{"id":841,"date":"2021-11-19T16:55:29","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T16:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/?p=841"},"modified":"2021-11-19T16:55:36","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T16:55:36","slug":"part-2-exploring-central-london-the-quest-for-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/?p=841","title":{"rendered":"Part 2 \u2013 Exploring Central London \u2026 the quest for family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you are just joining us then I recommend that you read my blog posted 7 November, 2021 titled “Part 1 – Exploring Central London … the quest for family”<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another eye opening experience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may recall that after walking along Smith Street I arrived at my destination. I entered the building and after a few COVID-19 formalities, I was advised to follow the relevant signs like the one pictured below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I do not know about you but the words “West Indian” always bring a feeling of familiarity, good energy and community to mind. Of course, where there is community one is likely to find family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So look at this photo below … look at what I found! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Excuse me?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to take a pause and read every single word on these posters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Wow.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A request for volunteers. Did anyone from your family or community volunteer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
War posters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I could not help but wonder whether my ancestors read those posters. What did they think or say? I can only imagine the conversations that followed at home, in the neighbourhood, and at work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about you? Were any stories shared with you about your family experiences contributing to the War effort?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, if that was not enough, I came across an intriguing photo and information that I had to record and share here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is this person family? My family or your family?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carefully read the text in this photo below. Are you related to any of those individuals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Who were Lance Corporal C.P. Bethel (Bahamas) and Private Edward Jones (Barbados)? Do you know? If you do then please share their stories with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Remembrance pin badge, metal, British West Indies Regiment, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Summary of the history of the West India Regiments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Badge designs of Turks & Caicos Regiment (left) and Cayman Islands Regiment (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Below is an interesting story about the West India Regiment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is obvious to me that the soldiers who were involved in this historic event had excellent critical thinking skills that they used for everyone’s benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Very interesting story … reading about such sacrifice and determination
encourage me to do my best at all times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well, I did not find any family but I did find references to Lance Corporal C.P. Bethel (Bahamas) and Private Edward Jones (Barbados). These references may lead you and me to information about our families during the First World War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a story about Lance Corporal C.P. Bethel (Bahamas) and\/or Private Edward Jones (Barbados) then please share it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So until next time, I send you best wishes and the following photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Selfie with helicopter in the background … could not resist!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are just joining us then I recommend that you read my blog posted 7 November, 2021 titled “Part 1 – Exploring Central London … the quest for family”. Another eye opening experience You may recall that after walking along Smith Street I arrived at my destination. I entered the building and after a … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Part 2 \u2013 Exploring Central London \u2026 the quest for family”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[106,107,92,104,94,105,103,93],"tags":[102,101,100],"class_list":["post-841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bahamas","category-barbados","category-british-history","category-england","category-first-world-war","category-london","category-museum","category-west-indian-history","tag-england","tag-london","tag-museum"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=841"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842,"href":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841\/revisions\/842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smithkas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}