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By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us) at e-mail exclusively for Bermuda Online
To refer to this file use "bermuda-online.org/war veterans.htm" as your Subject.
The author also writes other military files relating to Bermuda, namely

Royal Gazette photo of new (2010) Bermuda War Memorial showing all from Bermuda who fell in the Great War (1914-1918) and World War 2. Bermuda Regiment bandsmen played at the Memorial's formal opening.

Royal Gazette 2011 photo of Bermuda's Governor and a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) official viewing the War Memorial.
Here in Bermuda, Canada, United
Kingdom and elsewhere in the British Commonwealth of Nations, Remembrance
Day, at the Cenotaph on Front Street in the city
of Hamilton every November 11 is a
very solemn day. For Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC, 1894-1946)
Association Members, Friends, Families and Community members who are interested,
it normally begins with an appearance at the BVRC War Memorial at Victoria Park,
Hamilton, for a Parade and Service of Remembrance, with laying of wreaths and
roll of honour. Then at 11 am, it is a parade for all surviving Bermuda veterans of World
Wars and Korean War (none served in the more recent Gulf Wars or in Afghanistan
or Iraq), in both the BVRC and other Bermuda military units such as the Bermuda
Militia Artillery, etc. at that time. Bermuda veterans of World Wars 1 and 2
and Korean War of the 1950s were mostly in the
Bermuda Home Guard or serving abroad in the British Army (Mostly Caribbean Regiment or Lincolnshire Regiment), Royal
Navy, Royal Marines, Merchant Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian
Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy and, as was the case of a few, the US Armed
Forces.
If well enough to appear, they do so wearing their medals and march down part of Front Street.
Accompanied by the Bermuda Regiment Band and Corps of Drums, the Salvation Army, North Village and Somerset Brigade Bands, and the Bermuda Islands Pipe Band, veterans and officials reflect on their comrades who fought for freedom. At 11 a.m. guns fire at Fort Hamilton and Ordnance Island, St. George's, to signal the two-minute silence, held every year on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to commemorate the end of the First World War. Wreaths are laid by the Governor, Premier, Hamilton Mayor, Opposition Leader, the president of the War Veterans' Association, the Defence Board chairman, the Regiment's commanding officer, the Commissioner of Police and the Chief Fire Officer. They are followed by former members or on behalf of the Bermuda Home Guard and Bermuda Contingent of the Caribbean Regiment. A service takes place in the Bermuda Cathedral in the event of wet weather.
Among those present in 2010 were Governor Sir Richard Gozney, Premier Paula Cox, United Bermuda Party Leader Kim Swan and war veterans. The crowd join in singing hymns, and a two-minute silence is done every year on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month commemorated the end of the First Word War. An additional parade takes place in St. George's on November 14, 2010. It will be attended by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, and Lt. Col. Brian Gonsalves of the Bermuda Regiment.
Remembrance Day is the culmination of the annual Bermuda Poppy Appeal conducted by the local branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL) led by caseworker Carol Everson that honors 2,776 men and women from the Island's armed forces who lost their lives during the two World Wars.
Poppies are available seasonally throughout the Appeal at places including the Cabinet Office, the Corporation of Hamilton and the Bermuda Regiment, as well as churches and participating businesses. Donations are appreciated.
In conjunction with the RBL, a separate unit for war veterans' families is normally led through the streets by an officer from the Bermuda Regiment. All relatives or descendants of a World War veterans are invited to take part. Participants are welcome to wear the medals or awards of the person they are representing. It was stressed they must wear the decorations on the right arm rather than the left. The RBL is a registered charity that works to assist war veterans and their widows. RBL Bermuda belongs to a worldwide organization that can provide a wide range of assistance. Some of the services include assistance with medical bills, assistance with urgent loans and assistance with Christmas presents. RBL Bermuda call also upon the Royal British Legion's head office in London for larger capital funds and grants.
The Remembrance Day Service pays
tribute to those who served locally or overseas in the two wars above and died
(90 Bermudians in World War 1, 35 Bermudians in the Second World War,
and those
who guarded freedom at home. Also in the Second World War, 29 Bermudian women
served overseas. In Bermuda, as at November 11, 2008, there were 183
living registered veterans and 78 widows of veterans. The Home Guard were joined by Bermudians
in Royal Naval Dockyard who kept to the Atlantic supply lines open, ensuring the
British received essential supplies.
