Update: 15 October 2020

I’ve heard from Lyn who is the Project Lead for ‘Away from the Western Front’. ‘No Parades’ was commissioned by them as part of their First World War centenary project.

The project was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund in the UK and accordingly, they were able to commission Chris Hoban to compose this song for their National Music Project. They have requested that I include this within the post. And I am happy to do so.

Here is the National Music Project page that enables you to listen to other versions of the song and get access to a range of scores and audio files. Their project funding has ended, but they would still like to hear from anyone who would like to record their own performance of the song – instructions are on the website:
https://awayfromthewesternfront.org/projects/national-music-project/

‘No Parades’ – a new First World War song

As part of their National Music Project, they commissioned a song to explore the First World War from a different perspective. Musicians, soloists, choirs and brass bands were invited to perform the song.  They have recorded two versions that you can play here.

Please do take a listen. And how about taking a crack at a version of your own?

We awaited demobilisation
All that winter of 1918
While we toiled in the grime of Taranto
Loading ammo and cleaning latrines
When they treated the whites to a pay rise
It was like someone lobbed a grenade
All our years of resentment exploded
Saying, to hell with their rules and parades

From No Parades by Chris Hoban. Listen here:

Chris Hoban’s song pretty much sums up the experience of the British West Indies Regiment  (BWIR) in WW1. (And do give it a listen – it’s haunting in its story-telling and evocation of the music of the period.)

It’s a story of how racism bigotry and mistreatment betrayed the loyalty, patriotism and courage of 15,000 men all of whom volunteered to fight for the Empire.

It’s also a story of mutiny, colonialism and the kickstart of the movement for self-determination and independence.

What first spiked my interest in the BWIR was reading through the names in the record book of the Taranto Town Cemetery Extension.

The Town Cemetery was used for British and Empire burials from June 1915 to April 1919, but by January 1918, it was necessary to open a military extension. After the Armistice the 102 Commonwealth burials in the town cemetery were removed to this extension. There are now 449 WW1 Commonwealth burials in the extension.

There among the names of the dead are 147 from the British West Indies Regiment. Why were they there and what had happened to them? I started to get interested in the history of the regiment and that of course led to the Taranto mutiny of the winter of 1918-1919.

Here’s the story.

Background to the Mutiny

Taranto is an industrial town on the Mediterranean. Italy entered the war on the Allied side in May 1915 and the Royal Navy began using Taranto as a Mediterranean base soon thereafter.

Taranto became a key transit point on the supply lines to and from Egypt. Mesopotamia, Palestine and Salonika. Lines of communication were established between the eastern theaters of war that ran then through Taranto, Turin, Lyons and Le Mans to Cherbourg

It’s where ships came in to re-coal and where troops passed through on their way from the near east to the Western Front or back to Britain.

A huge tented encampment was set up to accommodate them and No 79 General and No 6 Labour Hospitals followed with more permanent brick and concrete structures added over time. It was a base and rest camp and labour units, including the 8th, 10th and 11th Battalions, British West Indies Regiment, were brought in to service the camp as well as load and unload the ships and trains.

In 1915 the British War Office – which had initially opposed recruitment of West Indian troops – created the British West Indies Regiment (BWIR). It served in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In spite of promises made at the time of recruitment, BWIR did not give black soldiers from the West Indies the opportunity to fight as equals alongside white soldiers. Instead, the War Office largely limited this trained infantry regiment to labour duties. 

Over 15,600 West Indian men volunteered for the BWIR, two-thirds of whom were from Jamaica. Others came from Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the Bahamas, British Honduras, Grenada, British Guiana (now Guyana), the Leeward Islands, St Lucia and St Vincent. 185 were killed and 1,071 died of illness as a result of the war.

The first battalions of the BWIR were stationed on the Suez Canal and were first used as labour battalions. They saw front line service in Palestine and Jordan serving with distinction as part of General Allenby’s force that drove out the Turks and contributed to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. They earned medals and commendations for bravery and were mentioned in despatches. 

Later BWIR battalions were sent to the Western Front and then to Italy where they served in auxiliary roles that included digging trenches, construction of roads and gun emplacements, acting as stretcher bearers, loading ships and trains, and working in ammunition dumps. This was dangerous work often carried out in France and Flanders within range of German artillery and sniper fire.

