Great War, 1914-18: Missing in action or in the archives
by DR. EDWARD HARRIS, MBE
LAST week, the local newspapers had a field day of articles related to war veterans from Bermuda and elsewhere. This is a good thing, for many men went missing in action and many have gone missing in the archives, that is to say from the historical record.
Part of the honourable function of the articles is to bring some of the soldiers and their stories to light, to record those histories in an archive for the future and to remind the present of those who gave their very young lives for our benefit.
Shirley Rose Higgins wrote on the subject of military museums and remembrance, while Alvin Williams discussed the contributions of African-American soldiers. Tommy Aitchison, long a biographer of his BVRC comrades, ranged back to the Battle of Jutland and Larry Burchall penned a note on a Bermudian sailor, the first local man to die in the First World War. Meredith Ebbin went to France to recount discoveries of the aeroplane and adventures of John Hartley Watlington and Nancy Acton spoke of Remembrance Day itself. I told a Bermudian story from the Forgotten War in Korea, which almost immediately followed the Second World War.
All in all, an excellent set of tributes to the contributions of some Bermudians to the wars of the last century, but perhaps next year will see some diversification of subjects to include the contributions of women, Portuguese-Bermudians and other sectors of the community.
The Bermuda War Veterans Association has for many years honoured those on the Roll of Honour for the two world wars, being 125 souls. To help to remember that list for the killed in action, the Bermuda Maritime Museum now publishes each November 11 a poster in the three local papers that includes pictures of all the men and one woman lost in the Second World War and in the Korean War.
As pictures are found, images for the men lost in the Great War will also be included. A permanent exhibition on the Bermuda military, including 26 women who served overseas in the Second World War, has been installed at the Commissioner's House at the Museum. It includes the Bermuda Regiment, to bring the history into the present, and displays on some of the 90-odd fortifications erected in Bermuda from 1612 to 1945.
Some statistics should be on parade. From the two local forces, 241 men of the Bermuda Militia Artillery (having the distinction of being 'the only coloured Artillery in the British Army') went overseas, as did 125 in two contingents of the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps.
Many others signed up individually for the Royal Navy, the Royal Flying Corps and regiments of the British Army, while others, being in the Merchant Marine, were commandeered into service.
Of all the men in the Great War, some 80 are on the official list as lost in action. Others were lost at home, but only now are taken into account, as the early lists included only those lost overseas.
There were no rules apparently for making up the Roll of Honour, with each locality allowed to decide whom to include. The lists usually only included the surname and initials, so with the help of Mrs. A. C. Hollis Hallett, full names and small biographies have been compiled. These were published in Volume 16 of the Bermuda Journal of Archaeology and Maritime History.
There are a number of anomalies on the overall numbers and individuals, as to be expected from the flux of war. Rifleman A. G. Smith, BVRC, for example, is said to be a prisoner of war and otherwise reported as killed.
However, he is not on the Roll of Honour and was stated to have returned home on May 2, 1919. Gunner Joseph Symons, BMA, on the other hand, is listed as deceased on the Roll of Honour, but returns home on July 1, 1919. These anomalies may be sorted out with further research.
TWO men are at present entirely lost in the archives, excepting their abbreviated names. Messrs. W. Anderson and W. Brown cannot be traced here or on in the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
In the case of the latter, more than 800 W. Browns are to be found on the CWGC web site, many without any family data. They have become, in a sense, cannon fodder for history, as there is little that can now be done to recover their full names and associations. If either of these men are your ancestors or family, kindly give me a call to help to record their contributions.
The men came from all parts of the Bermuda community, but the first to die after the beginning of the war on August 4, 1914 was William Edmund Smith, a black man, who went down with his ship, HMS Aboukir on September 22, 1914.
The last to pass away was also a black Bermudian, Hayford Douglas Simmons. He died of the effects of the war but was still in service on Friday, June 6, 1919, the war having ended on November 11, 1918.
Of the total men lost in the Great War, 13 were black and 67 were white. The disproportionate number of whites killed is probably due to the situation that blacks were probably not allowed to engage the enemy personally, as also happened apparently with the volunteers from Bermuda with the Caribbean Regiment in the Second World War.
The men are to be found in several dozen cemeteries in France and Belgium, with a few in England and one in Turkey. Of the 1,700,000 soldiers lost in the Great War, the bodies of many men, including Bermudians, were never recovered.
One of these was my grandmother's cousin, Harold Collins Whitecross, missing in action and presumed dead. One Bermudian tombstone in France is inscribed with the gloss, 'believed to be the remains of'; such was the destructive nature of battlefields there.
At the beginning of the Great War on August 4, 1914, Bermudians enlisted for service overseas in considerable numbers. The local forces at that time were divided largely on the basis of colour, with the black Bermudians serving in the Bermuda Militia Artillery, attached to the Royal Garrison Artillery, while white Bermudians were to be found in the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, mostly associated with the Lincolnshire Regiment.
Individuals, including some from the local forces, signed up separated with other units overseas, such as the Royal Navy, the Royal Flying Corps and various army regiments.
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig issued several reports on the Bermudians in service with the Royal Garrison Artillery and the Lincolnshire Regiment, later compiled in a printed booklet.
The Report is a rarity, but we were able to see a copy presented to Gunner Charles Curtis, BMA, courtesy of Mrs. Margaret Curtis Lee, his great niece. The following is what the Haig Report had to say on the Bermuda contingents.
The Bermuda contingent of the Royal Garrison Artillery, being men of the Bermuda Militia Artillery, served with the Canadian Corps during the operations subsequent to the capture of Vimy Ridge. 'They were employed on Heavy Ammunition Dumps, and great satisfaction was expressed with their work. Though called upon to perform labour of the most arduous and exacting nature at all times of the day and night, they were not only willing and efficient but also conspicuous for their cheeriness under all conditions. On more than one occasion the dumps at which they were employed were ignited by hostile shellfire and much of their work was done under shellfire. Their behaviour on all these occasions was excellent, and commanded the admiration of those with whom they were serving.'
Regarding the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, it states that a contingent has been attached to the 1 Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment for over two years from 1915. 'Originally they joined as a complete Machine Gun Unit, and were found invaluable when there was a scarcity of this weapon in Flanders. After the formation of regular Machine Gun Companies, the Bermuda Volunteers were transformed into Lewis Gun Sections, in which sphere they have done good work. Physically and intellectually they are as fine men as any to be found to their Brigade, and their conduct has always been exemplary. It is hoped that many more soldiers of this stamp can be sent from the Island of Bermuda.'
In June 1918, five months before the end of the war, Field Marshal Haig sent another report, noting that owing to casualties the First Contingent of the BVRC has now practically ceased to exist and 'I wish to put on record my appreciation of the splendid services rendered by them'. 'The Bermuda Contingent had been in every action in which the battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment to which they were attached has taken part since 23 June, 1915, including the Battle of the Somme (three times), the Battle of Arras, the Third Battle of Ypres (twice). During the spring of this year they have been constantly fighting since March 21 including the fighting in March between Epehy and Ribemont, the fighting round Ypres and Wytschaete in April, and the fighting on the Aisne in May.'
In 11 years, the Great War will have been over for a century. It is hoped that the present generation will continue to look into its connections with Bermuda and in particular with its soldiers lost in action or on paper.
Like the saints of old, we may, by research and writing, translate their remains into more prominent positions, from the oblivion of the grave to the daylight of recovered histories and archival records.
©2001-2006 The Royal Gazette Ltd., UK