OUR CARIBBEAN MEN.

They came from far and wide
15,600 men came
The brown, the black
To fight for King and country
A King and country
they did not know,
They came
These soldiers crossed vast seas
Left behind all they knew
To ride the tide of war.


Many did not see action
Many carried 
and cleaned and dug
For they did not trust our boy’s with guns
Even if they fought against the same enemy.
Some died of disease as they struggled
to cope with the English cold,
19 Caribbean’s buried in Seaford cemetery
and many others lay in foreign lands,
Away from all they know.


They travelled to
England, 
Egypt, 
Kenya, France, 
Palestine, Jordan, Italy
They came to fight 
for the Motherland,
Pledging loyally 
and allegiance
To a fight that was not theirs.
But still they came.


Jamaica and Grenada boys
Trinidad and Tobago boys
Barbados and Bahamas boys
British Honduras, Guyana boys
Leeward Islands, St Lucia and St Vincent boys
They came, they came, they came,
waved goodbye to embracing sunshine
waved goodbye cerulean seas
enveloping peaceful shores.
they waved.


To friends, 
to family,
to lovers
and to their children
They waved,
From troop ships
which whisked them off to lands afar,
For the glory for the adventure, they came.
Wore the British uniform with pride
Little idea of the hardships waiting.


The numbing cold, 
the searing heat, 
dessert sand,
The discrimination, 
the racism,
The donkey work
A black soldiers lament is what they cried
But their cries went unheard,
Their dark story is hidden,
Whitewashed and supressed.



WW1 they came, 
then years later 
for WW2 they came.
Dark skinned men,
Brave men,
Who still held tight 
to the idea of a Motherland,
A Motherland 
they were prepared to die for. 

In honour of Private Lazarus Emmanuel Louis Francois WW1 soldier