Bermuda's new war memorial, announced on November 10, 2009, was completed in November 2010 by the Ministry of Public Works..
It sits on the Cabinet Grounds just east of the Cenotaph and contains the names of almost 3,000 Bermudian men and women who served in the two World Wars. Names are inscribed on seven highly polished black granite slabs and a diamond emblem in gold leaf beside a name indicates that the serviceman or servicewoman is on the roll of honour and lost their lives in wartime service. A fountain in front of the memorial is made of a granite base and a highly-polished pink granite ball which is the same stone used in the Anglican Cathedral in Hamilton. Seating is provided at the memorial and it is a serene place where surviving War Veterans, their children or grandchildren other other relatives, members of an appreciative public and visitors may gather to reflect upon and pay respect to those who served our Island so heroically during the Great Wars.
Remembrance Day events are also broadcast on the Government TV station CITV from 10.30 a.m plus CableVision Ch. 2 and WOW Ch 102.


The town of St. George's also remembers the Island's war heroes, at a Remembrance Day Parade in the Town Square opposite the War Memorial. Those present include the Mayor, The Royal Artillery and Ex-Artillerymen's Association, Bermuda Island Pipe Band, The Bermuda Regiment Band & Corp of Drums, Bermuda Sea Cadets, St. George's Girl Guides, Bermuda Fire Service, Bermuda Regiment Wreath Bearers, Bermuda Regiment Gun Troop, and the Boy Scouts all participate in the ceremony.
At the HMS
Jervis Bay memorial at Albouy's Point, The Bermuda Sea Cadets host a Remembrance
Day service. It
is one of a number of memorial events around the world to honour those who
served on the HMS Jervis Bay, a 50,000 ton container ship that visited Bermuda
during the war years before it was sunk as it confronted the superior firepower
of a German warship in 1940 while escorting a convoy from Canada to the UK.
If veterans served with a British unit - as most of them did - they
also get the HM Armed Forces Veterans Badge, and a War Pension from the
United Kingdom. Eligibility to this
prestigious badge was widened following Remembrance Day 2005 to include all
those who served between the end of the Second World War and December, 1954,
thus encompassing the Korean War and military campaigns in Malaya undertaken by
British forces. Another
local veteran, also honored, served in Korea with the US Army. Unlike
in the UK, USA, Canada, etc. there are no retirement homes or hospitals
specifically for World War veterans. Some Bermuda veterans have had to pay
more than $100,000 out of their own money if they have it to overseas hospitals
for operations, owing to a lack of affordable medical insurance and no social
conscience in Bermuda from taxpayers' resources. If they don't have the funds,
they don't get treated overseas.
However, in Bermuda, registered veterans and their widows get a Bermuda War Pensions benefit of $800 a month, plus full coverage on all prescription drugs, medical tests at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and partial coverage for medical visits to local medical general practitioners and specialists.
In England, on every Sunday before Remembrance Day in London, the Foreign Secretary, on behalf of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London, England, which administers Bermuda, lays before the Cenotaph (later copied by Bermuda) in London a wreath to the fallen who died in the wars from the British Overseas Territories. He is accompanied by the UK's Prime Minister, and leaders of the Opposition - those from the main Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.
The wreath is supplied to the FCO by the Directors and Staff of, and hand-made at, Kew Gardens, Britain's finest gardens, from flowers and botanicals in its collection from all the Overseas Territories including some prized Bermudiana. It always includes sprigs of two endemic Bermuda species, the Juniperus bermudiana (Bermuda Cedar) tree and Chiococca bermudiana (Bermuda snowberry) shrub.
