{"id":730,"date":"2015-11-01T23:15:11","date_gmt":"2015-11-01T23:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westindiacommittee.org\/historyheritageculture\/?page_id=730"},"modified":"2020-10-21T17:18:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T16:18:51","slug":"windward-islands","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/westindiacommittee.org\/historyheritageculture\/topics\/caribbeansgreatwar\/windward-islands\/","title":{"rendered":"Windward Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"coatwindwardislands\"<\/a>
The coat of arms of the British Windward Islands from 1903 – 1953<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Windward Islands\u00a0was comprised\u00a0of St. Lucia<\/strong>, St. Vincent<\/strong> and Grenada<\/strong> which\u00a0were united under a single colonial government.<\/p>\n

The largest and most northerly of the islands, St. Lucia, contributed 5 officers and over 350 men to the British West Indies Regiment<\/strong>. The main difficulty on the Home Front was to ensure a suitable food supply, owing to reduced shipping and a control on exports from North America. The government established maximum prices in order to ensure that food would not become too expensive. Similar measures were also introduced on St. Vincent and Grenada. The high prices of St. Lucia\u2019s exports such as sugar, cocoa and lime juice ensured the economy remained relatively healthy, although the coal trade did suffer. St. Lucia raised \u00a321,495 and 6 shillings for various aspects of the war effort, as well as giving a gift of \u00a32000 worth of cocoa to soldiers.<\/p>\n

St. Vincent sent over 530 officers and men to the British West Indies Regiment, with more than 50 men serving in other regiments.<\/strong> In addition to the concerns about food, the shortage of which was a problem on the island, the outbreak of war was not good for St. Vincent\u2019s economy; the cotton export industry was badly affected, as its main markets were France and Belgium. However, the economy did recover when, in October 1917, the colonial government purchased the entire cotton output on behalf of the Admiralty to be used in the manufacture of aeroplanes. The island\u2019s arrowroot and maize markets also performed well due to a shortage of imported flour, with arrowroot being in demand for sick and wounded soldiers. St. Vincent contributed significantly to various war charities and also gave a gift of \u00a31000 worth of arrowroot to soldiers.<\/p>\n

Grenada, the smallest and most southerly island, sent 445 officers and men to join the war effort. When the possibility of sending a volunteer West Indian force first arose, 245 men immediately expressed interest.<\/strong> The island did suffer some social unrest at the beginning of the war owing to concerns over the potential scarcity of food. However, a combination of the introduction of maximum prices, increased trade of foodstuffs with Canada and encouragement to plant crops restored order. On the whole, Grenada\u2019s economy benefitted from the war due to the increase in prices of cotton, cocoa and nutmeg. The island contributed to various war charities, notably the Red Cross and the Prince of Wales\u2019 Fund, and also made a gift of \u00a36000 worth of cocoa.<\/p>\n

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The Windward Islands\u00a0was comprised\u00a0of St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada which\u00a0were united under a single colonial government. The largest and most northerly of the islands, St. Lucia, contributed 5 officers and over 350 men to the British West Indies Regiment. The main difficulty on the Home Front was to ensure a suitable food supply, owing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"page-templates\/page-topics.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-730","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWindward Islands - West Indian History, Heritage and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about the contributions of the Windward Islands to the British war effort in the First World War and life on the Home Front\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westindiacommittee.org\/historyheritageculture\/topics\/caribbeansgreatwar\/windward-islands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Windward Islands - 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