World War I in Belize
AUGUST 1914 – BELIZE OFFERS TO HELP THE EMPIRE
European empires eagerly plunged into a global war that engulfed their colonial and commercial interests in Asia, Africa and the Americas. In British Honduras, people waited anxiously for news for many days after the initial shock of the declarations of war. The Central American colony had no wireless radio station and depended upon ships and travelers for news. Citizens held a public meeting in Belize City and approved a resolution to raise a volunteer force to support the British war effort. To their dismay, their offer was rejected—many weeks later. On the other hand, Belizean mahogany was an important resource for repair of Royal Navy ships.
European empires eagerly plunged into a global war that engulfed their colonial and commercial interests in Asia, Africa and the Americas. In British Honduras, people waited anxiously for news for many days after the initial shock of the declarations of war. The Central American colony had no wireless radio station and depended upon ships and travelers for news. Citizens held a public meeting in Belize City and approved a resolution to raise a volunteer force to support the British war effort. To their dismay, their offer was rejected—many weeks later. On the other hand, Belizean mahogany was an important resource for repair of Royal Navy ships.
FEBRUARY 1915 – WAR NECESSITATES MODERN COMMUNICATIONS IN BELIZE
During the first months of the world war, Belize had to rely upon travelers and passing ships to bring news and messages from the outside world. A telegraph network connected Belize City, Consejo, El Cayo, Punta Gorda and other places, and even connected to the outside world via Chetumal (then Payo Obispo), but was exorbitantly priced, and insecure, being vulnerable to hostile eavesdroppers through Mexico. This virtual isolation prompted Great Britain to install a “wireless” radio station in Belize City.
The wireless telegraph station opened February 6, 1915. Two towers stretched 250 feet into the sky to give the station a range of 600 miles. The station was property of the colonial government, unlike many other radio stations in the region which belonged to the United Fruit Company or Vaccaro Brothers and similar corporate agribusiness interests. Belize City and the stations at La Ceiba and Rincon had limited range and had to relay through the station at Tela, Honduras. Dr. Gann of Corozal, intelligence operative for both the British and the US, communicated with Washington via “DOMINUS,” a cable accommodation address in Panama.
During the first months of the world war, Belize had to rely upon travelers and passing ships to bring news and messages from the outside world. A telegraph network connected Belize City, Consejo, El Cayo, Punta Gorda and other places, and even connected to the outside world via Chetumal (then Payo Obispo), but was exorbitantly priced, and insecure, being vulnerable to hostile eavesdroppers through Mexico. This virtual isolation prompted Great Britain to install a “wireless” radio station in Belize City.
The wireless telegraph station opened February 6, 1915. Two towers stretched 250 feet into the sky to give the station a range of 600 miles. The station was property of the colonial government, unlike many other radio stations in the region which belonged to the United Fruit Company or Vaccaro Brothers and similar corporate agribusiness interests. Belize City and the stations at La Ceiba and Rincon had limited range and had to relay through the station at Tela, Honduras. Dr. Gann of Corozal, intelligence operative for both the British and the US, communicated with Washington via “DOMINUS,” a cable accommodation address in Panama.
MAY 7, 1915 - BELIZEANS PERISH WHEN RMS LUSITANIA IS TORPEDOED AND SUNK
At least two Belizeans perished when German submarine U-20 torpedoed the Cunard passenger liner RMS Lusitania off the Irish coast. Joseph Allan Dredge, an employee of the Belize Estate and Produce Company, and his wife Evelyn (ages 43 and 39, respectively) were traveling first class to Great Britain to visit their daughter when they went down with the ship.
At least two Belizeans perished when German submarine U-20 torpedoed the Cunard passenger liner RMS Lusitania off the Irish coast. Joseph Allan Dredge, an employee of the Belize Estate and Produce Company, and his wife Evelyn (ages 43 and 39, respectively) were traveling first class to Great Britain to visit their daughter when they went down with the ship.
OCTOBER 1915 - BELIZEAN MEN VOLUNTEER FOR THE WAR
It took eight months of warfare for Great Britain to comprehend modern combat’s insatiable appetite for flesh and blood. By October 1915, Great Britain finally decided that it indeed needed even the meager yet heartfelt contribution of men from tiny British Honduras, in spite of the political and racial issues that their enlistment entailed.
