Local Defense, the British West Indies, and Recruitment in the First World War

This article focuses on the local defense threat posed by German commerce raiders and warships operating in or near the Caribbean between August 1914 and May 1915, when the War Office sanctioned recruitment in the Caribbean for what would eventually become the British West Indies Regiment. We argue that in addition to institutional racism and other factors, the War Office’s decision to begin recruiting Black West Indians in May 1915 should be understood within a larger strategic context, and ongoing discussions between the War Office, the Colonial Office, and the Admiralty, about the German naval threat to the British West Indies and the safety of Britain’s overseas possessions.