| Bermuda Contingent, Caribbean Regiment | |
| Bermuda Home Guard | |
| Bermuda Legion |
Bermuda charity 109. The mission is to assist war veterans and their widows. Looks after Bermuda WW1 and 2 and Korean War, etc. war veterans of past, present and future officers and soldiers in units now part of the Bermuda Regiment. Has its own agenda for welfare and for insurance. Can air-ambulance people, can provide travel costs and cover medical expenses, which the former Royal Bermuda Legion could not. Has helped with air evacuations; has a Christmas appeal, taking food hampers and baskets all over the Island. Assists in individual cases of need, helps with healthcare bills, and helps many people find help with the different Government agencies, such as Financial Assistance. Can provide immediate assistance for people without having to go to London for it. In this way, has aligned itself with the Caribbean nations who have their own Legions — notably Jamaica, which has a very successful Legion. Fund raising remains constant for war veteran widows, whose assistance from Government has had to be cut in recent years. Everything the Legion raises stays in Bermuda. “We don’t speculate; we don’t invest money — every single contribution for welfare is used for welfare here in Bermuda.” In the ten-day run up to November 11, the Bermuda Legion sets out on its campaign with the signature red poppies. |
| Bermuda Militia Artillery | Black soldiers
of Bermuda until 1965, with a proud record of combat in two World Wars
Photo: Royal Gazette |
| Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps Overseas Association (BVRC) | Held its 89th annual reunion at Warwick Camp in May 2007 - always first Saturday in May. Founded in 1919 after World War 1. Commemorates first Saturday of May 1915 when the first contingent of white Bermuda soldiers left Bermuda to join the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment in France. |
| Bermuda Regiment | Did not exist until 1975 when it was formed to include the black Bermuda Militia Artillery and white Bermuda Rifles |
| Bermuda War Veterans Association (BWVA) | P. O. Box HM 2716, Hamilton HM LX, Bermuda. With less than 80 war veterans left in 2008. A local charity founded in 1919 by returning servicemen from the Great War to provide assistance to those who went overseas to serve, originally in the First World War and in other wars subsequently. In 2007 alone, the BWVA gave out over $200,000 in aid to needy Bermuda War Veterans and their dependants. The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) were considered to be of such a high standard when they joined the Lincolnshire Regiment in the Great War that they were allowed to fight under their own colours, despite being only a company. The Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) was the first black unit to serve in the Great War. It distinguished itself on the front and received several battle honours. World War 2 saw similar sacrifice and dedication from Bermudians, many of whom joined other Commonwealth Units such as the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, British Army, Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy, etc. In November 2011, just days before 2011 Remembrance Day, Jack Lightbourn of the BWVA reported in the media that difficult financial times will result in less money for the Island’s remaining veterans. He noted the organization will have to reduce the financial support it gives to veterans by more than 50 percent. “In November, the people we are supporting who usually receive $850 will receive $500. We can’t do anything about it. We are lucky we were able to do what we did.” He confirmed the organization provides funds for three Bermudian veterans who served overseas and 12 widows of veterans. Among the issues facing the organization was that it had invested heavily into shares of Butterfield Bank, which has undergone financial turmoil in recent years. “The worst of it was a loss of $45,000 of income,” Mr Lightbourn said. “That’s the part that really hurt.” Another issue, he said, is that the majority of donations the organisation receives comes from seniors. “I’m sure that a lot of people will continue to help us as they have always done, but many of the people who are supporters are people of our own age and a lot of them are gone now. The families don’t seem to come in behind and the kids don’t have the same feelings we do.” Mr Lightbourn served in the Royal Navy near the close of the Second World War. He was on a minesweeper with a convoy when they were attacked by a group of German U-boats. RC 140 |
| Bermuda War Veterans Commissioners | The men whose interests they represent are all senior citizens. See Bermuda Government Boards. Registered Charity 140. Established to provide assistance to those who went overseas to serve, originally in the First World War and in other wars subsequently. It cannot support financially those who served on the home front. |
| Royal Artillery Association Bermuda Branch | Functions include having an annual Remembrance Sunday Wreath Laying Ceremony, Parade and Church Service in St. George's on King's Square and St. Peter's Church, led by the Band of the Bermuda Regiment, to commemorate Remembrance Day. Decorations and medals are worn. |
| War Veterans Pensions Commission (WVPC) | Unlike veterans in other countries, Bermuda pays a pension only to those who served overseas |
Since
the Great War of 1914-1918 poppies have been since World War 1 the national and international symbol for
British airmen, soldiers, sailors and marines who perished while serving their
country in world wars and the Korean conflict. When we mourn Bermuda's dead in Remembrance
Day ceremonies each November, we think of a flower - a poppy. Why? Because of the following
immortal lines from a poem: "If
ye break faith with us who die, we will not sleep, though poppies grow in
Flander's fields."