A contingent of 129 Belizean men was quickly formed and departed for the “great fight for civilization and freedom” on November 4, 1915, aboard HMT Verdala. One Lieutenant Furness led them. They would endure a nerve-wracking voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, wondering if a German torpedo or mine might kill them at any moment.
It took eight months of warfare for Great Britain to comprehend modern combat’s insatiable appetite for flesh and blood. By October 1915, Great Britain finally decided that it indeed needed even the meager yet heartfelt contribution of men from tiny British Honduras, in spite of the political and racial issues that their enlistment entailed.
A contingent of 129 Belizean men was quickly formed and departed for the “great fight for civilization and freedom” on November 4, 1915, aboard HMT Verdala. One Lieutenant Furness led them. They would endure a nerve-wracking voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, wondering if a German torpedo or mine might kill them at any moment.
MARCH 1916 – THE HALIFAX INCIDENT
On March 8, 1916, the ship transporting the British West Indies Regiment (and its Belizean volunteers) to Europe is caught in a blizzard. The soldiers crammed into the unheated ship suffer frostbite and a grueling situation with no water and unhygienic conditions. At least 7 soldiers died and scores endured amputations.
SOMETIME 1916 – GERMAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER VON RIEDEL IN BELIZE
Sometime in 1916, German naval intelligence officer Hans von Riedel was apprehended by the Royal Navy and taken from a steamship sailing down the Mexico coast and imprisoned in Belize City. Somehow, von Riedel escaped and continued on his way through Panama and onward to Argentina. He became one of the top two operations officers in the Germans Buenos Aires intelligence center, directing sabotage, spying, propaganda, smuggling, underground finance, influence peddling and other nefarious activities for the rest of the war.
On March 8, 1916, the ship transporting the British West Indies Regiment (and its Belizean volunteers) to Europe is caught in a blizzard. The soldiers crammed into the unheated ship suffer frostbite and a grueling situation with no water and unhygienic conditions. At least 7 soldiers died and scores endured amputations.
SOMETIME 1916 – GERMAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER VON RIEDEL IN BELIZE
Sometime in 1916, German naval intelligence officer Hans von Riedel was apprehended by the Royal Navy and taken from a steamship sailing down the Mexico coast and imprisoned in Belize City. Somehow, von Riedel escaped and continued on his way through Panama and onward to Argentina. He became one of the top two operations officers in the Germans Buenos Aires intelligence center, directing sabotage, spying, propaganda, smuggling, underground finance, influence peddling and other nefarious activities for the rest of the war.
JULY 1916 – MORE BELIZEAN MEN VOLUNTEER FOR THE WAR
In 1916, 404 more Belizeans answered another call for military volunteers, enough for two infantry companies. They sailed away for service in Egypt, Palestine and Mesopotamia on July 15, 1916.
When the Belizean men arrived tired and hungry at the British forces’ Gabbary Camp in Egypt, they marched proudly into the base YMCA to the tune of “Rule Brittania.” One Belizean veteran, Samuel Alfred Haynes, remembered, “Imagine our surprise when we were confronted by a number of British soldiers and the question asked, 'Who gave you niggers authority to sing that? Clear out of this building! Only British troops admitted here.'” Amazingly, unwritten racist policies of British military and colonial officials prevented the Belizean troops from being employed in combat roles against European soldiers.
In 1916, 404 more Belizeans answered another call for military volunteers, enough for two infantry companies. They sailed away for service in Egypt, Palestine and Mesopotamia on July 15, 1916.
When the Belizean men arrived tired and hungry at the British forces’ Gabbary Camp in Egypt, they marched proudly into the base YMCA to the tune of “Rule Brittania.” One Belizean veteran, Samuel Alfred Haynes, remembered, “Imagine our surprise when we were confronted by a number of British soldiers and the question asked, 'Who gave you niggers authority to sing that? Clear out of this building! Only British troops admitted here.'” Amazingly, unwritten racist policies of British military and colonial officials prevented the Belizean troops from being employed in combat roles against European soldiers.
JULY 1916 – FIRST GERMAN INVASION SCARE
Oppression in Guatemala stoked a number of armed opposition groups that used Belizean territory to infiltrate their homeland, or that considered British Honduras as a political pawn in a Caribbean version of the Great Game.
Guatemalan revolutionaries and Mexico’s Carranza government had a common enemy—Guatemalan dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera. To the Germans and Guatemalans, British Honduras was a tempting target with very light defense.
