At 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing only 8 stones 6 pounds, Richard Lopez was never going to be a blacksmith or a labourer or anything else requiring brute strength. Indeed, his build probably made him more suited to becoming a jockey. Oddly enough, his name sake, Richard Lopez, was a Bajan jockey in more recent times.
I use the term ‘name sake’ but there is some doubt as to the spelling of Richard’s name. Although his Commonwealth War Grave shows Lopez, Richard himself signed his name as Lopes. He was an educated young man so perhaps his name was spelled Lopes but those in authority felt they knew better. For the purposes of his story we will stick with Lopez.
Fortunately, given his slender build, Richard worked as a clerk so heavy lifting was not required.
In common with almost all workers in the early part of the 20th century, Richard lived very near to his place of employment. The roads and transport simply did not allow for long commutes to and from work but Richard was especially lucky as his home in Reed Street was only a short walk from the Da Costa’s warehouse in Broad Street where he worked.
The Da Costas were a family of Portuguese origin who had settled in Barbados. St Vincent born, David Campbell Da Costa had moved to Barbados in the middle of the 19th century where he married a Bajan lady, Emmeline. After Emmeline’s death he married Elizabeth Anne Haynes a member of the wealthy Haynes family. In all he had 13 children, 5 with Emmeline and 8 with Elizabeth. In 1868 he set up the firm Da Costa and Company with its headquarters in Broad Street, Bridgetown.
Under David’s leadership the firm prospered, trading in a whole host of goods including of course, molasses and sugar. This led to David being dubbed the Napoleon of Commerce. He died in London in 1893 and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.
In 1917 when Richard enlisted, Da Costa’s would have been a bustling hive of activity and no one could have predicted that it would one day cease trading. Even fewer would have imagined it would reinvent itself as Da Costa’s Shopping Mall. The Da Costa’s name lives on but in a totally different manner than could ever have been envisaged.
One can imagine Richard walking to and from work. He could even pop home for lunch although he more likely sat at the harbour and had a bite to eat while he watched cargoes loaded and unloaded.
Supposing Richard left school at 14 or 15 years old he had probably worked at Da Costa’s for 4 or 5 years when, in 1917, he decided to join the British West Indies Regiment (BWIR) and fight in World War 1.
It can’t have been easy for a young man with a good, steady job to leave the comfort and security of his home and family for the prospect of living in horrendous and dangerous conditions in Europe or the Middle East where the chances of disease and death were high. But Richard would have seen many of his friends enlist and it is unlikely news of the horrors of War had reached Barbados by the time he enlisted. He probably saw War service as his patriotic duty and might even have imagined it could be glamourous and help lead to greater things for him, his countrymen and his country when he returned to Barbados once to the War was over.
Thus, on 15 November 1917, aged 19 years, Richard went to the recruiting station in Bridgetown and had the medical which confirmed his health as ‘A1’ – the fittest possible – and he was accepted into the BWIR. All he had to do now was await details of when he needed to leave Barbados to join the War effort.
He didn’t have long to wait and on 28 November 1917 he ‘joined for duty’ with the BWIR and then set sail on His Majesty’s Troopship Magdalena on 3 December 1917 stopping off at Jamaica on 8 December en route to Europe and the War.
Richard, who had declared himself as single, was a Private, initially with the 12th Battalion of the BWIR. His service number was 15120. His religion was Church of England and he had signed up for the ‘duration of the War.’
The Magdalena docked in Brest, France on 24 December 1917 and Richard’s first day of service in France was actually Christmas Day 1917. He wasn’t to know it, but he was to have only one further Christmas at home before he died.
Richard was then assigned to the 4th Battalion of the BWIR and at some stage he was also part of the 8th Battalion. Soldiers of the 12th Battalion tend to have been deployed to other Battalions depending on where the greatest need existed.
Richard served in France from 25 December 1917 to 1 March 1918 when he was transferred to Italy. He returned to France in May 1918.
The War was reaching a pivotal stage as the United States had declared War on Germany on 6 April 1918. The Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) also commenced on 16 July 1918 although there is no suggestion Richard ever fought in Belgium.
In general, BWIR troops were deployed in the major battle areas in order to service front-line troops. Part of Richard’s duties involved lifting heavy ammunition which was then transported to the front-line. For a man of Richard’s small stature this can’t have been easy. In October 1918 he suffered pain in his groin and, when washing, noticed a lump. He sought medical advice and it was suspected that he had suffered a hernia. He was given a truss to contain the swelling.