The author of this famous "poppy" poem was Colonel John McCrae, who was a distinguished professor of Medicine at McGill University after he served in the Boer War. On the outbreak of war in 1914, he at once enlisted in the Canadian Army, 1st Brigade Artillery, which was sent to fight in Belgium.
Soon after landing in Europe, he was made Medical Officer. During the second battle of Ypres in 1915 he was so horrified, appalled and heart-sick over the senseless slaughter of so many hundreds of thousands of men that he penned the following words, used to this day on 11th November.
These verses were sent anonymously to the British magazine Punch, which published them in December 1915 under the title "In Flanders' Fields."
Colonel McCrae died from his battle wounds in 1918.
| "In Flanders' fields the poppies blow. | Take up our quarrel with the foe; |
| Between the crosses, row on row, | To you from failing hands we throw |
| That mark our place; and in the sky | The torch be yours to hold it high |
| The larks still bravely singing fly, | If ye break faith with us who die |
| Scarce heard amid the guns below. | We shall not sleep, though poppies grow |
| We are the dead. Short days ago | In Flanders' fields." |
| We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, | |
| Loved and were loved, and now we lie | |
| in Flanders' fields. |
The poem expressed McCrae's grief over the "row on row" of graves of soldiers who had died on Flanders' battlefields, located in a region of western Belgium and northern France. The poem presented a striking image of the bright red flowers blooming among the rows of white crosses and became a rallying cry to all who fought in the First World War. McCrae's poem had a huge impact on two women, Anna E. Guerin of France and Georgia native Moina Michael. Both worked hard to initiate the sale of artificial poppies to help orphans and others left destitute by the war. By the time Guerin established the first sale in the U.S., in 1920 with the help of The American Legion, the poppy was well known in the allied countries — America, Britain, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — as the "Flower of Remembrance." Proceeds from that first sale went to the American and French Children's League. Guerin had difficulty with the distribution of the poppies in early 1922 and sought out Michael for help. Michael had started a smaller-scaled Poppy Day during a YMCA conference she was attending in New York and wanted to use the poppies as a symbol of remembrance of the war. Guerin, called the "Poppy Lady of France" in her homeland, and Michael, later dubbed "The Poppy Princess" by the Georgia legislature, went to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) for help. Following its first nationwide distribution of poppies in 1922, the VFW adopted the poppy as its official memorial flower. However, a shortage of poppies from French manufacturers led to the idea of using unemployed and disabled veterans to produce the artificial flowers.
Bermuda's Roll of Honour
Bermuda lost 80 men in overseas service in the Great War. They served in (a) the Bermuda Militia Artillery, one of the units that served and fought with the gunners of the Royal Garrison Artillery; (b) the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps. They matched up with foot soldiers of British army regiments, and (c) others who had signed up for the Royal Flying Corps (later, the Royal Air Force) and other units.
Bermudians en route by troopship to France and Belgium in World War 1.
They died fighting for Bermuda and the UK. For Bermuda soldiers killed in this Great War and buried overseas in a British Commonwealth War Graves-registered plot, they can be researched at http://www.cwgc.org/.
