Page 104 - MERCIAN Eagle 2015

“William Gordon was a 27 years old
Lance-Corporal in the West India
Regiment, British Army during the
Second Gambia Campaign when, on
William Gordon
13 March 1892 at Toniataba, Gambia, the
major who was in command of the troops
was superintending a party of 12 men who were trying, with a heavy beam, to break down the south gate of the town. Suddenly a number of musket-muzzles appeared through a double row of loopholes, some of them being only two or three yards from the major’s back and before he realised what had happened, Gordon threw himself ” between the major and the muskets, pushing the officer out of the way. At the
same moment the NCO was shot through the lungs.
William Gordon later achieved the rank of sergeant
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VC Church Service
working together, a historical significance which did not escape the Jamaicans notice.
Two Victoria Crosses were won by the West Indies Regiment, one of these by William James Gordon who was Jamaica born. The Victoria Cross is held on display in the JDF Museum in Kingston. He was the first non-European soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
Another easy win was the offer to assist in the repair of a memorial within Newcastle camp, the JDF training centre in the Blue Mountains. During the deployment, the 64th Foot Major General Sir William Maynard Gomm, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica (and Britain’s longest serving soldier), observed that yellow fever, a major cause
they served in the camp in the mid 20th century. A permanent record of an alliance with more than just the Mercian Regiment antecedent. What is more, is that there is
a monumental obelisk which was erected by regimental subscription by the 36th
Foot (an antecedent of the Worcester Regiment) in the cemetery at Newcastle Camp. In 1854, the 36th Regiment of
Foot was moved to the West Indies, with
a number of companies (of the 12 at this time in the regiment) moved to garrison Jamaica. The regiment was based there until moving back to England in 1857. Most of the regiment’s time was taken up with combatting Yellow fever, and altogether the regiment lost four officers, 7 N.C.O.s and 58 other ranks from the fever.
A whistle stop tour of the JDF has led to numerous opportunities within 2015/16.
A heritage exchange between the JDF museum curator and a member of the Mercian Regiment heritage committee. Here, Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Bridges MBE TD JP visited Jamaica with two members of the Regimental Support Team. Following this, there was a recipricoal visit, in which the various RHQ’s and battalions hosted JR. In addition, a Mercian Team
will be entered into the Catherine’s Peak Race, there will be a sailing expedition to Jamaica, and a Jamaican Regiment team to enter next years’ infantry tug of war at
1 MERCIAN. All of this is retention positive, relationship cementing and personally developing events, which of course help British defence engagement in Jamaica.
In terms of low level influence, an easy win was for The Mercian Regiment to pay a small sum to build a new cabinet for the Victoria Cross to be kept in;
Two Victoria Crosses were won by the West Indies Regiment
of death among the British troops stationed in Jamaica, was far less prevalent in the mountains. He ordered the construction of
the camp in the Blue Mountains north of Kingston. The camp
an easy win, but an
example of long terms commitment.
During the visit, the Colonel of The Regiment visited 2nd battalion (2JR) at
their mountain location, Moneague Training Camp. During the visit he was given traditional gifts of Blue Mountain Coffee, and met the battalion’s mascot, Lance Corporal Billy. Lance Corporal Billy is the third of his name sake to be a mascot of 2JR, who were founded on 21 May 1979
at the Moneague Training Camp in St Ann. Their motto is ‘Second to None’ and have a pound tradition of excellence amongst the nations of the Caribbean, being deployed on numerous internal security and support to civil power operations over the years, including a deployment to Haiti in recent years. The Mascot of 2JR presented another easy win for the regiment, and
a chance to engage with a fellow sheep based mascot on future exchanges. It is things that could be perceived as quite ‘silly’ like this which can cement a relationship between regiments in the long term.
was used as a ‘change-of-air camp’ by British regiments stationed in Jamaica. The camp was built by the 64th Foot, and has an obvious memorial to them within their parade ground wall, but also memorials to both the Worcestershire Regiment and Sherwood Foresters when
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