After the Armistice in November 1918, eight battalions of the BWIR – 8000 or so men – were stationed at Taranto in preparation for demobilization. They were joined by the battalions returning from Egypt and Mesopotamia many of whom had served in combat.

Long standing grievances and growing resentment over unfair treatment, pay and promotion issues had been brewing for some time and in early December they erupted.

This was a time of uprisings, riots and disturbances across the British Army. Men who had signed on for duration wanted to go home and get on with their lives. Mutiny and revolution were in the air.

The BWIR had some very specific long-standing grievances and a growing resentment over unfair treatment, pay and promotion issues and in December 1918 they reached boiling point.

The underlying issue was of course the betrayal of the promise made to them at recruitment: that they would be treated on an equal footing with the other regiments of the British army. Instead they had been primarily used for manual labor and treated as ‘native” labor battalions and not as front line troops.

Although designated as an infantry regiment and entitled to the same terms of service as other British regiments, commanders and officials often subjected the BWIR to the menial conditions dictated for ‘native’ corps. Military commanders and officials regarded the BWIR as inferior and treated them accordingly. On the Western Front they were excluded from facilities enjoyed by other British soldiers. The medical care and recreational facilities offered to West Indian troops was often inferior as a result. Estaminets – simple civilian-run cafes that offered the ubiquitous egg-and-chips respite from army food – were off-limits for Chinese and African Labour battalions and that restriction was extended to the BWIR, even though they were officially a unit of the British army. When they were wounded or became sick they were treated in ‘native’ hospitals and received poor treatment. 

Commissioned officer rank was restricted to those of ‘pure” European descent and pay increases, granted to the British army in 1917, were withheld until protests from West Indian soldiers.

Equally problematic was the official reluctance to deploy West Indians as combat troops. It meant that they had fewer opportunities to show the battlefield courage so prized by the military; fewer opportunities for medals and decorations. Their contribution – carrying ammunition, loading trains, building roads, railways and gun emplacements, cleaning latrines, cooking, carrying the wounded, digging trenches and graves, clearing the deadly debris of battle – had none of the supposed warrior glamour and glory of the battlefield. Ironically, it was the labour battalions that built the graveyards and cemeteries that are the symbols of remembrance.

The Black Soldier’s Lament – written by Canadian veteran George A. Borden in the 1980s – reflects the bitter disappointment of the injustice, the sense of shame and loss of manhood.

At Taranto, soldiers reported being ostracized: “since we came here, we couldn’t understand why these British soldiers they didn’t seem to want any attachment with us. We had always seemed to get on good together in Egypt,” a soldier from British Guiana recalled. They were given labour duties, loading and unloading ships and trains, as well as being ordered to clean latrines for white units. Meanwhile, sick and wounded BWIR men continued to succumb to illness and disease. 

In August 1918,12 men from Barbados had signed a respectful petition (you can read it here) outlining their grievances about pay pointing out that soldiers from white regiments had received a pay increase while they – together with “native” regiments – had not.

They specifically identified this as a betrayal of the promises made to them at the time of recruitment. In addition, black soldiers had not been permitted to rise through the ranks, despite good recommendations. The Hon. J C Lynch, Chair of the Recruiting Committee, sent a letter in support of the petition indicating the justice of the claims. He also described the respectable (middle class) and often professional or land-owning backgrounds from which these men came. The 12 signatories were Joseph Chamberlain Hope DCM, Vernon G Thomas, Edward E. Packer, Vincent Lionel Talma, Leslie A. Greaves, John Berkeley Johnson, L’Estrand C. Deane, Alexander L. Marshall,  Lashington L. Skinner, T Thompson,  Herman P.J. Ince, and G.F. Bowen. 

Nothing came of this petition.

After Armistice Day, on November 11 1918, the eight BWIR battalions in Europe were concentrated at Taranto in Italy to prepare for demobilization. They were subsequently joined by the battalions from Egypt and Mesopotamia. The combat veterans arriving in Taranto from the east were subjected to the same discrimination and second class status and treatment as the labour battalions. Brigadier-General Cyril Darcy Vivien Cary-Barnard was base commandant known for his strict segregationist regulations. According to some accounts, the men had been refused leave to enter town and he forbade black soldiers from using facilities alongside white soldiers. They had separate canteens they were not allowed to go to the cinema when white troops were there. When sick they were sent to the ‘native’ hospital where they received inferior treatment. They were prevented from being able to rise through the ranks. They were employed on fatigues and laboring duties in spite of assurances that this would not happen. All of these men had volunteered to serve and all of this was counter to the promises of equal treatment and opportunity they had been given on recruitment.

