The Guyana High Commission recently hosted ‘An Evening with Maria Downer’. Maria, her husband, Patrick and the Historycal Roots team did a presentation to a packed house:
Maria is co-author of ‘The Walker Brothers and Their Legacy’ which tells the story of her father’s service in World War One. Her two uncles also served, making this the only example that has yet come to light of three Black brothers serving in that war. There must have been other examples and we would love to hear about them.
The brothers, who were born in Barbados but moved to British Guiana when their father died, enlisted with the British West Indies Regiment. Maria’s father, Milton, was one of the first to join the newly established regiment, his service number was 272 and he enlisted in October 1915. His brothers, Leonard (service number 6519) and Clarence (number 9221), enlisted later but all three served in the campaign in Egypt and Palestine during 1917 and 1918. There is no way of knowing but it is lovely to think that they re-united at some stage and truly became ‘brothers in arms’.
Maria concluded the evening by urging everyone present to think about their own family history because what the story of the Walker brothers has shown is that there is a lot of fascinating Black history hidden away in the minds (and attics) of the current generation, history that needs to be recorded before it is lost forever.
After the presentation the authors signed copies of the book before everyone tucked into the food and drink provided by Maria with the help of her friends.
We would like to thank the High Commissioner, His Excellency, Hamley Case, for making the High Commission available for this event.