For King and Country

FOR KING AND COUNTRY The Service and Sacrifice of the British West Indian Military Members of the Royal Air Force from the British West Indies in London – World War II IRVING W. ANDRE AND GABRIEL J. CHRISTIAN Copyright © 2009 by Irving W. André & Gabriel J. Christian A Pont Casse Press Production. All rights reserved, including the Right of Reproduction in Whole or in Part in any form. Twenty-third Pont Casse Press publication, 2009 Cover Illustration by Michael Williams. Front page shows British West Indian RAF airmen with Spitfire in background and Wendell Christian (L) and Twistleton Bertrand (R) of the British army in foreground. Back page shows ancient artillery at the old colonial battlements at Fort Shirley, Cabrits National Park, Portsmouth, Dominica, 2008. The Fort, recently restored under the direction of historian Dr. Lennox Honychurch, was the site of the 1802 Mutiny of the 8th West India Regiment. Printed in the United States by Sheridan Books, Inc. ISBN 978-0-9812921-0-6 André, Irving W. and Christian, Gabriel J. For King and Country Bibliography/Latin American/Caribbean History/Military History Dominica, Society and Politics. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The process of marshalling a considerable amount of arcane details and information for narrative purposes is a tortuous process that takes a significant toll on an author or narrator. This was especially true of the writing of this book given the paucity of information about the contribution of Dominicans and other British West Indians in both World Wars. But in accessing this information we were particularly fortunate given the groundswell of support and encouragement we received from virtually all sources. While it is impossible to identify all the contributors to this book, we will at least give due recognition to those whose commitment to learning something of their past made them willing participants in this journey of discovery. We thank those who have provided valuable information including The Dominica Archive Centre, Dr. Edsel Edmund, Cy Grant, Major Francis Richards, Dr. Clayton Shillingford, Major Earle Johnson, Mr. Arnold Telemaque, Mr. Carlton Peters, Mr.& Mrs. Colin Hodgson, Mr. Cymbert Angol, Miss Joy Floyd, Mr. Stafford Lestrade, Ambassador Curtis Ward, Honourable Dudley Thompson and Judge Ulric Cross. We are also deeply indebted to Mrs. Joan Christian and Mrs. Kathleen André for their supervisory role in this initiative. We also thank Dr. Sigmund McIntyre for his useful comments. Finally, we are eternally grateful to the invaluable contributions of the two main subjects of this book, Major Twistleton Bertrand and ex-serviceman Mr. Wendell Christian. In writing this book we hope to accord some degree of recognition to the extraordinary service of these men and their fellow veterans. We hope that in so doing, we rescue them from the oblivion to which their experiences have been relegated and that in the autumn of their lives, imbue them with a heightened sense of pride for the sacrifice they were prepared to make. While this book would have been impossible without the assistance of these persons, we accept full responsibility for any errors and omissions within its pages. Irving W. André & Gabriel J. Christian CONTENTS DR. EDSEL EDMUNDS Foreword vi GABRIEL CHRISTIAN Introduction 1 IRVING ANDRE A Long Campaign 19 GABRIEL CHRISTIAN The Inter-War Years & the British West-Indian Soldier in Social Transformation 77 GABRIEL CHRISTIAN The War Experiences of Wendell Christian 127 IRVING ANDRE The Advent of World War II 191 IRVING ANDRE The Military Tradition and the “Urgency of Now” 257 Appendix I Perpetuating the Dominican Legion 269 Appendix II Reflection of a West_Indian Squadron Leader Justice Ulric Cross, DSO, DFC. 275 Appendix III The Exemplary Life of Honourable Dudley Thompson, OJ, QC. 283 Index 291 Dedicated to the West-Indian fighting men who lost their lives in their valiant and fight for freedom. FOREWORD This book is a vivid account and embodiment of the role of the “British West-Indian Military” and our Caribbean people, through sacrifice and struggle, when “political power resided in the hands of a distant elite and economic opportunity was denied by many” in the makings of the Caribbean. The emergence of our Caribbean people is juxtaposed to the struggle of African Americans and the birth and dynamism of the liberation of a people. The book is rich in historical content with episodes dating back to the 18th century when Caribbean people fought in the Napoleonic wars, the Ashanti wars in West Africa and on many other fronts. The accounts of history to this present time are recounted as living episodes giving life and meaning to history, as though the authors were present in past encounters. The linkage