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The 2nd Battalion, Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) |
| Halifax Canada | West Indies & Canada 1895 - 1901 The second battalion had been sent to Bermuda to relieve the 1st Royal Berkshire Regiment, and set sail for Bermuda on hired transport Pavonia, of the Cunard line, a 5000 tons vessel and probably one of the last Atlantic liners to carry sails in addition to steamer power. The Pavonia arrived at Bermuda on the 30th of November 1895.At that time, the second battalion was in the middle of what was referred to as a colonial tour so they knew that the next station on the colonial tour was Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Orders were received and the battalion embarked on board Avoca to relieve the 2nd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, on the 19th of October, 1897. The actual strength was 22 officers, two warrant officers, and 868 non-commissioned officers and men. It was on the 24th of October 1897 that the second battalion arrived in the harbour at Halifax. Halifax was a two year station but as the 1st Royal Berkshire's whom the battalion had relieved, dropped out of their colonial tour after their stay in the West Indies, the battalion were informed that they would remain in Halifax for three years. Due to be severe winters experienced in Nova Scotia the regiment were issued with new clothing. The officers wore special greatcoats with an Astrakhan collar and cuffs, and an Astrakhan cap with flaps which could be tied over the ears, and huge gauntlets of the same material. The boots for walking through snow were immense brown leather, reaching to the knee; and in order to secure a grip when moving over a frozen surface, small instruments called creepers, and which resembled miniature harrow's, were strapped under the instep. Non-commissioned officers and men wore their ordinary greatcoats but were issued with thick woolen mufflers, fur gauntlets, caps of a "serviceable pattern" and boots the same as though this worn by the officers. Whilst the battalion was stationed at Halifax, friction existed between the United States and Spain over Cuba, and one-day news reached the regiment of the sabotage of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbour. War was expected to break out between the two powers and the British government decided that in the circumstances the battalion would return to the West Indies. So it was that in early May the battalion embarked once more for the West Indies this time being relieved at Halifax by the first battalion of the Leinster Regiment. Thus it was that on the fifth of May 1898 the battalion embarked upon the ship Dilwara reaching Bermuda on the morning of the ninth of May 1898. The actual strength of the battalion at that time was 23 officers, two warrant officers, 849 non-commissioned officers and men, 10 women and 14 children. In Jamaica the regiment was station at the Hill Station of Newcastle. The normal custom for a regiment in the West Indies in those days was that the headquarters and four companies were garrisoned at Barbados, with a detachment of one company at St. Lucia and three at Newcastle in Jamaica, but the Spanish American war, which had led to two battalions being in the West Indies, upset that, and the whole of the second Leinster Regiment was for the time in Jamaica, where it had relieved a detachment of the 1st Royal Berkshire Regiment. Time continued to pass at Newcastle, Jamaica, and on the 17th of September a cable was received from the Adjutant-General of which the following is an extract, ..." the second battalion Prince of Wales Leinster Regiment (is to) distribute headquarters and following numbers of companies, for Barbados, three Jamaica, one St. Lucia". On the morning of the 25th of October 1898 the regiment embarked upon H. M. hired transport Avoca, with the newly formed 3rd Battalion West Indies Regiment, bound for St. Helena, and upon arriving at St. Lucia on the 29th, "C" company disembarked for their new station. After a short interval on the 31st the voyage continued arriving at Barbados the following morning. The transport ship Avoca, anchored in Carlisle Bay, just south of the capital Bridgetown. The regiment continued their colonial tour in Barbados in the knowledge that their next tour of duty would be in South Africa. However it was the 1st battalion of the Leinsters that were dispatched for South Africa from Halifax, with the second battalion being ordered to remain for duty in the West Indies. Part of the reason for this was that the second battalion was spread amongst the three islands of St. Lucia, Barbados and Bermuda consequently there was insufficient time to bring the regiment together to send them to South Africa. Secondly with the majority of the regular army regiments being dispatched to South Africa as a consequence of the war there, it was difficult to find replacements for the second battalion Leinsters in the West Indies because the West Indies had an unenviable reputation for yellow fever, and there were no takers amongst the militia of those times to go and takeover. So it was that the second Leinsters were destined to put in two more years of attendance in Barbados. Then one-day in October, 1901, a cablegram was handed to the Adjutant at lunch. It was in code from the commanding officer who was on leave, and read merely "Nubifer November". When decoded the message was understood and the Adjutant released the news that the battalion would embark for South Africa in November. The battalion was issued with Lee-Enfield rifles, but due to a number of administrative uncertainties it was not until the 26 December, 1901, that the headquarters and four companies from Barbados embarked upon HM hired transport Sicilia where they came together with their comrades who had been picked from Jamaica a few days earlier. The unfortunate "C" company was left at St. Lucia and the strength of the second battalion on sailing from Barbados was 19 officers and 578 other ranks. For Colour Sergeant John & Mary Dickson the time in the West Indies had been productive! with the births of the following children.
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This page was last updated 22 April, 2008. Please address any comments or feedback to the webmaster
Page layout by Don Dickson. Copyright & extracts acknowledged from the Regimental History of the Prince of Wale's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) published in 1924.