Discontent was rife at Taranto just as it was across a broad spectrum of the British Army in the weeks after the Armistice. Canadian troops stationed in Britain, for example, staged three major riots. The BWIR had quite specific and particular grievances however, and they arose from the unequal and demeaning treatment they received.

Soldiers returning from the Middle East had enlisted first and were ready to be mobilized. They resented being used as porters for white soldiers in transit and they resented being subject to the rigid segregation policies that barred them from equal access to  canteens and cinemas. The designation “native” was imposed denying the BWIR access to proper medical facilities

Major Thursfield of the 5th  battalion protested to the camp commandant Brigadier-General Cyril Darcy Vivien Cary-Barnard about the betrayal of the promises made to the men. 

Cary-Barnard was a decorated veteran of the Boer War where he served with Lumsden’s Horse. He served with distinction on the Western Front. He was decorated for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty, wounded, mentioned in despatches and promoted. And from October 1917, to 31 January 1919 he was Base Commandant, Taranto.

At camp commander, Cary-Barnard had a reputation for harsh discipline and a dismissive attitude toward the legitimate grievances of the men of the BWIR. Field punishment was meted out for even trivial offenses removing the discretion from junior officers whose attitudes he regarded as too lenient. Cary-Barnard’s response to Thursfield’s protest was abrupt, brutal, racist and dismissive.

The men were only niggers… no such treatment should ever have been promised them …they were better fed and treated than any nigger had a right to expect… he would order them to do whatever work he pleased, and if they objected he would force them to do it.

On 6 December 1918, sergeants from the BWIR forwarded a petition with 180 names to the Secretary of State repeating the demands of the earlier petition, including for the pay increase granted by Army Order No.1 1918 to all Imperial troops.

They also expressed their resentment at being barred from the possibility of rising through the ranks and outlined some of the history of West Indian service in the British forces where this color bar was not observed. They also requested an increase in the separation pay – money that was sent home to help their families. Inflation and war profiteering had led to huge increases in the prices of basic commodities and their families were suffering hardship in their absence.

Captain Reginald Elgar Willis of the 9th battalion had travelled with the fifth contingent from Kingston on March 30th 1917.  Promoted to Lt.Col., Willis had a reputation as a harsh disciplinarian. On December 6th 1918, ordered his men to clean the latrines used by Italian laborers. They refused and some men surrounded his tent and slashed at it with knives and bayonets before dispersing. There was some shooting and wild talk. Some men made demands that demobilization process be speeded up so that they would be home by Christmas.

The next day the 9^th and 10^th battalions refused to work and there were clashes. They were forcibly disarmed and ordered on a route march. On December 8th, Pte. Samuel Pinnock was killed by Acting Sgt, Robert Richards who was charged with negligently discharging his rifle and was sentenced to four months labor. This was the only fatality during the mutiny period.

Unrest and insubordination continued for four days with men refusing refusing orders and refusing to work. Unnerved, the military authorities reacted harshly and swiftly. The camp commander requested support and a battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment and a machine gun company were order to Taranto traveling “in fighting order with ammunition in their pouches”. The mutineers were arrested.

The 9th battalion was disbanded and the men distributed among the other battalions. The whole regiment was disarmed. Sixty men were charged with mutiny and 47 were found guilty. Most received sentences of between 3-5 years. One man – Pte. Arthur Sanches – who was considered the ringleader – was sentenced to death. This sentence was commuted to 20 years penal servitude. (He did not serve full term as in 1934 he was a member of the delegation that presented a petition to the Governor of Jamaica – Sir Arthur Jelf – requesting improvements to the roads and water service supply on the lands granted to ex servicemen.) 

Many accounts state that one man was executed for his part in the mutiny. This does not seem to be correct. One man was shot at dawn on January 20th 1919. He was  Pte. Albert Denny of the 8th battalion who was executed by firing squad for the murder of Pte. Edgar Hilkiah Best 13573 10th Battalion of Barbados in a robbery on the 5th of September.

The British authorities did make concessions and mobilization plans were speeded up.  The Colonial Office prevailed on the War Office and in February 1919 the BWIR got, in full, the increased separation allowances withheld from them in the Army Order No.1.

Even after the courts-martial the spirit of resistance continued.  