| Adcock, Cyril Clarence | Alick, Richard Thomas Ambrose | Anderson, W. F |
| Arnold, William Henry | Baker, Henry Arnold | Baker, Howard Junior |
| Bridges, Arthur Percy. Brother of Harry Francis Bridges. Died of wounds in Bermuda on February 25th 1918. | Bridges, Harry Francis. Killed at Vermelles, France on November 5th 1916. He was a Lance Corporal, Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps attached to 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. Service No. 25334. He is buried in the British Cemetery in Vermelles. The original wooden cross from his grave hangs on the wall in St. Marks Church, Cherry Orchard, Worcester, England near where he was brought up. His daughter, still living in July 2010, is Eleanor Gibbons-Brown who wrote the book "War Baby" about her life. | Brown, Ewart Cudmore |
| Brown, W | Burgesson, Agnel Eugene | Burrows, John Philip |
| Cannon, John Arthur | Condor, Wilfred Augustus | Conyers, Walter Neville |
| Cooper, John Henry | Dean, S. G. | Dickinson, Percival Earle |
| Dill, Charles Wentford Alfred | Doe, Andrew Elliott | Easton, William Edward |
| Farrell, Patrick Joseph | Fowler, William James | Frith, Frederick Hervey, Jr. Served in a Canadian Army unit. Possibly with the BVRC earlier. Understood to have been connected with Frith's Hardware, Front Street, Bermuda. |
| Godet, Leonard DeGraff | Gorham, Clive William | Gunn, Archibald D. |
| Harriott, Nathaniel Benjamin | Hollis, Edward Kimball | Holman, Charles Edward |
| Jackson, Cyril Healy | Joell, Walter | Kyme, Walter Robert |
| Lamb, Albert Ernest | Lightbourn, Robert | Marshall, Frederick George |
| Martin, William George | Millett, Henry William | Morris, Louis William |
| Morton, Cyril | Motyer, Arthur John | Mussenden, J |
| Noble, Herbert Stafford | O'Connor, James Archibald | Outerbridge, Benjamin Whitaker |
| Pawsey, Frank | Pitcher, Eldon Liverstone | Pitman, Byron McWarren |
| Place, Charles Wentworth | Platten, Andrew Richard | Purdue, Edward Colston |
| Richardson, Whitford Stephen | Robertson, Charles Granville | Robinson, Cecil Beaumont |
| Robinson, Charles Bryan | Ryder, W. George | Sheppard, Arthur Leroy |
| Simmons, Hayford Douglas | Smith. A. G | Smith, Charles Kennelly |
| Smith, Donald Gray | Smith, Frederick Lea | Smith, Kenneth Nesbit |
| Smith, T. Wardell | Smith, William Edmund. (The first Bermudian to die in the Great War. He drowned when his ship, HMS Aboukir was sunk on 22 September 1914). | Steele, Eric Gauntlett |
| W. Gordon Stollard | Stowe, Arthur Granville | Swan, S. S |
| Symons, Joseph Henry Fulton. Gunner, BMA (but he was reported to have returned home on July 1, 1919 | Tatem, Philip Archibald, Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC). Serving with 1st Bn. Lincolnshire Regiment. Born July 30, 1892, Spanish Point, Pembroke Parish. Killed September 25, 1916 in Battle of the Somme and listed on the Thiepval Memorial (Pier & Face 1C). Oldest son of William Thomas Tatem and Emmie Jessie Miles. | Thiele, William |
| Tiller, William | Tite, William James | Trimingham, James Lightbourn, brother of Wentworth Gray |
| Trimingham,
Wentworth Gray (brother of James Lightbourn Trimingham). A Memorial
Death Plaque for him, known as "Dead Man's Penny" was issued
by the British Government to salute him and many others.
|
Tucker, Alexander Ewing | Tucker, Edmund Ernest |
| Tucker, George Frederick S | Tucker, George Samuel | Tucker, St. George Streuli Murray |
| Turini, Basil Louis | Vallis, Alfred Hoare | Wadson, Stanley Parker |
| Ward, Errol Stephen Remsen | Watlington, Henry Joseph | Wears, Rudolph George |
| White, Walter Adrastus | Whitecross, Harold Collins | Wingood, Allan Charles |
Officers and NCOs of Bermuda Contingent, Royal Garrison Artillery, who served in France and Belgium in World War 1. Photographed in England prior to their departure to the front. One of those was William (Lanky) Furbert. British Army photo.

Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps members who served in France and Belgium with the Lincolnshire Regiment in World War 1. British Army photo.
Philip Tatem, BVRC, 1st Bn. Lincolnshire Regiment, killed September 25, 1916 at Battle of the Somme. One of those who went by sea to France on the ship above. He was the great-uncle of Sherri Panchaud Onorati who kindly sent this photo.
