Some films and TV programmes begin with a warning that they might contain scenes showing violence, bad language, sex or flashing images. This story of Wendell Valentyne Byer starts with the warning that it may make you sad, or angry or even both.
Wendell was an 18-year old trainee school teacher with a bright future ahead of him when, in 1917, he enlisted in the British West Indies Regiment (BWIR) and went to fight in Europe. This is the story of how he came to be buried in the only World War I Commonwealth War Grave in St Barnabas church yard in St Michael, Bridgetown.
St Barnabas Church is situated in the east of St Michael, 2 miles from the centre of Bridgetown. Set on a hill, it enjoys sweeping views over the St George Valley.
Although I used Google maps to calculate the distance, there is an easy way to work out how far away St Barnabas is from Bridgetown. It is situated at the end of Two Mile Hill. In my naivete I had thought Two Mile Hill was a steep incline which, incidentally, put me off walking there. In fact, Two Mile Hill denotes a spot exactly 2 miles from the centre of Bridgetown. In the days of the sugar cane industry it had a railway station but that has now long gone.
The church itself was originally built in 1830 at a cost of £800. In common with most other churches on the island it was destroyed in the hurricane of 1831. The rebuilt church was consecrated on 9 October 1839.
The immediate area is not without its notable buildings. The Sherbourne Conference Centre, opened in 1994 and renamed the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in October 2008, is in the vicinity. It is the largest conference centre in Barbados.
Also nearby is Ilaro Court, since 1984 the official residence of the Prime Minister of Barbados. The house was originally built in the 1920s and is named after a town in Nigeria where the first owner, Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter, the Governor of Barbados from 1904 to 1911, was based when he was an officer. The house boasted the first swimming pool in Barbados.
Sir Gilbert was an ex-Naval officer who went on to occupy senior administrative posts in the Gold Coast, Gambia and Lagos and was Governor of the Bahamas immediately before taking a similar role in Barbados. He was later Governor of Trinidad and Tobago before returning to Barbados in his retirement.
In 1891, with typical British bravado, Sir Gilbert sent an envoy to the King of Gambia to warn him to cease ill-treating British colonists. The New York Times of 22 April 1891 reported the outcome under the headline:
IMPRUDENT KING OF GAMBIA
British Gunboats to Avenge an Outrage of an Envoy
The poor envoy was mutilated, portions of his cheeks and thighs being cut from his body. The envoy and the body parts were sent back with the message “This is the King’s answer.” Carter promptly sent three gunboats to Gambia and extracted full retribution. This didn’t seem, to me anyway, to be the greatest example of diplomacy. However, the function of a diplomat, according to Wikipedia, is to “convey in the most persuasive way possible, the views of the home government to the governments to which they are accredited and, in doing so, of trying to convince those governments to act in ways that suit home-country interests.” No one can accuse Carter of not using ‘the most persuasive way possible.’ Thank goodness he didn’t have access to nuclear weapons.
In 1919, for reasons best known to himself, the ex-Governor changed his name from Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter to Sir Thomas Gilbert-Carter. Perhaps he just wanted to confuse his postman. He died at Ilaro Court on 18 January 1927.
The first Prime Minister to take up residence at Ilaro Court was Tom Adams in 1984. Tom Adams was the son of Grantley Adams, the first Premier of Barbados. Adams junior sadly died suddenly a year later aged only 53 in the study of the house. The only subsequent Prime Minister not to live at Ilaro Court was Errol Barrow who felt uncomfortable living in such an ostentatious and expensive property.
The people of Barbados, in an opinion poll organised by a Bajan newspaper, felt the house was far too costly but as it had been refurbished it was sensible and proper that all future Prime Ministers should reside there.
But I was visiting St Barnabas church to find the Commonwealth War Grave of World War I hero Wendell Valentyne Byer. I knew two things about Wendell already. In August 1921 he was the last World War I veteran to be buried in a War Grave in Barbados and he was buried at St Barnabas. What else could I learn about Wendell’s short life?
The Great War was declared on 14 July 1914 when Wendell was still only 15 years old. The War must have seemed a long way off to Wendell when news of it filtered through to Glebe Land, St George where he lived.
In 1914, the Byer’s home would have been noisy and crowded with Wendell, his two parents and, in 1914, 6 siblings (one more was to follow).
Wendell’s father was William Adolphus Byer and his mother Elizabeth Ann Farnum Byer. His family can be traced back to the 18th century with roots on his mother’s side of the family in St Lucy. His great-grandfather James Hunt Farnum was born in St Lucy in 1789 and his grandfather Thomas Henry Farnum died there in 1913. In case you are wondering about the apparent large age gap between James and Thomas, James was 50 years old when Thomas was born. Thomas’ mother, Elizabeth Ann Corbin, was only 19 when he was born. We don’t know when or why the family moved to St George but Thomas’ wife, Elizabeth Frances Forte was born in St George so perhaps that is the link?