Some of those who who had been convicted and repatriated to the West Indies staged further revolts;  disturbances occurred on the SS Orca which docked at Kingston, Jamaica. There, BWIR men allied themselves with seamen repatriated from Britain to protest their treatment.

There was also discontent at Plymouth where in February 1919 four men of the BWIR were found guilty and received 2 years detention.

In the midst of an even harsher camp regime enforced after the revolt, on December 17th 50-60 sergeants of the BWIR met and formed the Caribbean League. They held four meetings in December and early January and discussed not only their grievances but also their plans for what to do when they returned home. 

Out of their discussions emerged a sense of a pan-Caribbean identity and political awakening. They called for greater cooperation between the islands and mainland Caribbean territories and they talked of seeking independence and self-determination.

At the second meeting one man – Sgt. Baxter – said that the black man “should have freedom and govern himself in the West Indies” and that “force must be used and if necessary blood shed to obtain the object”. Such words would have alarmed the colonial establishment and probably drowned out the more modest aim of the League, “the Promotion of all matters conducive to the General Welfare of the islands constituting the British West Indies and the British Territories adjacent thereto.” They agreed to strike for higher wages on their return home. They talked of a Caribbean–wide governing body with a headquarters in Kingston, although the choice of Jamaica led to some inter-island rivalry and controversy about the location.This was a distinctly social democratic and reformist agenda but also problematic for those determined to maintain the status quo of economic and power arrangements. 

At first the Caribbean League was treated with cautious approval by the military authorities as they saw it as a way to help contain and manage the discontent of the troops. At one of the later meetings however, one of the participants – Sgt. Leon Poucher, a Trinidadian reported to his commanding officer that they talk had turned toward self-government and strike action. This concern was relayed to the colonial authorities in the West Indies who were spooked by the thought of thousands of radicalized and angry ex-servicemen returning to their homes determined to seek change.

The Caribbean League did not survive demobilization which was completed by August 1919. Although it was short-lived it seems to have had a powerful and radicalizing impact on those who participated. It gave rise to a new  and confident voice of resistance that was to make an impact on the politics and social conditions of the post-war Caribbean.

Take a look at this poem written at the time:Before enlisting Monteith had been a school teacher in Jamaica. He had written a number of patriotic poems praising the war effort and the Empire that had been published in the Jamaican Times. These words reflect a personal transformation and a new political outlook that many of the men of the BWIR would take home with them. 

In some ways this new spirit was presaged by the thinking at enlistment. By joining the imperial war effort to fight for king and country many hoped to prove something. Look at this 1915 article in the Jamaican journal the Grenada Federalist:

As coloured people we will be fighting for something more, something inestimable to ourselves. We will be fighting to prove to Great Britain that we are not so vastly inferior to the white. We will be fighting to prove that we are no longer merely subjects but citizens – citizens of a world empire whose watch word should be Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood.

The was an opportunity to show proof of worth, of the right of equality and freedom. Deliberately keeping these men from the combat duties of the front line served to thwart those aspirations. It had instead another outcome – that of radicalizing a generation of activists. In the West Indies, a number of BWIR soldiers played important roles in the growth of the working class, union and independence movements. They organized unions, led protests, contributed to reform movements and they laid the groundwork for the move to self-determination and independence. 

The BWIR served honorably in the Egypt, the Middle East, on the Western Front and in Italy. When given the opportunity, they proved themselves as combat troops. Faced with discrimination and humiliation they fought back against injustice.

The BWIR was kept away from the victory parades that marked the end of the war. It was disbanded in 1921.

In spite of their efforts, a confidential 1919 Colonial Office memo on the Taranto mutiny makes it clear that the British Government realized that things had changed:

Nothing we can do will alter the fact that the black man has begun to think and feel himself as good as the white.

Sources:

• The National Archive (UK)
• Imperial War Museum
• No Labour, No Battle: Military Labour During the First World War, Ivor Lee and John Starling
• Holding aloft the banner of Ethiopia, Winston James
• Race, Empire and First World War Writing, Santanu Das (editor)
• Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War: Race, Masculinity and the Development of National Consciousness, Richard Smith
• West Indian soldiers in the First World War – Arthur Torrington
• Caribbean participants in the First World War
• We were there – West Indians in the British armed forces
• Black history: Civil rights and equality – Dan Lyndon
• “There were no parades for us”
• The British West Indies Regiment