They died fighting for Bermuda and the Allies. For Bermuda airmen, soldiers, sailors and marines killed in World War 2 and Korean War and buried overseas in a British Commonwealth War Graves-registered plot, they can be researched at http://www.cwgc.org/.
|
Baxter, Winston C. Died in Italy in September 1944 and was buried at Pompeii. He had volunteered for and was serving in the Bermuda Militia Infantry. |
Brennan, Edward Joseph. A stepbrother in Bermuda's Vallis family, he died in June 1945 in action over Germany, having joined the RAF and later transferred to the American Army Air Force. He was awarded the USA's Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Medal and posthumously, a Purple Heart. |
Brewer, John Edward Darrell Carlyle. Of 215 Squadron Royal Air Force, he was killed in action in May 1942 over Singapore, fighting the Japanese. |
|
Burgess, Howard Sinclair. Fireman and trimmer on the Henri Mory, sunk April 26, 1941. Torpedoed by U-110 in the North Atlantic. The U-110 had a very short career of only two sailings and was sunk a few weeks later. It remained afloat long enough for the British to board it and remove an Enigma code machine and many secret documents. |
Corbett, Frank Charles. He served with the Royal Navy/Fleet Air Arm on HMS Dipper, not a warship but at Henstridge Airfield, England, built during World War II as a training base for the Fleet Air Arm, who commissioned it as HMS Dipper. He survived the war but died at the age of 47 some months after the war ended, while still in the service. |
DeSilva, John. Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment. Killed at Overloon, Holland, October 14, 1944. |
|
Drew, Alfred David Drewsbury. Merchant Navy. On the Bermuda Roll of Honour but neither his date nor place of death are known. At the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, he was a young man of 20 years. He volunteered for convoy service to Britain and was lost when his ship was torpedoed or bombed at Milford Haven while at anchor. His date of death is not known and his name is not recorded on the lists of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
|
Ede, Herman Francis Grant, Flying Officer, Royal Air Force. 1940. June 8. Killed in action. Following the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, Ede was flying Gloster Gladiators with the RAF's 263 Squadron in Norway protecting the fleet anchorage at Skånland. On 2 June 1940, the squadron was ordered to prepare for evacuation. Along with the remaining members of his squadron and 10 aircraft, Ede embarked on HMS Glorious on 7 June. The next day, Glorious, along her escorts Ardent and Acasta, were sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Ede was just 23 years old, the son of Ernest Grant Ede and Winifred Louise Ede, of Pembroke, Bermuda. His name is inscribed on the 5th Panel at the Runnymede Memorial, Berkshire, England. |
Fowle, Alison William Bluck. Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment. He died in late August 1944 at Calvados, France, as his unit was fighting to access Germany. |
|
Frost, Harry Reginald. Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment, killed in late April 1945 in Germany. |
Hallett, William Cardy Hollis. Stationed in Malta where he flew Hurricanes, he was killed in action in March 1942 while serving in the Royal Air Force. |
Harris, Elgar Frederick. He was a British Army parachutist, a Somerset man of the Perinchief family. He died in Tunisia in November 1942, along with all the members of his group who jumped with him from their plane. They were never seen again. |
| Harris, Warren James. Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment, killed in The Netherlands in early October, 1944. | Hennessay, Edward Eugene. Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps attached to Lincolnshire regiment, killed March 1945 at Winnekendonk, Germany. | Hughes, Frederick Gerald David. US Army Air Force. Died in an accident in May 1945. |
|
Hutchings, Douglas William Howard. Merchant Navy. Lost on January 16, 1941. An oiler, on one of the two British vessels sunk that day, the Zealandic and the Oropesa. |
Hutchings, Harold Edwin |
Linton, James Hugh Arnold. Killed in action in April 1941 in Egypt. |
|
Meyer, Noel Lumley. Was returning to Bermuda via Canada after service with the Royal Air Force, from which he had been invalided out. He was travelling on the Lady Hawkins, one of the "Lady Boats" that had served Bermuda and the West Indies for several decades. The ship was torpedoed on January 19, 1942 south of Boston by U-66, with the loss of 255 souls. Meyer was last seen helping survivors into lifeboats, 71 persons later being rescued. |
Monkman, Francis Walter. Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps attached to Lincolnshire regiment, killed March 1945 at Winnekendonk, Germany. |
