{"id":758,"date":"2015-11-03T11:38:22","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T11:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westindiacommittee.org\/historyheritageculture\/?page_id=758"},"modified":"2020-10-23T10:14:59","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T09:14:59","slug":"jamaica","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/westindiacommittee.org\/historyheritageculture\/topics\/caribbeansgreatwar\/jamaica\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamaica"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Coat_of_arms_of_Jamaica\"<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n
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Jamaica<\/strong> was one of Britain\u2019s oldest and most valuable colonies. The island was captured from Spain in 1655 and became a major sugar, rum and tobacco producer during\u00a0the 17th<\/sup>, 18th<\/sup> and 19th<\/sup> centuries. By the outbreak of the First World War Jamaica was poised to play an active role: \u00a0in 1914 Jamaica donated \u00a350,000 worth of sugar to Britain and set aside \u00a310,000 to defend the island<\/strong>. It was the only island to have a permanent Imperial garrison when war began. The population ensured their ambitions to participate were fulfilled by applying pressure on the British Government to allow West Indians to participate in frontline action.\u00a0Jamaica was one of the larger islands in the Caribbean with a population of 850,000 in 1914 and at the time also governed the\u00a0Cayman Islands<\/strong>.\u00a0The\u00a0Jamaican Volunteer Defence Force, the Jamaican Constabulary Force and the Jamaica Militia artillery were all tasked with protecting the island during the conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A War Contingent Committee was established in 1915 to raise funds for 200 Jamaicans who wished to serve abroad but could not afford the cost of travel. The Kingston Women\u2019s Fund Committee organised fundraising activities for Jamaican volunteers and\u00a0proved to be key to the establishment of the British West Indies Regiment by virtue of their success.\u00a010,280 Jamaicans served in the\u00a0British West Indies Regiment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The West India Regiment<\/strong>, founded in 1795, had been based on the island since the Napoleonic Wars and fought in the African Campaigns during the First World War. The Regiment earned the battle honours ‘Cameroons 1914-16’ and ‘East Africa 1914-18’ for service during the conquest of Germany\u2019s African colonies. They served at the battles of Yaound\u00e9, Dar Es Salaam and Nyangao.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>
The West India Regiment at the outbreak of war, as seen in the West India Committee Circular 1914<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jamaica’s involvement in the First World War is\u00a0documented\u00a0thoroughly\u00a0in\u00a0Frank Cundall\u2019s Jamaica\u2019s Part in the Great War<\/em>\u00a0which you can read on this website for free in the Archive<\/a> section.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jamaica was one of Britain\u2019s oldest and most valuable colonies. The island was captured from Spain in 1655 and became a major sugar, rum and tobacco producer during\u00a0the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. By the outbreak of the First World War Jamaica was poised to play an active role: \u00a0in 1914 Jamaica donated \u00a350,000 worth […]<\/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-758","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJamaica - West Indian History, Heritage and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about the contributions of Jamaican volunteers, citizens and government to the British war effort in the First World War.\" \/>\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\/jamaica\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jamaica - 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