In July 1916, a prominent German in Mexico City reportedly offered 5,000 Germans to Guatemalan revolutionary leaders, hoping that Guatemala exiles would join them in an attack on Belize and the British Colony. The numbers were wildly exaggerated, but the intent was not. Belize rightly feared a German invasion: an army of Mexican and Guatemalan volunteers commanded by German officers and advisors.
Just weeks later, Dr. Juan Ortega, Guatemala’s representative in Mexico, was suddenly given his passport and 24 hours to leave the country. Guatemalan generals wondered if Ortega’s eviction signaled an imminent attack from Mexico. Carranza and his German supporters were eager to export revolution— and Mexican influence—to neighboring countries. Belize was bandied about as the plum reward for Guatemalan revolutionaries or German agents. Although Belize offered no deepwater ports, vast supplies of critical raw materials or other immediate material benefits to foreign invaders, her capture would have been a significant propaganda victory against the prestige of the British Empire and a strategic distraction to the United States.
Oppression in Guatemala stoked a number of armed opposition groups that used Belizean territory to infiltrate their homeland, or that considered British Honduras as a political pawn in a Caribbean version of the Great Game.
Guatemalan revolutionaries and Mexico’s Carranza government had a common enemy—Guatemalan dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera. To the Germans and Guatemalans, British Honduras was a tempting target with very light defense.
In July 1916, a prominent German in Mexico City reportedly offered 5,000 Germans to Guatemalan revolutionary leaders, hoping that Guatemala exiles would join them in an attack on Belize and the British Colony. The numbers were wildly exaggerated, but the intent was not. Belize rightly feared a German invasion: an army of Mexican and Guatemalan volunteers commanded by German officers and advisors.
Just weeks later, Dr. Juan Ortega, Guatemala’s representative in Mexico, was suddenly given his passport and 24 hours to leave the country. Guatemalan generals wondered if Ortega’s eviction signaled an imminent attack from Mexico. Carranza and his German supporters were eager to export revolution— and Mexican influence—to neighboring countries. Belize was bandied about as the plum reward for Guatemalan revolutionaries or German agents. Although Belize offered no deepwater ports, vast supplies of critical raw materials or other immediate material benefits to foreign invaders, her capture would have been a significant propaganda victory against the prestige of the British Empire and a strategic distraction to the United States.
NOVEMBER 1916 – BELIZEAN DIES IN MESOPOTAMIA (IRAQ)
On November 12, 1916, Private Leonord Augustus Seacombe, 21 year old native of Belize, son of Mrs. Frances Seacombe, died while assigned to the Royal Indian Marines (although he had volunteered to the British West Indies Regiment). The young man was laid to rest in Amara War Cemetery (grave no. IX.B.27) in Iraq. At least eleven other volunteers from British Honduras would perish in overseas service during the Great War.
On November 12, 1916, Private Leonord Augustus Seacombe, 21 year old native of Belize, son of Mrs. Frances Seacombe, died while assigned to the Royal Indian Marines (although he had volunteered to the British West Indies Regiment). The young man was laid to rest in Amara War Cemetery (grave no. IX.B.27) in Iraq. At least eleven other volunteers from British Honduras would perish in overseas service during the Great War.
JANUARY 1917 – MEXICAN INTRIGUE IN BELIZE
In the first days of 1917, British Honduran officials became aware of intrigue involving Mexican Consul Diaz. This revolutionary intrigue entangled a foreigner, Alfredo R. Taylor (aka Tayelor), and a letter from Taylor to a German named Muller was produced to support his detention under the Prevention of Cruises Ordinance. At the time, Great Britain was considering intervention around Tampico, Mexico, from whence came most of the petroleum fuel for the Royal Navy. Intelligence suggested that if the British acted against Tampico, the Mexicans would retaliate by attacking Belize. A.R. Taylor was eventually arrested and in August 1917 would be “repatriated” to Mexico.
In the first days of 1917, British Honduran officials became aware of intrigue involving Mexican Consul Diaz. This revolutionary intrigue entangled a foreigner, Alfredo R. Taylor (aka Tayelor), and a letter from Taylor to a German named Muller was produced to support his detention under the Prevention of Cruises Ordinance. At the time, Great Britain was considering intervention around Tampico, Mexico, from whence came most of the petroleum fuel for the Royal Navy. Intelligence suggested that if the British acted against Tampico, the Mexicans would retaliate by attacking Belize. A.R. Taylor was eventually arrested and in August 1917 would be “repatriated” to Mexico.
