Remembering the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian service men and women in World War I and World War II and later conflicts.
Originally called Armistice Day in commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the peace agreement that ended World War I (11th November 1918), after World War II it became Remembrance Sunday (the second Sunday in November).
The most recognizable symbol of Remembrance Sunday is the red poppy. In 1921 the newly formed British Legion (now the Royal British Legion), a charitable organisation for veterans, began selling red paper poppies for Armistice Day, and its annual Poppy Appeal has been enormously successful since.
This epitaph on the Kohima War Cemetery in India honours the soldiers who lost their lives in the Battle of Kohima during World War II and is attributed to John Maxwell Edmonds (1875-1958); an English classicist, poet and author. It is thought to have been inspired by the epitaph written by Simonides of Ceos to honour the Greeks who fell at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480BC. The exact wording of Simonides’ epitaph is not known, but it is said to have read something along the lines of “Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.”
On 25th August 2021 it will be exactly 100 years since the death of Wendell Valentyne Byer. Who was Wendell you may ask? A famous cricketer? A politician perhaps? No, he was none of these, Wendell was once a trainee schoolteacher in St George. He was strong and fit – 5 feet 11 and a …
In 1915 Britain’s War Office, which had initially opposed recruitment of West Indian troops, agreed to accept volunteers from the West Indies. A new regiment was formed, the British West Indies Regiment (BWIR), which served in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “They called us darkies. But when the battle starts, it didn’t make a …
George Blackman BWIR – There were no parades for us Read More »
Errol Walton Barrow (21st January 1920 – 1st June 1987) a distinguished Barbadian statesman, a visionary leader and a champion of Caribbean unity led Barbados to Independence on 30th November 1966 and then served as Barbados’ first and fourth Prime Minister. Prior to that from: 1961 to 1966 as leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) …
F/O Errol Barrow RAF Navigator World War II & Prime Minister of Barbados Read More »
In May of 1942 there was intense activity by U-Boats in the Caribbean that resulted in heavy losses of allied shipping. Germany was trying, and succeeding, to disrupt the supplies of war material reaching Europe from the USA and Caribbean. Trinidad and Venezuela were supplying the allies with petroleum products, Guyana with Bauxite and the …
Survivors arriving in Barbados in May 1942 from merchant ships sunk by German U-Boats Read More »
The Florence M. Douglas was a schooner built in Holetown, Barbados, and owned by Peter S. Hassell. On the 4th May 1942 she was sailing at 07.55N 58.10W from Bonaire, Netherland Antilles, to Georgetown, British Guiana, with a cargo of salt. At 19:00 the U-162 fired a shot across the bow and Captain Herbert Rexford …
The morning of Monday 18th May 1942 dawned like all previous mornings since the SS Quaker City, a Hog Island class merchant ship, left Bombay and sailed via South Africa on the way to Norfolk, Virginia. She was loaded with 4,500 tons of Manganese Ore. This is a very important ingredient in the production of steel …
SS Quaker City – Torpedoed 18th May 1942. The story of John Heller Read More »
Surgeon: Frederick Gustave Ameile Delisle Saphile Wooding Deane was born in Nevis of Barbadian Parents. His parents were Joseph Dean and Mary Elizabeth Ashby Wooding. Joseph Deane was working in the sugar industry at the time. When the family returned home Frederick went to school at Harrisons College. After completing his education in Barbados he …
Frederick Gustave Ameile Delisle Saphile Wooding Deane RAMC FRCS Nov 1859 to 31 Oct 1935 Read More »
This is the story of Sid Graham, Arthur Walker and Michael Doyle – three survivors of The Blue Star Line SS Scottish Star that was torpedoed 600 miles off of Barbados on 19th February 1942. The survivors lifeboat was towed into Barbados by the fishing boat “Stella” on 27th February 1942. The sixteen survivors remained …
British Ship: SS Scottish Star Torpedoed – 19th February 1942 Read More »
