PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS the Royal British Legion (London) was established in May 1921, after the Great War ended in 1918, the British Legion,Bahamas branch later joined its international partner as a ‘registered member branch’ in 1945, after World War II;
AND WHEREAS in 1943, females throughout the Caribbean were called to serve as office clerks, Red Cross drivers, and helpers in the War, Bahamian females answered the call and were recruited into the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) of the British Army;
AND WHEREAS the British Legion,Bahamas Branch is a legally recognized local Bahamian non,profit organization, registered and licensed under the laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas’ 2019 Non,Profit Act;
AND WHEREAS, the main goals of the British Legion,Bahamas Branch are to provide monthly financial assistance to its registered World War II Veterans and Widows from a War Grant funded by its Regional Headquarters, the Royal Canadian Legion and the Government of The Bahamas to perpetuate the memory of those who served and died in World Wars I and II, and to educate the public through multimedia, publications, and television, highlighting the important contributions that all Bahamian Veterans made towards world freedom through their participation in both World Wars I and II;
AND WHEREAS the British Legion,Bahamas Branch, along with its international and Commonwealth war branches, celebrates 103 years of the Royal British Legion’s (London) existence as a non,profit organization; NOW, THEREFORE, I, Philip E. Davis, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, do hereby proclaim the month of November 2024 as ‘World Wars I and II Veterans Month,’ celebrating Bahamian ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen who served in the above mentioned wars.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have Hereunto set my Hand and Seal This 2 September, 2024
PHILIP E. DAVIS PRIME MINISTER
BAHAMIAN SERVICEMEN WHO SERVED DURING WORLD WAR II
The Royal British Legion (London) celebrates 103 years as a non-profit: This year, the British Legion-Bahamas Branch, including all other
This year, the British Legion-Bahamas Branch will remember and celebrate our Bahamian men who served in the Royal Air Force base located in Oakes Field on the island of New Providence during World War II.
Commonwealth British Legion Branches, celebrate, along with our international headquarters, the Royal British Legion (London), 103 years of existence as a non-profit organization serving all World War II
veterans throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Africa, Australia, and the Caribbean. It was on 15th May 1921, 103 years ago, that the Royal British Legion (London) was incorporated as a non-profit organization as the result of the merging of four (4) veteran associations that were already established three (3) years after the Great War ended in 1918.
The main objectives of the Royal British Legion upon, its incorporation, were:
1
To financially provide for all war emergency service workers, including soldiers, who were wounded during the Great War;
2
To provide companionship to all soldiers who had no families and homes to go to after the Great War ended; and finally
3
To remember all war emergency service workers, including soldiers, who lost their lives defending our freedom and who protected the way of life during that time.
British Legion-Bahamas local branch:
Today, the British LegionBahamas Branch, along with its commonwealth World War associate branches, continue
the main objectives of our headquarters RBL (London) in the provision of financial monthly war grants to our now fifteen (15) World War II widows of the fallen, whose ages range from 78-98.
Names of the current WWII survivors registered with the British LegionBahamas Branch are:
There are no more registered male WWII veterans in The Bahamas.
The late comrade Henry Kellman, age 96, was laid to rest during the month of October 2024. He was the last WWII veteran to be registered with the British Legion. Registered under the care of the British LegionJamacia Branch:
Our remaining Bahamian female WWII survivor, acting corporal Doreen Carmel Jones-Rickards (100), who served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during World War II and currently resides with her daughter in Kingston, Jamaica.
Widows registered under the care of the British Legion-Bahamas Branch:
There are currently fifteen (15) registered World War II widows of the fallen being cared for by the British Legion-Bahamas Branch.
The Legion ensures that these women receive their widow’s grants from the Royal British Legion International. The ages of our registered widows range from 78-98 years old. The names of the British Legion-Bahamas Branch’s currently registered widows are as follows:
Widow Adline WallaceNicholl’s Town, Andros, Bahamas
Widow Almeria V PinderNassau, Bahamas
Widow Barbara B Farrington-rock Sound, Eleuthera
Widow Doreen Brown –Nassau, Bahamas
Widow Francis Mae
Simmons - Freeport, Grand Bahama
Widow Florinda KellmanFreeport, Grand Bahama
Widow Muriel ThompsonFreeport, Grand Bahama
Widow Francis PinderSandy Point, Abaco
Widow Genevieve Strachan - Nassau, Bahamas
Widow Marjorie Eloise Francis – Nassau, Bahamas
Widow Mary Taylor –Nassau, Bahamas
Widow Mizpah StrachanNassau, Bahamas
Widow Nellie McpheeNassau, Bahamas
Widow Thelma SaundersAndros, Bahamas Widow Theresa JohnsonNassau, Bahamas
1924, in the quaint settlement of United Estate, San Salvador, one of the beautiful islands in The Bahamas.
A Veteran of World War II, he volunteered to serve in The Bahamas’ first Defence Force in 1942 under Commanding Officer Major Darcy Rutherford. He later enlisted in Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1944.
The RAF War Base was located in Oakes Field, located on the island of New Providence, in The Bahamas. Comrade Butler, served as an Aircraft Mechanic during his time of military service until the War ended in September of 1945.
ROYAL AIR FORCE (RAF) NO. 796884
WAR PROFILE
The Late Comrade James Thomas Carey was born on 11th October, 1924 in the settlement of Tarpum Bay, Eleuthera, one of the beautiful islands located in the Bahamas.
Comrade Carey joined Her Majesty’s Royal Airforce on 21st February, 1944, until the war ended in September, 1945. He served in Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force as an Aircraft Mechanic.
He was based at the Oakes Field War Camp, located on the island of New Providence, in The Bahamas. On his Discharge Certificate, his Wing Commander, JR Bland, stated that he was “a good mechanic whose character and conduct was praiseworthy.”
