
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Died 1917
Other Empire Force 9021 Private Jamaica War Contingent
British Army 9789 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about Joseph Blackman -
Born 1895
Other Empire Force 7545 Private Jamaica War Contingent
British Army 9988 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about Joseph Farquhar -
British Army 7186 Private British West Indies Regiment 6th Battalion
More about Darius Powell -
Died 1918
Other Empire Force 7405 Private Jamaica War Contingent
British Army 9912 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about Thomas Dyce -
Died 1917
Other Empire Force 7417 Private Jamaica War Contingent
British Army 10428 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about George Powell -
Died 1917
British Army 10122 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about Claudius Howell -
Died 1917
British Army 10848 Private British West Indies Regiment
More about Isaac Youngsome -
Born 1891
Died 1917
British Army 7504 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about Lloyd Algernon Carter -
Born 1889
Other Empire Force 9187 Private Jamaica War Contingent
British Army 10395 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about Alexander Muir -
Born 1897
Died 1917
British Army 10562 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
British Army 10562 Lance Corporal British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about Theophilus Raymond Samuels -
Died 1917
British Army 8847 Private British West Indies Regiment 9th Battalion
British Army 8847 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about Richard Roberts -
Born 1896
Other Empire Force 7905 Private Jamaica War Contingent
British Army 9844 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about Joseph Cameron -
Died 1918
British Army 10799 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
British Army 10799 Acting Corporal British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
British Army 10799 Private British West Indies Regiment attached Labour Corps
More about Joseph Walker -
Born 1865
Died 1936
Royal Navy Midshipman
Royal Navy Sub Lieutenant
Royal Navy Lieutenant
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More about George Frederick Ernest Albert Prince Of Wales Later King George V -
Born 1889
Other Empire Force 6625 Private Jamaica War Contingent
British Army 10606 Private British West Indies Regiment 7th Battalion
More about Nathan James Smith -
Born 1887
British Army Captain Temporary Major British West Indies Regiment
Indian Army Lieutenant
Indian Army Acting Lieutenant Colonel
…
More about Theodore Ralph Houghton Griffiths