Dominican War Heroes Honoured on Remembrance Day

Dominica joined the rest of the Commonwealth yesterday in commemorating Remembrance Day, honoring the millions who fought and died, including Dominicans, in the first and second world wars.

A military Parade at the War Memorial on Victoria Street in Roseau formed the highlight of the day’s event.

President of Dominica, His Excellency Dr. J.O.Liverppol, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, Parliamentary Representative for Roseau Central Hon Norris Prevost and members of the Dominica Legend were among those who laid wreathes at the cenotaph.

A number of Dominicans hailing from villages around the island served in Her Majesty’s Forces and in the Nursing Service in the Middle East, Africa, the Western Front and right here in the West Indies, serving with distinction and in many cases were awarded with medals of honor for their bravery and courage.

One such person who served with distinction during the Second World War was Harold Sherbert Bryant from the Northeastern village of Marigot. He was a pilot in Her Majesty’s forces. He had served brilliantly throughout the war but volunteered for a final sortie over Germany just towards the end of the campaign. His plane was shot down and he was killed. However, he had already received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery.

The bodies of many of these young men, who in their early twenties and thirties, left Dominica in hope and in a spirit of adventure to go and fight in the war, now lay scattered across Egypt, Palestine, Greece and on the Western front in Belgium and France.

Reflecting on the lives and contribution of these war heroes, local historian Lennox Honeychurch noted, “when we think perhaps if these men had lived and had contributed to Dominica in the same way they contributed to the war effort they would be important names in the country today but there names are engraved forever on the Memorial.”