Outerbridge, James. Born 5 Sept. 1922. Educ. Whitney Institute., Bermuda; Rossall School, England. Accepted for Rhodes Scholarship but was interrupted by war. P./O. R.A.F.; M.E.F. 1941-3. Killed, shot while attempting to escape from P.O.W. Camp, Italy, 1 May 1943. |
|
Patterson, Willard. Private, Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, attached to the 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. Killed at Overloon, Holland, October 14, 1944. Service number 18005056. Buried at Overloon with his comrades. British Commonwealth War Dead, Grave Memorial Reference I B. 2, Overloon War Cemetery. |
Perenchief, Walter Hewson. Died in action in December 1941 at El Alamein, serving with the British Army. |
Scott, Frank. Flying Officer, J/43783, Royal Canadian Air Force. On 1st March 1945 the Wellington bomber in which he was serving crashed into the village of Norton, near Evesham, Worcestershire, England, shortly after taking off from nearby Honeybourne, bound for Germany. He was buried in Norton. He was the son of Arthur Havelock and Rena Scott, Tucker's Town. |
|
Shelton, Stanley Arthur. A member of the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, he'd been attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment. He died in action in February 1941. |
Smith, Major Anthony Frith (Toby). Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment. Killed at Overloon, Holland, October 14, 1944. Major Smith was one of 12 children, five of whom saw active military duties in two world wars. He and the entire first contingent of soldiers of the BVRC and Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA), survived a U-boat attack in July 1940 and spent several years in the United Kingdom before finally seeing active combat. Meanwhile, his family struggled to make ends meet during the war from their home in the United States and then in Bermuda. |
Stephenson, Jay Circott. Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment. Died November 12, 1944 after being wounded by the enemy. He sought shelter in a barn in Holland, which the Germans set fire. His tags and a picture of his girlfriend identified him. |
|
Thomas, Alfred John. Royal Air Force, killed in a bombing raid over Germany in July 1943 |
Vallis, Daisy Louise W. Died May 5, 1946. Only Bermudian woman killed in action in WW2. She was killed on her way to be demobbed. She was a Leading Aircraftwoman of the Royal Canadian Air Force (Women's Division). |
Welch, Geoffrey A. Flying for the Royal Air Force, he was killed in action in early 1943 over Benghazi in Libya during the North African campaign. |
|
West, George Wendell. Died in 1942 at Timor from war wounds. |
White, Richard Martin. Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment. Killed at Overloon, Holland, October 14, 1944. |
Whitecross, James Standley. He had joined the RAF in November 1940. He was killed when flying over Germany in October 1943. |
| Williams,
Granville Barton. Unlike all other Bermudians, he served in the US Army. On
May 2, 1945, he was killed in Europe. Earlier, he had received the
Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart, for valor.
|
Lieut. Cecil John Greenway Wright, RNVR. Died in action on November 24, 1941. He served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve on HMS Dunedin when it was torpedoed on November 24, 1941, by U-124, halfway between Sierre Leone and Brazil. He was one of the 419 men lost, only 67 of the crew surviving. In 1940, Dunedin had been posted to the America and West Indies Station at Bermuda and thereafter was on the South Atlantic Station, pursuing enemy surface ships in those waters. Wright was a veteran of two World Wars, having served in the Great War in the Canadian Field Artillery and thus was one of the oldest men from Bermuda killed when fighting for the Allies. |
Joseph Robert Gibbons, born 19 May 1929, was also once listed in the above in error, but survived his service in the Royal Air Force (1940-45) and returned to Bermuda after the war before traveling about the Caribbean islands as an employee of Esso Carribe. In 1956, he was transferred to Canada and settled down in Toronto where he passed away 13 January 1976 leaving his wife, Joan Mary (Hawes) and his children, Sharon Joan, Meredith Anne and Bruce William Watson.
Members of Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) sent to Europe in World War 2. The author will welcome receiving their names, for inclusion here.
Members of BMA celebrating after the war. They included Sinclair Furbert, with the BMA in Bermuda from 1943 to 1945.
Members of Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps sent to Europe in World War 2. They included Herbert Tatem.
