Men from the West Indies arrived in Sussex preparing
to defend and die for our freedom and liberty, fighting side by
side with British soldiers.
Between October 1915 and March 1916, Seaford in Sussex
was used as a training camp for men from the West Indies, in preparation
for fighting in Europe.
On October 4, 1915 750 men arrived from the West
Indies, mainly from Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, St. Vincent, St.
Lucia, Guyana and British Honduras. Two weeks later 755 men with
the 22nd battalion from Jamaica arrived in Seaford.
In total 16,000 soldiers were raised from the West
Indies, plus two battalions of regular West Indian regiment, numbering
some 4,500 volunteers, who arrived in special contingents from the
West Indies.
Nineteen West Indians died at the camp in Seaford
between October 20, 1915 and January 30, 1916.
In November 1994, for the first and only time, a
special memorial service was held at the Alfriston Road Cemetery
in Seaford, which was attended by World War II veterans from the
West Indies Ex-Service Men and Women Association from London.
Information on the British West India Regiment in
Seaford appears in the Sussex County Magazine Vol. 14:
During 2006 for the first time family members from the West Indies had visited the graves.
Two young cousin buried in Seaford. No. 1149 FEVRIER, Dennis Private British West Indies Regiment, died 23rd January 1916, and No. 1150 FEVRIER, Nelson Age 18. Private British West Indies Regiment, died 5th January 1916. Son of Alphonse Fevrier and his wife Brebin Louis, of Micoud, St. Lucia, British West Indies.
top
of page |
(Click on
pictures for enlarged view)
The plots at Alfriston Road Cemetery where
the 19 West Indian soldiers who died in Seaford during the First
World War were buried
Mr Nicholas Jean Baptiste and family from St Lucia West Indies visiting the graves of their two young cousin 'FEVRIER' in Seaford Cemetery November 2006
|