His effectiveness must have been badly affected and in any event the War had technically ended on Armistice Day 11 November 1918. Richard was sent to Taranto in Italy on 15 November 1918 where troops were congregating prior to being demobilised to their homelands.
The logistics of returning hundreds of thousands of men to many different countries must have been horrendous. There were shortages of labour and once again, as they had done during the War, those in charge looked to the BWIR to carry out the menial, arduous but necessary tasks.
Matters came to a head when, in addition to being commanded to clean the toilets for white soldiers, the BWIR troops discovered that the white soldiers where being given a pay rise, but they were not.
On the 6 December 1918 the Taranto Mutiny began. Men of the 9th Battalion attacked their Black officers and 180 Sergeants sent a petition to the Secretary of State protesting at the situation.
The Mutiny lasted for 4 days before being quelled with the involvement of the Worcestershire Regiment who were despatched to restore order. Consequently the 9th Battalion was disbanded and all BWIR Battalions disarmed.
Around 60 BWIR troops were tried for mutiny and one of the mutineers was executed by firing squad.
The Mutiny was a seminal moment for the whole Caribbean as, in the aftermath, the Caribbean League was formed by a group of soldiers who met in Taranto on 17 December 1918. One solider argued that “the black man should have freedom and govern himself in the West Indies and that if necessary, force and bloodshed should be used to attain that object.” As a result, the soldiers agreed that a strike for higher wages should be held on their return to the West Indies.
In many ways, what the white politicians in all the armies involved in the War had feared, was coming to fruition. The War had shown that white people were not superior or infallible and no longer would Black people be treated as second class citizens. Although it would take another 50 years or so, the War led to the creation of independent states across the Caribbean and Africa.
We’ve no way of knowing what role, if any, Richard played in the Mutiny but we do know he experienced and lived through it.
On 3 March 1919 Richard went before a medical board in Taranto. He had applied for compensation in respect of his hernia. He had no previous problems in that area and had indeed been categorised as A1 in health terms before he enlisted. In Richard’s own words he said his hernia had been “caused by lifting ammunition in North France.”
It is easy to imagine this slender young man struggling valiantly to lift ammunition which may even have exceeded his own body weight. It is hardly surprising his body protested and gave way.
The medical board recognised that Richard had no previous such problems and did not dispute the existence of a double hernia. It may be that the medical board assumed or tried to argue that the hernia may have been caused when Richard was off duty as he did, very honestly, say that, he didn’t know if after noticing the bulge while bathing, it had recurred while straining at work. But surely logic would dictate that lifting heavy ammunition mist be the sole cause of his disability?
Incredibly, but not unusually, the medical board concluded that Richard’s disability was “less than 20%” (20% being the lower limit for a pension – anything between 1% and 19% qualified for a one-off gratuity) and needed to be reduced by 10% because he had a pre-existing condition before he enlisted. This despite the fact he was 19 years old, had no previous treatment or problems and had been assessed as A1 during his initial medical in November 1917.
Richard was still medically fit to serve but by now the War was over. On 10 May 1919 he left Le Havre in France to sail back to Barbados. He was discharged on 19 June 1919 under para 392 xxv of the King’s Regulations – “service no longer required.” He had served for 1 year and 205 days. On discharge his military character was described as ‘Good.’
It was 2 August 1919 before the outcome of the medical board was promulgated. Richard received a gratuity for the grand total of £10.
What happened after that is a mystery. We don’t know if he returned to his job at Da Costa’s. What we do know is that he lived only another few months, dying on 15 April 1920.
He is buried in a Commonwealth War Grave in Westbury Cemetery, St Michael. He also qualified for the British Medal, the Victory Medal and the World War 1 Memorial Plaque. None of his medals were ever collected.
Here the mystery thickens as, to qualify for a Commonwealth War Grave and a Memorial Plaque, it must be proven that death was attributable to service. According to the medical records Richard had a relatively trivial double hernia warranting only a small gratuity. Why then was it accepted he died because of his War service?
We will never know, but who can begrudge him this permanent memorial of his short life that is commemorated in Westbury Cemetery?
Richard Lopez’s grave in Westbury Cemetery