Other units included
Other Bermuda women served in England with the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
Home Guard
Bermuda Contingent of the Caribbean Regiment
Some indication of who they were will be welcomed so they can be mentioned here.
This list, not complete by any means - the author would love to get some more to go with the photographs displayed earlier - of those not mentioned by name elsewhere to date - included Tommy Aitchison (who moved to USA in 2004; Major Appleby; Robert Ascento; Captain J. Carlton Astwood; Barnes; Wyndham Barnes; Geoffrey Bird (Royal Navy, Fleet Air Arm, later a realtor and a founder member of the Royal Navy Association of Bermuda); Albert Benjamin (electronic service engineer at HM Dockyard); Captain N. T. Campbell; Card; John Card; Captain Fred Clipper (US Army); Henry Dallas; Owen Darrell; Lieutenant Colonel Michael Darling; DeFontes; Eugene Doughty; Jack Exell; Frank Farmer (HMS Ulster); Benny Ferguson; Ronald Firth; George Fisher; Franklin; Major General Glyn Gilbert; Malcolm Gosling; Sir Richard Gorham; Sergeant Grange; Hooper; Virginia Hooper; John Keefe (Canadian Army); Cyril J. Kempe; Commander Anthony Law RCN, Corporal Mary Leighton; David Lindsay; Sergeant John MacDonald; Graham Madeiros; Herbie Marshall; Louis Panchaud; Major Patrick L. Purcell (March 16, 1918-February 21, 2002); Mello; Sandy Powell; William Riker; Anthony Russell; Alfred Simmons, MBE; Slater; A. E. Toby Smith; Lieutenant J. Brownlow Tucker; Stan Walenciak; Bill Westerfield.
See Bermuda Aviation, under "1940."
They included
Other Bermudians too joined the RAF, as graduates of the Bermuda Flying School.
Cassie B. White. Her wartime actions were so remarkable they prompted General John J. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Forces in France, to cite her in 1919 for conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty at great risk under fire.
They included

Bermudian women in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War 2. They included, from left, Lillian Bell, Daisy Vallis, Kathleen Bromby, Iris Jackson, Betty Cousland (later, Leighton), Lucy Benevides, Frida Rigby, Joan Lee and Mary Adams (not shown but present on right).
Lobelia Curtis (later Bubenzer), Margaret Ferrar and Eva Robinson, British Army Auxiliary Territorial Services. They endured convoys across the North Atlantic and bombings of cities and towns in England. In May 1945, when World War 2 in Europe ended, Miss Curtis was the only enlisted Bermudian woman to march in the June 1945 Victory Parade in London. Later, she married a German prisoner of war in England.
Altogether there were 29 Bermudian women who served overseas in the Second World War.
Many Bermudian women served in Bermuda during World War 2. Members of the Bermuda Militia Artillery included June Reid Smith and Betty Ingemann.
Civilian women were also employed by local forces. They gave refugee and medical assistance, and supported or operated a host of wartime charity efforts including the Bermuda Women's Auxiliary Force, St. John's Ambulance Brigade, Bermuda Catering Corps and the Bermuda Services Overseas Association.

Bermuda Catering Corps war ladies who volunteered their services at the Hamilton Hotel canteen in World War 2. They included, from left to right, Charlotte Ellen Hobbs, Jocelyn Motyer, Mrs Norman Parker, Mrs. Nellie Creelman (seated), Jean Hill Qua and Mrs. William Frith.
Korean War
Bermudian Corporal Henry Eric Dowling, US Army. Killed in action in Korea on December 19, 1950. In US Army records he is listed wrongly as from the US Virgin Islands.
Elverton A. Mapp, US Army, is a Bermudian who served in and survived this war. He is the son of
Mr and Mrs Elverton Mapp of Friswell's Hill. Mr Mapp Jr. lives in Huntsville, Alabama as a police officer for a state university. He left Bermuda in 1966 to attend college in Alabama and later decided to enlist in the US Army in 1971, retiring in 1994. To date he is the only known Bermudian who is a Vietnam veteran. His cousin Lawson Mapp was a Mayor of Hamilton.![]()
Last Updated: May
16, 2013.
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