EARLY 1917 – DR. GANN, AGENT EXTRAORDINAIRE
Doctor Thomas Gann was not only the principal British intelligence officer in Belize during World War I, but also a highly valued agent of US naval intelligence as ONI Agent 242. His dual service, known to both agencies, was nevertheless an “unusual instance of Anglo-American [intelligence] cooperation.”
Doctor Thomas Gann was not only the principal British intelligence officer in Belize during World War I, but also a highly valued agent of US naval intelligence as ONI Agent 242. His dual service, known to both agencies, was nevertheless an “unusual instance of Anglo-American [intelligence] cooperation.”
SPRING 1917 – SECOND GERMAN INVASION SCARE
A German invasion scare rattled British Honduras in spring 1917. A New York Herald article warned “British Honduras Invasion Included in German Plot” and stated that German reservists in Mexico were training an army that would establish a forward base in the southeastern corner of Yucatan prior to a quick takeover of the little colony. German propaganda would portray the dubious victory as “a major blow to the British Empire.” Of course, it was not the first such rumor, but did have some seeds of truth.
A German invasion scare rattled British Honduras in spring 1917. A New York Herald article warned “British Honduras Invasion Included in German Plot” and stated that German reservists in Mexico were training an army that would establish a forward base in the southeastern corner of Yucatan prior to a quick takeover of the little colony. German propaganda would portray the dubious victory as “a major blow to the British Empire.” Of course, it was not the first such rumor, but did have some seeds of truth.
APRIL 1917 – VISIT OF THE ARCHAEOLOGIST-SPY, SYLVANUS MORLEY
North American archaeologist Sylvanus Morley visited Belize on a secret mission for the US Office of Naval Intelligence to investigate rumors and reports of German intelligence and naval activity in Yucatan and Central America. Morley eventually recruited a Belizean agent, Peter Moguel, who reported suspicious activities via Dr. Gann on a wartime stipend of about US $25 per month.
North American archaeologist Sylvanus Morley visited Belize on a secret mission for the US Office of Naval Intelligence to investigate rumors and reports of German intelligence and naval activity in Yucatan and Central America. Morley eventually recruited a Belizean agent, Peter Moguel, who reported suspicious activities via Dr. Gann on a wartime stipend of about US $25 per month.
MAY 1917 – COLONEL COWIE’S BELIZEAN DEFENSE MISSION
Colonial officials took the threats of German plots seriously. At the time, the colony’s sole defense consisted of the British Honduras Territorial Force’s 230 men and two Maxim machine guns.
A military preparedness cadre from the British West Indian Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel E.L. Cowie arrived to bolster Belizean defense. They expanded the Territorial Force, raised a Home Guard of one thousand volunteers and ordered new arms and ammunition. Six companies of infantry, a half-troop of cavalry, three Maxim guns and six Hotchkiss guns now faced any invasion force that might dare to invade Belize. In Belize City, the radio station and power plant were placed under guard, searchlights were installed, and patrols trudged about the city's alleys in search of saboteurs and invaders. Cowie’s energetic measures earned him early recall to Jamaica, but British Honduras remained vigilant.
Colonial officials took the threats of German plots seriously. At the time, the colony’s sole defense consisted of the British Honduras Territorial Force’s 230 men and two Maxim machine guns.
A military preparedness cadre from the British West Indian Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel E.L. Cowie arrived to bolster Belizean defense. They expanded the Territorial Force, raised a Home Guard of one thousand volunteers and ordered new arms and ammunition. Six companies of infantry, a half-troop of cavalry, three Maxim guns and six Hotchkiss guns now faced any invasion force that might dare to invade Belize. In Belize City, the radio station and power plant were placed under guard, searchlights were installed, and patrols trudged about the city's alleys in search of saboteurs and invaders. Cowie’s energetic measures earned him early recall to Jamaica, but British Honduras remained vigilant.