in time and circumstances, and the contribution of our former Caribbean leaders in the liberation movement of the United States, for example, in the formation of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA); the role of the Caribbean Sargeants who formed the Caribbean League at Taranto, Italy in 1918 who swore to “Fight for the rights of the black man and the independence of the Caribbean” are but a few rich and dramatic encapsulations expressed in a gripping style. As Dominicans, the authors highlighted the contributions of Dominican soldiers and former political leaders to the overall development of Dominica in the past, leading to the present. The accounts of the aforementioned wars as well as the two World Wars, our past mimicry in song and pageantry as we paid homage to King and Country; the songs we were made to sing and to salute as “obedient servants” of our colonial masters, are descriptively recounted but not without the indelible impact it all had on the makings of a new Caribbean. Caribbean families most of whom are still alive are mentioned in the context of their past contributions as part of a continuum of history of a people with deep seated roots. Nevertheless, the authors do not fail to go into detail on the makings and contributions of our many Caribbean leaders and in the global liberation movements leading to our own independence. The role of former Caribbean leaders, our founding fathers who contributed to our present world of freedom and liberation within and beyond our Caribbean shores are appropriately elucidated in this book. Hand in hand with the historical political landscape of the Caribbean, the authors remind us of the contributions and influence of our eminent writers and their impact on the thinking of those leaders and scholars to this present time. In all of the above, André and Christian bring to the fore, the principles of discipline, integrity, loyalty, self-confidence, dedication, honour and commitment to civic duty which is displayed through “service and sacrifice;” attributes which should be the hallmark of our present generation in much the same way as service to “King and Country” was to the founding fathers of our present independence. Dr. J. Edsel Edmunds Former Ambassador of St. Lucia To the United States of America and Dean of the Caribbean Diplomatic Corp Washington, D.C. For King and Country Introduction In the Shadow of Fort Young The stout moss-flecked stone walls of Fort Young tower overhead, topped by a powder blue sky; not a cloud in sight. A 1700s British fort, now a hotel; still a row of musket embrasures, their inner walls painted white, punctuate the Fort’s battlements to my back and lope around to where two glinting brass cannons guard its entrance. Up the Street is the Roseau Public Library where I learned to read of the world beyond the Caribbean Sea. The same sea that now gurgles and froth as its waves dash against a grey stone fringed beach, down a fifty foot drop, at the base of the retaining wall behind the library’s seaward verandah. At the back of the library is the small room dedicated to the Windward Island Broadcasting Service (WIBS) from where broadcaster Jeff Charles will be relating the news this day. Framing the scene is the Anglican Church across Victoria Street to the north east of the Fort, behind the church is the Governor’s House, painted in white. And beyond the church’s spire, atop the hills of Morne Bruce in the soaring distance, wreathed in its dark green coat, is the Roman Catholic Church’s cross standing sixty feet high, as it overlooks the City of Roseau. At its base a rusting 1 For King and Country cannon looks out over the city. As I turn my gaze towards the azure blue sea, sea gulls gracefully dip towards its surface in search of prey. I am gasping a bit; somewhat out of breath; a few beads of sweat drooping slowly down my warm brow. In a moment, a slight breeze comes over the spire of the Anglican Church and cools my face some. The breeze moves onwards to the ranks of middle aged men about twenty feet from where I stand. As the breeze filters through their ranks, the edges of their coats flap in the wind, their ties swing gently, and the blue flag held in the grasp of one of the men in the front rank - with the Union Jack in the upper left quadrant nearest the pole - is ruffled ever so slightly. These men belong to the Dominica Legion of the Royal Commonwealth ex- Services League; or simply, The Legion. I know the man next to the one holding that flag. He is my Dad, the man we fondly call “Old Talk” at home, as he always delights us with his war stories, his recall of Churchill’s speeches; BBC newscasts from the dark days of 1939-1945 when war came and other times when he got out his Caribbean Reader during his school days.

Load more