Private Ivor Wakefield - Information Hunt Continues!

Finding information about Private Ivor Wakefield, East Sussex Regiment has taken many twists and turns. I have finally found a service record for him that is held at the National Archive in Kew, Surrey, UK. It would appear and it has confirmed that after his initial conscription he became an Officer Cadet and joined an Officer Cadet Battalion. I have ordered a copy of his record so I will wait and see what unfolds from that.

Ivor Wakefield (2)

A little more research on Ivor. Received his death certificate and it shows he died at East Grinstead Isolation Hospital after becoming ill at Maresfield Training Camp. Though he was in the East Surrey Regiment he was training to be an officer either in the Royal Garrison Regiment (RGA) or the Royal Artillery Regiment (RFA). It would appear that his army service record was destroyed in 1940 during a German air raid.

Ivor Wakefield

Private Ivor McCrea Wakefield, East Surrey Regiment
Not a good start researching Ivor as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website list him as J M Wakefield.
Soldiers That Died in the Great War show his name as Ivor and that he was born in 'British West India'. I also payed a visit to his grave in Richmond Cemetery in South West London and his name is commemorated on a family grave as 'Cadet Ivor Wakefield, RGA, 1897-1917'.
So a note to the CWGC to see if his details can be checked and amended.
He does not appear to have qualified for any war medals as he only served at 'home' and was attached to the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) as noted in SDGW.
Next on the list is ordering a death certificate to find out how and where he died.

From the Caribbean to New York and Canada

Searching through the names has also turned up the fact that some of the men joined the British Army in New York or travelled on to Canada for education purposes prior to the war starting and then joining the Canadian armed forces.

Imitation information at Ellis Island - www.ellisisland.org - has proved useful in tracking down some of the names.

St Kitts War Memorial Has Lost Its Shine

A picture of the War Memorial c.1975. This picture shows the memorial painted in pristine white, but this has weathered and the memorial is back to a 'natural' stone colour. A view of the memorial taken in June 2013 can be found on a previous blog entry.

World War One - 100th Anniversary

As 2014 approaches plans are being made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One on the  28 July 1914. The United Kingdom declared war on Germany on the 4th August 1914 after Germany invaded neutral Belgium. Focus within the United Kingdom has been placed upon +the part servicemen and women from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland played in this epic period of history. It should be remembered that Britain had an Empire, an Empire that went beyond the Dominions - Australia, Canada, South Africa, Newfoundland and New Zealand. 

In 1912, the British West Indies were divided into eight colonies :-

Bahamas
Barbados
The Bahamas
British Guiana
British Honduras
Jamaica - The Turks and Caicos islands and the Cayman Islands were dependencies of Jamaica 
Federal Colony of the Leeward Islands
- Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis - Anguilla a dependency of St. Kitts, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat and The British Virgin Islands
The Federal Colony of the Windward Islands
- Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Even as a colony the islands of Saint Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla played their part in this historic global struggle with men joining the Army, Navy and the fledgling Air Force. It should also be remembered that civilians played their part in the Merchant Navy supporting the war effort supplying food and other important supplies.