JULY 1917 – THE VALDEZ PROPOSAL
In July 1917, a Guatemalan exile leader, “General” Isidro Valdez, submitted a secret proposal to the German minister to Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt, which outlined a scheme to invade Belize. The proposal hinged upon a coup in Guatemala and a “revolution in the colony of Belíce… .” An army of rebel Guatemalan and Honduran Liberals, backed up by German U- boats, would first infiltrate Petén and Alta Verapaz, take over Guatemala, then invade Honduras and British Honduras. “With the revolution of Belíce,” Valdez suggested, “the German government, with the help of Guatemala, can establish a naval base and install points of supply.” Valdez mused that German long-range submarines could establish a base on the Mosquito Coast to conveniently assault U.S. ships in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Valdez’s Liberal liberators would stimulate popular revolt that would extend from Guatemala and Honduras into Nicaragua and Costa Rica, installing revolutionary governments that would withdraw support from the Allied cause and return confiscated German property. Germany would become the patron of Central American liberation and unification.
After Guatemala dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera was overthrown in 1920, the new government appointed Isidro Valdez chief of the Petén region.
In July 1917, a Guatemalan exile leader, “General” Isidro Valdez, submitted a secret proposal to the German minister to Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt, which outlined a scheme to invade Belize. The proposal hinged upon a coup in Guatemala and a “revolution in the colony of Belíce… .” An army of rebel Guatemalan and Honduran Liberals, backed up by German U- boats, would first infiltrate Petén and Alta Verapaz, take over Guatemala, then invade Honduras and British Honduras. “With the revolution of Belíce,” Valdez suggested, “the German government, with the help of Guatemala, can establish a naval base and install points of supply.” Valdez mused that German long-range submarines could establish a base on the Mosquito Coast to conveniently assault U.S. ships in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Valdez’s Liberal liberators would stimulate popular revolt that would extend from Guatemala and Honduras into Nicaragua and Costa Rica, installing revolutionary governments that would withdraw support from the Allied cause and return confiscated German property. Germany would become the patron of Central American liberation and unification.
After Guatemala dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera was overthrown in 1920, the new government appointed Isidro Valdez chief of the Petén region.
1918 – JOACHIM HECHT, GERMAN AGENT IN BELIZE?
Despite Guatemala’s pro-Allied proclamations, a large German intelligence network directed from Guatemala City cast a web over all Central America, including Belize. Georg (aka Jorge) Vogl managed an intelligence network that included many prominent German expatriates and Guatemalan businessmen. Vogl’s smuggling ring relied on the Caribbean ports of Belize City and Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. Joachim (aka Joaquin) Hecht, the manager of the port of Puerto Barrios, assisted substantially in this enterprise.
Joachim Hecht was a principal figure in Belizean trade and had friends in high places of British Honduran officialdom. French diplomats accused Guatemala’s President Estrada Cabrera and even the British Minister in Guatemala, Alban Young, of protecting Hecht and other Germans who were involved in the underground trade through British Honduras. In defense of these Germans, Minister Young sheepishly declared that there was no reason to intern the Germans because many— like Hecht and Vogl—were “Israelites.” It was a strange defense...
Despite Guatemala’s pro-Allied proclamations, a large German intelligence network directed from Guatemala City cast a web over all Central America, including Belize. Georg (aka Jorge) Vogl managed an intelligence network that included many prominent German expatriates and Guatemalan businessmen. Vogl’s smuggling ring relied on the Caribbean ports of Belize City and Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. Joachim (aka Joaquin) Hecht, the manager of the port of Puerto Barrios, assisted substantially in this enterprise.
Joachim Hecht was a principal figure in Belizean trade and had friends in high places of British Honduran officialdom. French diplomats accused Guatemala’s President Estrada Cabrera and even the British Minister in Guatemala, Alban Young, of protecting Hecht and other Germans who were involved in the underground trade through British Honduras. In defense of these Germans, Minister Young sheepishly declared that there was no reason to intern the Germans because many— like Hecht and Vogl—were “Israelites.” It was a strange defense...
NOVEMBER 1918 - ARMISTICE ENDS THE WAR
The "war to end all wars" was proclaimed over at 11am on November 11, 1918.
The "war to end all wars" was proclaimed over at 11am on November 11, 1918.
