Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War

The main information is from the book, Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War: Race, Masculinity and the Development of a National Consciousness, by Richard Smith, Manchester, Manchester University Press, c. 2004, ISBN: 0719069858. Review of book

The two main units mentioned and expounded upon in this marvellous book are the West India Regiment(s) (WIR), which was made up of mainly Jamaicans; and the British West Indies Regiment (BWIR), which was made up of members from different West Indies colonies. See pp. 57-58, 88-90.

The British West Indies Regiment (BWIR) was divided into 12 battalions. (p. 80):

1st Battalion, pp. 89-90;

2nd Battalion, p. 90;

3rd Battalion, p. 133;

4th Battalion, pp. 83-85, 126;

6th Battalion, pp. 82, 84;

7th Battalion, p. 154;

9th Battalion, pp. 83, 130;

10th Battalion, p. 130;

Profiles of soldiers mentioned in the book

Links and Resources

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• West India Regiment
• Black Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great War by Stephen Bourne 2014
• Black Tommies: British Soldiers of African Descent in the First World War by Ray Costello 2015
• African descent soldiers in British regiments by historian Jeffrey Green