Wendell’s parents had married on 13 June 1896. They went on to have a long and hopefully predominantly happy marriage which lasted almost 54 years before William’s death in May 1950. Sadly, their first child, Adolphus died at birth in 1897. Wendell was the next born child and 7 siblings followed.
When Wendell left school, he became a trainee school teacher. Perhaps he developed the skills and desire to be so by helping his parents with the house full of young children. One can imagine him telling stories to William age 1, Gracilia age 2 and Justin age 4. Or helping Herbert age 7, Thomas age 9 and Elizabeth age 11 with their homework.
Thoughts of the War must have occupied his mind. He’d no doubt heard of the BWIR and would have known young men who had signed up to fight for King and country.
Eventually Wendell made up his mind to leave his family and put his school teacher training on hold to sign-up with the BWIR. He enlisted for ‘the duration of the War’ on 6 March 1917. He was said to be 18 years and 0 months of age. Dates of birth weren’t very reliable in those days as many young men lied about their age in order to join the War effort but it is clear Wendell volunteered at the youngest age he could legally do so.
Wendell was a tall young man, 5 feet 11 and a half inches tall, with black curly hair. He was assigned to the 8th Battalion of the BWIR and his service number was 10905.
He left Bridgetown on 11 July 1917 as part of the 2nd contingent of volunteers, 128 days after enlisting. His destination was Brest in France. He said goodbye to his family and left Thomas, at 11 years old, as the new big brother of the family. He also no doubt created a battle over which of the siblings could have his bed, or more likely, his side of bed.
In common with the huge majority of BWIR troops, Wendell was recruited as a Private. Indeed, Black soldiers were not allowed to be Officers. But he must have made an immediate impression as he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on his first day on board the ship. Only a week later on 18 July 1917, and still on the journey to France, he was made an Acting Corporal. He reverted to Lance Corporal once more on 17 October 1917 and to Private on 27 October 1917 but the fact he made such a good impression may be testimony to his physical build, good education and the confidence and demeanour he developed as a trainee teacher.
Wendell’s Commonwealth War Grave shows him as a Corporal as do some of the documents in his Army file. However, his Statement of Service, signed by a Captain of the BWIR, records him as a Private at the time of his discharge so, on the balance of evidence, I think it very likely that he ended his army career as a Private.
Landing in Brest on 31 July 1917 Wendell served for one month in France, 4 months in Belgium and latterly 3 months in Italy before becoming ill in March 1918.
Wendell worked as a labourer supporting the troops in the field and with transport. It was hard work, in difficult circumstances and conditions. While it was relatively menial, the work of the BWIR was important in ensuring troops on the front line received the support they were in desperate need of. His health was generally good although he caught measles in August 1917 and was out of action for a couple of weeks.
Then disaster struck. On 24 March 1918 Wendell became very ill. At first the diagnosis was rheumatism but it was later confirmed he was in fact suffering from Pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB) an often fatal illness.
Wendell was initially treated as an in-patient of the Native Hospital, Taranto in Italy. It soon became apparent he would not recover. He was confirmed as ‘no longer physically fit for War service’ and transferred to the General Hospital in Marseilles, France prior to returning to Barbados.
He left France on 21 May 1918 on His Majesty’s Hospital Ship Formosa. When he arrived back in the West Indies on 10 June 1918 he was formally discharged from the Army. He was still only 19 years and 3 months.
For Wendell, the War was over. His War history was as follows, (bear in mind the British Army counted everything in days). He had served with the British Expeditionary Forces in France, Belgium and Italy for 294 days. The 20 days he spent travelling from France to the West Indies didn’t count towards this total, nor did the 128 days between enlisting and leaving the West Indies but the days he spent travelling from the West Indies to France were included in the 294 days. His overall service was therefore 1 year and 96 days. Of that 1 year and 96 days however, only 333 days counted towards his pension as for his first 128 days (between enlisting and sailing for France) he had not been on ‘British Pay’. By my calculation 333 days plus 128 days equals 461 days yet the total service recorded of 1 years 96 days equates to 462 days. Someone has been short changed here or perhaps in the days long before calculators or computers one of the officials simply made a mistake. After all, the country had more pressing issues to worry about.
Wendell returned to Barbados, still a youth but with his health broken. Having left as a tall, healthy young man eager to serve his country one wonders what his parents and siblings thought about his appearance as he stepped onto Bajan soil for the first time in almost 12 months?
Things didn’t improve for Wendell. He became the victim of bureaucratic incompetency and, possibly, bias on the part of the Government’s medical officers.
Wendell appeared before a Medical Board in Barbados on August 29 1919. Quite why this took over 14 months from his original date of discharge isn’t clear.
