For some time now, I have wanted to write this column, but the column required, I thought, an extensive discourse about World War II, which was fought between 1939 and 1945, with the principal combatants being Great Britain and Germany against each other. The British had Russia and the United States as their principal allies, while Germany’s allies were Japan and Italy. I didn’t think readers were interested in all the World War II background history, though it is very relevant, for instance, that then Guatemalan dictator, Jorge Ubico, was pro-Germany, and the British had to send a warship here after the war when Guatemala was “making noise” in 1948.
The British were considered the victors in the war, while the Germans were defeated. Personally, I’ve always thought that one reason the British won was that they were able to call on allies in their colonies, such as massive India and, yes, little British Honduras. Germany had far fewer colonies than the United Kingdom, even though it has seemed to me that their sheer industrial productivity was superior to that of the British.
In any case, the column I mentioned is derived from the November 10, 1949 issue of The Belize Billboard, and describes the Remembrance Day ceremony at Memorial Park to honour those who gave their lives in the service of the Commonwealth during World War II. On Sunday morning of the week in which that issue of the Billboard was published, Deputy Governor Hon’ble Evelyn Hone, O. B. E., “unveiled the tablet with the inscribed names of Hondurans who had died in action in the service of the Commonwealth during the second world conflict.”
The names read were:
Sub Lieutenant J. W. Biddle of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm – killed in action at sea off Gibraltar.
Flight Lieutenant C. H. Eves, D.F.C. of the Royal Air Force, killed in action in India.
Flight Lieutenant G. W. Fairweather, D.F.C. of the Royal Air Force, killed in action over Germany.
Flying Officer C. J. Marchand, of the Royal Air Force, killed in action over Germany.
Pilot Officer C. H. Waight, of the Royal Air Force, killed in action over Holland.
Leading Aircraftsman W. L. N. Starkey, of the Royal Canadian Air Force, killed in active service in Canada.
MEMBERS OF THE FORESTRY UNIT AND OTHERS
O. Lemon — died in Scotland
H. Velasquez — died in Scotland
C. Gilayo — died in Scotland
W. Young — died in the U.S.A.
R. C. Domingo — died in Scotland
H. P. L. Moss — died in Scotland
I. Mendoza — died in Scotland
V. Baker — died in Scotland
L. MacKenzie — died in Scotland
A. V. Zuniga — died in Scotland
P. Crawford — died in England
R. Law – died in Scotland
C. A. Trapp — died in Scotland
W. A. Blackman — died in England
C. Torres — died in Scotland
E. Robinson — died in Scotland
W. A. Meighan — died in England