The British Legion-Bahamas Branch Salutes the Late Comrade James Thomas Carey, one of its former executive committee members, and who supported the British Legion throughout his remaining years after the war.
The Late Comrade Eugene Butler was born on 21 April,
The British Legion-Bahamas Branch Salutes the Late Comrade Eugene Butler.
SALUTES
WOMAN NONCOMMISSION
OFFICER (W.N.C.)
Acting Corporal
Doreen Carmel
Jones-Rickards
WNC Officer, Doreen Carmel Jones, was born in Nassau, Bahamas, on 19 September, 1924.
In the mid-40s, Doreen Jones joined the British Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), and was stationed at Garrison Headquarters Annex in Up Park Camp in Kingston, Jamaica. During the war, she served as
a typist in the Camp’s office. She was promoted to Lance Corporal and finally became Acting Corporal at the end of her military career when the war ended. (Ref.: The Brave Eleven p. 31).
When the war ended in September 1945, she did not return to The Bahamas but remained in Kingston Jamaica.
(Ref: The Brave Eleven p. 32). Today, Acting Corporal Doreen Jones-Rickards is alive and doing well and resides in Kingston, Jamaica, with her daughter. On the 19 September, 2024, she celebrated her 100th Birthday, becoming the oldest Bahamian female World War II Veteran to have ever lived.
Bahamian men who served at the Royal Air Force Oakes Field camp on New Providence during World War II
There was a group of very special men who served their country during the second World War on the island of New Providence between 1942 until the war ended in 1945.
They were trained as Airplane Mechanics. Their jobs were to service incoming war planes that entered The Bahamas for refuelling and rest. There were over 175
of these men who served with dignity and pride as they played their parts in a World War that threatened The Bahamas during that time. The British Legion-Bahamas
all of
Branch
making their contributions
freedom we all enjoy today.
salutes
these men as we honour them as Bahamian war heroes
towards the
Arthur hArcourt Johnson
Elsworth Munnings
chArlEs AlExAndEr FishEr
gEorgE Johnson
gEorgE McKAY
howArd howitt MunroE
hEnrY KEllMAn
ivAn rollE
John lopEz McKAY
lEroY williAMs
lEonArd JErvis
MAtthiAs EgbErt MunroE
orMond hilton poitiEr
stAnlEY clArEncE bEnEbY
roston John swEEting
vErnon MAxwEll pindEr
Bahamians who served in the Royal Air Force Oakes Field base during World War II, 1944-1945
The above list was taken from the Wall of Remembrance located at the Bahamas Veterans’ Cemetery Infant View Road, Nassau, Bahamas.
Honouring the veterans of war
HONOURING WAR VETERANS: Remembrance Day was observed at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, November 10. After the church service, a service was held at the Cenotaph in the Garden of Remembrance, downtown, Nassau, for the laying of wreaths in honour of war veterans.
Photos: Nikia Charlton
HONOURING WAR VETERANS: Remembrance Day was observed at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, November 10. After the church service, a service was held at the Cenotaph in the Garden of Remembrance, downtown, Nassau, for the laying of wreaths in honour of war veterans.
Photos: Nikia Charlton
BRITISH Legion-Bahamas Branch families attend the 2024 Remembrance Day celebrations at the Cenotaph wreath-laying ceremony.
ADINA Munroe-Charlow along with widow Nellie McPhee of the British LegionBahamas Branch and Derek Neymore, son of a former WWII veteran at the Cenotaph on Sunday, November 10, 2024
BRITISH Legion Bahamas branch and other Commonwealth
mark 103 years of the organisation’s existence as a non-profit serving World
II veterans. The
mas Branch locally assists 15 World War II widows, ages 78-98. There are no more World
II veterans in The Bahamas, with the passing of Henry Kellman,
October 2024 -- the last World War II veteran, locally, registered with the
THE
British Legion branches
War
Baha-
War
96, who was laid to rest this year, in
British Legion. Photos: Nikia Charlton
Marking the 103rd birthday of the poppy
THIS year marks the 103rd birthday of the poppy. It was 103 years ago that the Royal British Legion’s then president, the late Earl Haig, announced the introduction of the poppy as a symbol representing the blood shed by thousands of soldiers, (including our Bahamian soldiers), who died during the great war of 1914-1918.
The Bahamas sent 700 men to fight in WWI. Haig announced that the 11th day of every November, which was formerly known as Armistice Day, would now be known as “Remembrance Day” - a “poppy day” to raise funds for the care of surviving war veterans.
Since that very first Remembrance Day, in 1921, eight million poppies have been purchased and worn in support of this worthy cause.
Today, as chairperson of the British Legion-Bahamas
Branch, I encourage our Bahamas to purchase and wear a poppy in remembrance of the sacrifice that was made for world peace and freedom, a very vital historical role played by our forgotten Bahamian war heroes. The Bahamas branch of the British Legion continues the traditional poppy fundraising drive, that will now care for our surviving elderly Bahamian war widows here on the island of New Providence as well as those residing on the islands of Freeport, Grand Bahama and Nicholls Town, Andros.
ROYAL Bahamas Defence Force officer stands at attention during a service held at the Cenotaph in the Garden of Remembrance for the laying of wreaths in honour of war veterans.
SHOWN, from left to right, are Charles Hepburn Jr), Jeffrey Pinder, Kevin Hanna, Adina Munroe-Charlow (chairperson), Her Excellency Governor General Cynthia “Mother” Pratt, Franklyn Brown, Marvin Pinder and Valentino Griffin.
REMEMBRANCE Day was observed at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, November 10, 2024. After the church service, a service was held at the Cenotaph in the Garden of Remembrance, downtown, Nassau, for the laying of wreaths in honour of the war veterans. Photos: Nikia Charlton