He should have had a Medical Board before being discharged due to ill health in Taranto in April 1918. Indeed, it is difficult to see how he could not have had a Medical Board – how could a decision be made that he was ‘no longer physically fit for War service during a period of War or demobilisation – King’s Regulations para 392 (xvi) (a) 1912’ in the absence of medical evidence? The Regulation requires that such a discharge had to be authorised by ‘the President of the Medical Board’ and confirmed by the Officer In charge of Records. In Wendell’s case, authorisation was given by a Captain of the BWIR who must have based his decision on supporting medical evidence and a recommendation from the President of the Medical Board. How could he be hospitalised in Taranto, released from his duties, transported to Marseilles, admitted to hospital there and allocated a place on a Hospital Ship to return him to Barbados if there was no supporting medical evidence?
Fortunately, Wendell had been awarded a temporary pension of 1 shilling and 6 pence (7.5p in decimal currency) so he had some income. We don’t know if he was able to return to teaching but his submission to the Medical Board reads as if he last worked prior to enlisting in March 1918.
The Medical Board of 29 August made great play of the fact that there were no medical history records for Wendell. But rather than make a greater effort to trace the papers, adjourn the examination or even use common sense and accept that at some stage before Wendell left Marseilles on 21 May 1918 a medical must have taken place and this had confirmed that he was for unfit for War service, they proceeded with the Medical Board.
Wendell explained to the Board that he had no previous history of ill health and his current incapacity began in March 1918 in Taranto. He attributed his TB as due to the Italian climate. He said the days were hot and the nights cold. Working on night duties on the quay exposed him to the cold air. He was “obliged to come out of the hot tent and face the cold air outside.”
Incidentally Wendell’s statement is written in his own hand. As you might expect from a trainee school teacher his grammar and spelling are perfect, yet he spells his middle name as Valentyne i.e. with a ‘y’ rather than an ‘i’. I strongly suspect Wendell knew how to spell his name so I’m using Valentyne rather than Valentine. His gravestone shows only the initials W V Byer.
Wendell went on to explain that he was first treated at the Native Hospital, Taranto and later the General Hospital at Marseilles.
Wendell informed the Board that his doctor in Barbados was Dr Boxill in Buttals, St George but there is no suggestion that Dr Boxill was contacted to provide any medical evidence or opinion on Wendell’s condition or general health before or after his military service. It is likely that Dr Boxill was in fact Dr Duncan de Courcy Boxill who had been born in St George on 4 August 1880 and after spells in the United States moved to England in 1932 where he died in Surrey in 1959. At the beginning of the War the Boxill family owned the 209-acre Buttal’s sugar plantation in St George.
The Medical Board noted, perhaps in a fit of pique, that there were “No medical history sheets, this man was discharged apparently without any Medical Board.” No attempt was made to explain or understand how Wendell could possibly have been ‘discharged as unfit for War service’ without any supporting medical evidence.
The medical examiner noted that Wendell was “Well developed, healthy looking black man. Lungs and heart normal. States that he has his cough and brings up “a little cold” about twice a week. Temperature 98.2 at 2.45pm.”
Although language and terminology was different in those days it is odd that Wendell is described as a ‘black man’. Certainly, Wendell was black but what did the Medical Board expect when examining a soldier of the BWIR in Barbados? One can only wonder why the colour of his skin became worthy of note in a medical report. The examination appears to have been very cursory, limited to his appearance and a check of his temperature.
Remarkably and tragically, in the face of all the circumstantial evidence, the Medical Board went on to decide that Wendell had no disability whatsoever.
Wendell had no option to return to the BWIR, after all he had been declared medically unfit and the War was over. It would appear he was unable or too ill to return to teaching. All he had was his 1 shilling and 6 pence a day in return for giving up his youth, his health and his future in the teaching profession.
The last official document we have on Wendell is his ‘Award Sheet’ which has a stark entry dated 26 January 1920 “No disability. Reject.”
(The final verdict on Wendell’s claim for a War Pension)
One day short of 19 months later, on 25 August 1921, Wendell died. He was 22 years old.
Let us imagine what might have happened had Wendell stayed at home or even survived the War with his health in good stead. He may have qualified as a teacher, taught hundreds of children, married and had children of his own. The odds of him living a long life were good. His mother and father lived to be 78 and 83 respectively. Of his 7 siblings, 2 lived into their 90s, another 3 survived until their 80s and the other 2 both reached their 70s. He would no doubt have travelled to visit his brother Herbert and sister Elizabeth who left Barbados to live in Canada and his brother Thomas who ended his life in Cuba. With so many siblings he would have had nephews and nieces galore, he may even have taught many of them. But none of that was to be.
Although Glebe Land isn’t too far from the border between St George and St Michael it is difficult to understand why Wendell was buried at St Barnabas rather than St George’s parish church which was much nearer to his home. I imagine there is no living person that will know the reason which is almost certainly lost to history forever.
Wendell’s grave still stands, well maintained and proudly in St Barnabas church yard. He was the last person to be buried in a World War I Commonwealth War Grave in Barbados. He died 6 days before the cut-off point of 31 August 1921. Any deaths after that date would not qualify for a War Grave. The fact he was buried in a War Grave shows that ultimately it was accepted that his death was ‘service attributable.’ At least at the end, his service was recognised and his memory honoured.
(Wendell’s final resting place at St Barnabas)