Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War: Race, Masculinity and the Development of National Consciousness [Hardcover]

Internal ** 2972 characters This book examines the experiences of Jamaicans and to a lesser extent other West Indians who served in British West Indies Regiments and West India Regiments in WWI; it also takes a critical look at how racial discrimination affected Black volunteers. It was only after British troops began to lose tens of thousands of troops that there were urgent appeals for volunteers in the West Indies. In Jamaica announcements were read out in churches in October 1915. The appeal focused on the inclusiveness of Empire, and called for "all to join hands, and hearts together to strike the necessary death blow to Germanism, bearing in mind "United we stand, divided we fall ." The call to arms did not fall on the ears of white Jamaicans only, but Black men seriously considered the threat of a German-held Jamaica and the consequences. Further, they saw volunteering as a means of gaining equality, and opportunity for social or political advancement. In September 1914, Marcus Garvey s United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) passed a resolution of loyalty to the King and Empire, and in a letter accompanying the resolution he said, "Our love for, and devotion to, His Majesty and the Empire, stands unrivalled and from the depths of our hearts we pray for the crowning victory of the British soldiers now at War." (page 44) Garvey s support for the war effort might have reflected the degree to which he had internalised some values of Empire and which he saw it as benchmarks for self-improvement. Also, he might have been influenced by the decision of some Irish Nationalists, widely reported in the Jamaican press, to suspend Home Rule agitation for the duration of the war in exchange for post-war concessions. But many white military men believed Black soldiers lacked the masculine qualities of stoicism, self-discipline and rationality to be an effective force on the modern battlefield. They ignored the significant role that the latter played in previous imperial campaigns in the 19th century. Such attitudes boosted the former s self-image and imperial arrogance. The first chapter in the book discusses the wartime crisis of white masculinity. Raymond Asquith, son of the wartime Liberal Prime Minister, complained of the increasing irritability and war-weariness of the officers in his own regiment, and thought that it showed a declining image of British masculinity. When given the opportunity, Black soldiers showed their masculinity on the battlefield, especially in Africa. But, at the beginning of the war, there had been a reluctance to accept them as volunteers. Although they were excluded mainly from front-line service in Europe, Black Jamaican volunteers appropriated codes of military heroism and sacrifice. Smith s study also provides a comprehensive discussion of the war's impact on anti-colonial struggles in the West Indies. Veterans used their knowledge and experience of war to support demands for land and political enfranchisement. -- Arthur Torrington BASA Newsletter 20111130

This study explores the dynamics of race and masculinity to provide fresh historical insight into the First World War and its Imperial dimensions, examining the experiences of Jamaicans who served in British regiments. Reluctance to accept West Indian volunteers was rooted in the belief that black men lacked the qualities necessary for modern warfare. This, combined with fears over white racial degeneration, resulted in the need to preserve established hierarchies, which was achieved through the exclusion of black soldiers from the front line and their confinement in labour battalions. However, despite their exclusion from the battlefield, the author shows that the experience of war was invaluable in allowing veterans to appropriate codes of heroism, sacrifice and citizenship in order to wage their own battles for independence on their return home, culminating in the nationalist upsurge of the late 1930s. This book offers a lively and accessible account that will prove invaluable to those studying the Imperial dimensions of the First World War, as well and those interested in the wider notions of race and masculinity in the British Empire.