Memorial Plaque British West Indian soldiers

This plaque was unveiled in Seaford on Tuesday 10 November 2015. It commemorates the centenary of the formation of the British West Indies Regiment in 1915.
The blue plaque was placed at Seaford Cemetery, to commemorate the 19 Caribbean soldiers buried there.
In March 2018, a second plaque was unveiled at Seaford train station.

When war was declared in 1914, the West Indies offered to send contingents of men to fight alongside Britain.
The British West Indies had been part of the British Empire since the 17th century. Just two years before the start of the First World War, they were divided into eight separate colonies including the Bahamas, Barbados, British Guiana, British Honduras, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Windward and Leeward Islands.
A total of 16,000 soldiers were recruited in the West Indies, along with 4,500 volunteers who were also sent to the war.

The 1st of 11 battalions of the "BRITISH WEST INDIES REGIMENT" was formed in September 1915 in Seaford.
The regiment was divided into an "A" Company with men from British Guiana, a "B" Company from Trinidad, a "C" Company from Trinidad and St. Vincent and a "D" Company from Grenada and Barbados.
The battalions served in East Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, France and Italy.

Sources: Nubian Jak Community Trust
The first World War - Eastsussex

Do you have more information about this location? Inform us!