Caribbean honours its overlooked WW1 soldiers

[HipChick]

Precisely a century since the Great War ended, the stories of the Europeans who fought for freedom are well documented.
Far less is known about the 16,000 men and women from the Caribbean who voluntarily enlisted.
These nameless men and women of colour have been "airbrushed" from history, says Keith Eastmond, of the twin island nation's Ex-Servicemen's Association.
"We have no definitive number for how many people from Antigua and Barbuda joined the war efforts," he tells the BBC.
'Keen volunteers'
"The Caribbean was keen to support the mother country, as they saw it then," he continues. "But Britain was reluctant to let West Indian soldiers fight white Europeans in those days.

The region's pleas to assist initially fell on deaf ears. It was not until the need for extra manpower grew so great that King George himself called on the Caribbean colonies to help.
In October 1915, the British West Indies Regiment (BWIR) was formed. Two-thirds of its men were from Jamaica, the rest hailing from the Bahamas to then British Guiana.
Despite receiving a heroes' welcome when they arrived in England, the Caribbean soldiers were not permitted to fight as equals alongside their white counterparts.

The Caribbean soldiers were later praised for their high morale and cheerful demeanour in the face of exhausting toil. Tales of their might include an instance of 60 men moving 375 tonnes of ammunition in just two hours.
Among the first Caribbean casualties to return home were those aboard troop ship SS Verdala, diverted via Halifax, Canada, while en route to England to avoid German U-boats.
The freezing conditions and inadequate uniforms saw more than 100 men suffer amputations of frostbitten fingers and limbs.
"Blacks were begrudgingly accepted into the war effort, but their support was absolutely essential," says Ex-Servicemen's Association chairman Pagget Messiah. "Without it, the outcome would have been very different."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46110120

[malaise]

1. Thanks for this

It was the atrocious treatment of our soldiers that drove more than a few of them to help organize the early worker movements.
Think Cipriani in Trinidad.