JULY 1919 – RIOT OF THE RETURNING SOLDIERS
On July 8, 1919, 339 Belizean soldiers of the British West India Regiment returned from the Mesopotamian Front of the world war. The volunteers had spent years away from their families in dangerous circumstances, enduring overtly racist disrespect and exploitation from British military authorities. The gratitude that the soldiers had earned was not forthcoming. On July 22, Sergeant H.H. Vernon and Lance Corporal Rufus Hall led fellow soldiers on a riot through Belize City. They rampaged through the streets, breaking store windows to express their outrage at the years of abuse. Sergeant Major P.H.E. McDonald and Lance Corporal Samuel Haynes calmed the rioters. Haynes convinced them to convene a Contingent Committee in a theatre where they drew up demands to present to the colonial governor Hutson. The world war was over, but the long political struggle for equality was just beginning.
On July 8, 1919, 339 Belizean soldiers of the British West India Regiment returned from the Mesopotamian Front of the world war. The volunteers had spent years away from their families in dangerous circumstances, enduring overtly racist disrespect and exploitation from British military authorities. The gratitude that the soldiers had earned was not forthcoming. On July 22, Sergeant H.H. Vernon and Lance Corporal Rufus Hall led fellow soldiers on a riot through Belize City. They rampaged through the streets, breaking store windows to express their outrage at the years of abuse. Sergeant Major P.H.E. McDonald and Lance Corporal Samuel Haynes calmed the rioters. Haynes convinced them to convene a Contingent Committee in a theatre where they drew up demands to present to the colonial governor Hutson. The world war was over, but the long political struggle for equality was just beginning.
SEPTEMBER 1924 - BELIZE TO BE CEDED TO UNITED STATES? ...OR GUATEMALA?
Guatemala revived a propaganda campaign clamoring for the territory of Belize--British Honduras. The US military attaché in Guatemala City clipped an editorial, "The Cession of Belize to Guatemala," from the newspaper Excelsior, and sent it to Washington with this analysis: " Considerable newspaper publicity has been given to a statement reported to have been made by Mr. [Frederick J.] Lisman, the prominent New York banker, while in Paris [during the post-war peace conference], to the effect that it was proposed that, in payment of her war debt, Great Britain was to turn over British Honduras to the United States, and that the United States, in turn, would turn over the territory to Guatemala, in return for the right of constructing certain naval bases."
Guatemala revived a propaganda campaign clamoring for the territory of Belize--British Honduras. The US military attaché in Guatemala City clipped an editorial, "The Cession of Belize to Guatemala," from the newspaper Excelsior, and sent it to Washington with this analysis: " Considerable newspaper publicity has been given to a statement reported to have been made by Mr. [Frederick J.] Lisman, the prominent New York banker, while in Paris [during the post-war peace conference], to the effect that it was proposed that, in payment of her war debt, Great Britain was to turn over British Honduras to the United States, and that the United States, in turn, would turn over the territory to Guatemala, in return for the right of constructing certain naval bases."
Frederick J. Lisman, a New York investment banker with connections in Central America, claimed that discussions had taken place at the Paris peace conference in which Great Britain had offered up Belize as partial payment to the US of war debts. In the end, Belize may have ended up under the Guatemalan flag...
2018 - BELIZEAN REMEMBRANCE OF WAR SACRIFICES
The wartime sacrifices of Belizean families are honored at two monuments at Fort George Memorial Park on the waterfront in Belize City.
The wartime sacrifices of Belizean families are honored at two monuments at Fort George Memorial Park on the waterfront in Belize City.
REFERENCES AND SOURCES OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Book – The Archaeologist was a Spy: Sylvanus G. Morley and the Office of Naval Intelligence, by Charles H. Harris and Louis R. Sadler, about 2005.
Book – A Short History of the Volunteer Forces of British Honduras (Now Belize), by Lieutenant Colonel D.N.A. Fairweather, undated (about 1965?).
Book – The Intelligence War in Latin America 1914-1922, by Jamie Bisher, 2015.
Website – Belize Music World, “Belizean Soldiers in First World War”
http://www.belizemusicworld.com/Belizean-Soldiers-in--1st-World-War-.html
Rare photographs of Belizean troops during WWI and post-war period.
Website – Ambergriscaye.com.
https://ambergriscaye.com/photogallery/160520.html
Rare photo of the British sailors who were sent ashore to deal with the riots of 1919, etc.
Website - "Belize National World War I Cenotaph"
https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=118913
Excellent detailed & illustrated website about Belize's national WWI memorial and other WWI war graves of Belizeans.
Website - "British Honduras Territorial Force Memorial"
https://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=118995
Excellent detailed & illustrated website about Belize's memorial to the oft-forgotten BHTF.
