Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War Race, Masculinity &
the Development of National Consciousness Date of publication:
October 2009 Publisher: Manchester University Press This
groundbreaking study examines the dynamics of race and
masculinity to provide fresh historical insight into the First
World War. It examines, in detail, the experiences of Jamaicans
who served in the British West Indies Regiment and other British
regiments. From the earliest days of the war there was
reluctance to accept Jamaican and other West Indian volunteers.
Black volunteers were deemed to lack the masculine qualities of
stoicism and self control necessary to modern warfare. But more
significantly, prewar fears of white racial degeneration merged
with concerns that many white men could not withstand the
psychological effects of modern warfare. If Imperial race and
gender hierarchies were to be preserved, black soldiers could
not be seen to outperform white soldiers on the battlefield and
so were generally deployed in labour