In St Vincent and the Grenadines there are three memorials honouring persons who fell in war: The Cenotaph- locally known as ‘The Iron Man’, the Peace Memorial Hall and the Obelisk at Dorsetshire Hill. The first was to commemorate those who fought and died in World War One; the second to commemorate the peace that ended World War Two and the third, the Obelisk, erected in 1985 to commemorate Paramount Chief, Joseph Chatoyer who led the resistance to the British conquest of St Vincent.
It must also be noted that every November, on the Sunday closest to the 11th (known as Remembrance Day), there is a national service and laying of wreaths at the Cenotaph to mark the anniversary of the Armistice Day. On 14th March another wreath laying ceremony takes place at the Obelisk at Dorsetshire Hill.
The national landmarks- the World War Memorials- are known to most Vincentians, but many of us still perceive the World Wars as something which happened in Europe, involving Europeans far away and really nothing to do with us. We may even have questioned the need for these memorials in St Vincent and the Grenadines. The occasion of the Centenary of the 1918 Armistice is the perfect opportunity to look at the importance of the Cenotaph- ‘the Iron Man’.
All around the World, but especially in Europe, activities and events are being held to mark the Centenary of the 1918, 11th November Armistice. One such activity is known as “the empty chair project ‘Assembly’ to commemorate Armistice day 2018”. Every country that sent men and women to fight in World War One, was asked to contribute a wooden chair to symbolize the absence of those who died in the war. This numbered 125 countries, including many Caribbean countries which, as part of the British Empire (now known as the Commonwealth), were asked to recruit for the war effort.
The First World War began on 28th July, 1914 and ended on 11th November, 1918. In 1915 a new regiment made up of black Caribbean volunteers who in Britain were grouped together in the British West Indies Regiment. Of those recruited in England, men from Trinidad and St Vincent served in ‘C Company’. When more men were needed another draft was made from the Caribbean with several islands sending recruits- Jamaica sent the greatest number. In September 1915 and in December 1916 after being recruited and given limited training two contingents left from St Vincent. In total 15,600 men from the Caribbean served in this regiment between 1915 and 1921.
In 1925 the Administrator announced that there would be services held to commemorate Armistice Day in St Vincent and the other neighbouring territories. In St Vincent on 11th November 1925, the unveiling of a War Memorial- The Cenotaph- took place. It was a bronze statue of a soldier, in uniform, holding a rifle, standing at ease; mounted on a granite pedestal. The Cenotaph was at that time placed in a triangular area in the vicinity of the Market Place and the Court House. The names of the sixty-one men from St Vincent who died in World War One are engraved around the pedestal and the names of the four Vincentians who died in World War Two were later added. (The Cenotaph was moved from its original location to Bay Street, on the other side of the market in the late 1990’s).
Every year since 1925, a Remembrance Day Ceremony with the laying of the wreaths at the base of what has become affectionately known to Vincentians as ’the Iron Man’; is held in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Those who fought in the First World War, especially those who died, deserved to be remembered and honoured and they, their families and friends and Vincentians as a whole; have earned the right to be part of any commemoration and celebration of the Centenary of the 11th November, 1918 Armistice.
Prepared by National Treasures of St Vincent and the Grenadines.