Website – Wikipedia.org, “British West Indies Regiment”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies_Regiment
See ‘The Taranto Revolt’ to read about the straw that broke the camel’s back…
Website – British and Caribbean Veterans Association
http://bcva.weebly.com/the-british-west-indies-regiment.html
Photos & vignettes of some of the last surviving veterans
Website – Ryerson University Faculty of Arts, “The Halifax Incident”
https://www.ryerson.ca/arts/news-events/current-news/the-halifax-incident/
Describes the March 1916 tragedy in Halifax, Nova Scotia when a blizzard engulfed the BWIR transport HMS Verdala.
Website – Writer Martin Fletcher, “British Cemeteries Left to Crumble in Iraq”
http://www.martinanthonyfletcher.com/british-cemeteries-left-to-crumble-in-iraq-the-times/
Fletcher wrote an expose of the abandoned cemetery where Belizean Leonord Seacombe rests. Private Seacombe, age 21, a volunteer in the British West Indies Regiment, had been attached to the Royal Indian Marines at the time of his death on November 12, 1916.
Website - West India Committee, "The Caribbean's Great War"
http://westindiacommittee.org/caribbeansgreatwar/
Website – WWI in Latin America
https://ww1latinamerica.weebly.com/
Article - "Race Riot, Class Warfare and Coup d'état: The Ex-Serviceman's Riot of July 1919," by Peter Ashdown, PhD., Belcast Journal of Belizean Affairs, Vol. 3, Nos. 1 & 2, July 1986. Cited in "From the Publisher," Amandala Belize, June 15, 2018.
Book – The Archaeologist was a Spy: Sylvanus G. Morley and the Office of Naval Intelligence, by Charles H. Harris and Louis R. Sadler, about 2005.
Book – A Short History of the Volunteer Forces of British Honduras (Now Belize), by Lieutenant Colonel D.N.A. Fairweather, undated (about 1965?).
Book – The Intelligence War in Latin America 1914-1922, by Jamie Bisher, 2015.
Website – Belize Music World, “Belizean Soldiers in First World War”
http://www.belizemusicworld.com/Belizean-Soldiers-in--1st-World-War-.html
Rare photographs of Belizean troops during WWI and post-war period.
Website – Ambergriscaye.com.
https://ambergriscaye.com/photogallery/160520.html
Rare photo of the British sailors who were sent ashore to deal with the riots of 1919, etc.
Website - "Belize National World War I Cenotaph"
https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=118913
Excellent detailed & illustrated website about Belize's national WWI memorial and other WWI war graves of Belizeans.
Website - "British Honduras Territorial Force Memorial"
https://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=118995
Excellent detailed & illustrated website about Belize's memorial to the oft-forgotten BHTF.
Website – Wikipedia.org, “British West Indies Regiment”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies_Regiment
See ‘The Taranto Revolt’ to read about the straw that broke the camel’s back…
Website – British and Caribbean Veterans Association
http://bcva.weebly.com/the-british-west-indies-regiment.html
Photos & vignettes of some of the last surviving veterans
Website – Ryerson University Faculty of Arts, “The Halifax Incident”
https://www.ryerson.ca/arts/news-events/current-news/the-halifax-incident/
Describes the March 1916 tragedy in Halifax, Nova Scotia when a blizzard engulfed the BWIR transport HMS Verdala.
Website – Writer Martin Fletcher, “British Cemeteries Left to Crumble in Iraq”
http://www.martinanthonyfletcher.com/british-cemeteries-left-to-crumble-in-iraq-the-times/
Fletcher wrote an expose of the abandoned cemetery where Belizean Leonord Seacombe rests. Private Seacombe, age 21, a volunteer in the British West Indies Regiment, had been attached to the Royal Indian Marines at the time of his death on November 12, 1916.
Website - West India Committee, "The Caribbean's Great War"
http://westindiacommittee.org/caribbeansgreatwar/
Website – WWI in Latin America
https://ww1latinamerica.weebly.com/
Article - "Race Riot, Class Warfare and Coup d'état: The Ex-Serviceman's Riot of July 1919," by Peter Ashdown, PhD., Belcast Journal of Belizean Affairs, Vol. 3, Nos. 1 & 2, July 1986. Cited in "From the Publisher," Amandala Belize, June 15, 2018.
Copyright 2019, Jamie Bisher.