We don’t really offer a research consultancy service but it’s difficult to resist a challenge!
We were recently able to help someone who contacted us about his father who he believed might have served in World War One. We were able to track the soldier down to the British West Indies Regiment and shared some information about the role that Regiment played in the war (troops from the BWIR served principally in Egypt and Palestine but also in Mesopotamia, Africa and France).
We received a lovely ‘thank you’ card from the gentleman’s wife.
She wrote that: ‘he was not aware of anything about his father, all he knew was that he went to war with the British West Indies Regiment, you can imagine how happy he is to be able to tell his sons, grand children and great grands about his father. He is now trying to get a photo of him in his uniform. Please continue the good work. God bless you.’ A note like that makes the work worthwhile.
This is fairly typical example of the ‘hidden history’ of Black soldiers’ service in the ‘Great War’. We will shortly be publishing a book about three brothers who enlisted from British Guiana (as it was then) and who served in Egypt. The family have unearthed a couple of very interesting photos – it’s amazing what you can find in attics!