Times of the Islands Winter 2016/17

astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum
Clockwise from top left: Customs House Grand Turk, c. 1910.
James Handfield and Daniel Higgs, both from Bottle Creek, were attached to the Royal Engineers’ Inland Water Transport division in
“Mesopotamia” (modern Iraq).
View of Grand Turk’s Front Street looking north, c. 1910. Note the rows of donkey carts in the foreground.
Private James Alexander Arthur appears to be the only local man to die on active service. He died of tuberculosis at age 26 on January 16,
1919 serving with the 2nd British West Indies Regiment in Egypt. His parents were George Arthur and Laura Forbes, but E. Williams of Bottle
Creek selected his headstone inscription. He is buried in the Alexandria (Egypt) War Memorial Cemetery.
Heading into Battle
The Turks & Caicos Islands in World War I.
By Pat Saxton, Turks & Caicos National Museum Director ~ Photos from TCNM Collection
One hundred years ago, the series of engagements known as the Battle of the Somme was at full tilt in
France. By the time it ended in mid-November 1916, combined British, French, and German casualties
may well have topped one million. By all measures it was one of the bloodiest battles ever fought in any
war before or since.
Working with research I did in the Museum’s archive, along with research that former Museum Director
Nigel Sadler of Sands of Times Consultancy recently completed for Montserrat, we were able to produce a
traveling exhibit consisting of a series of seven panels of text and photographs commemorating the part
the Turks & Caicos and other islands in the British West Indies played in the First World War. This reinforces
the need for a National Archive, so everyone has access to these important documents for research.
The panels were presented on November 13, 2016, at the Remembrance Day Celebration.
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