Uniforms of the West India Regiment.

From their foundation in 1795 the West India Regiments (at this time named Whyte's and Myer's regiments of Foot) were dressed the same as other line regiments in the British army. This consisted of red jacket with lapels to the waist. this worn with a white waistcoat, white breeches, white stockings, short black gaiters, black shoes and a black hat with a black crest. As the uniform changed in the British army so the West India Regiments followed.

The regimental colours were as follows:

1st - White, lace white with a black line, officers lace silver.
2nd - Yellow, lace

To the left can be seen a battalion company private of the 5th West India Regiment, c.1814 (click on the image to enlarge). The main changes to the uniform include the introduction of the stovepipe shako which was again replaced in 1811 by the "Belgic" shako. They wore a short red tunic without some of the European soldier's piping and lace. The rank and file wore blue cotton trousers as did the European soldiers in the Caribbean. Their footwear consisted of black slippers as they were unused to wearing the boots the European soldiers wore on campaign.

An expression for change in the uniform was put forward by a senior British Army officer. Brigadier-General Thomas Hislop, who as a Colonel had raised an irregular black corp known as the South American Rangers, wrote in 1801:

"It having always been evident to me that not only from the local circumstances of the country to which their services are confined, they will be required to act as such, but that they are also from their constitution & natural habits, better calculated for that species of Warfare in this climate than Europeans. If they were put entirely on the Footing of the Light Troops, by being appointed and Clothed accordingly, the establishment would in my idea be found to be more congenial to the service required of them. Dark Green, instead of red, would be the colour best adapted to render them unobservable by an Enemy, which for the duty of a Light Infantry Soldier, is a matter of greatest consequence."

Other units who were permanently assigned to the Caribbean during the Napoleonic Wars were dressed in the British Army standard uniform for Light Infantry or Rifles. These were the penal regiments - the Royal West India Rangers, the Royal York Rangers, and the York Chasseurs. The regular army also had at least one battalion of the 60th Regiment of Foot permanently stationed in the Caribbean and this regiment was also dressed in Green. This suggestion by Hislop came to nothing. Light Infantry were trained as skirmishers and thus act and think independently. This was probably to much for the army authorities to contemplate for a large number of black regiments, but a the standard regular infantry "Light" flank company was included in each battalion.

The next major change in the West India Regiment's uniform came in the 1850's. The new dress uniform was approved by Queen Victoria on the 27^th October 1856 and was issued to the regiments in 1858.

It was a complete change from the normal and followed the "Zouave" pattern of uniform. It consisted of a red sleeveless jacket worn over a long-sleeved white waistcoat which had twenty brass buttons and braided in front with lace. The trousers were voluminous dark blue breeches, piped front and back with yellow. The footwear was originally leather leggings with sandals but this was changed to white stockings, white gaiters and black shoes. The headwear was no longer a shako but a red fez which had a white turban wrapped around it. The facings of the regiment were reflected in pointed cuffs of the waistcoat and the large tassel which hung from the fez.

To the left can be seen an example of the uniform as displayed in the:

                National Army Museum.
                Royal Hospital Road,
                Chelsea,
                London SW3 4HT
                England

The facings for the regiments were as follows:

During active service the waistcoat was replaced by a hip-length serge jacket. In drill or "undress" uniform the sleeveless jacket and turban were not worn.

This uniform remained fundamentally unchanged until the Regiment was disbanded in 1927.

The uniform style is still worn today by Jamaica Military Band which is a direct descendant of the Band of the West India Regiment. As the Band of the West India Regiment, it gave its final performance at a reception at Trafalgar House in Kingston in early 1927, before Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the present Queen Mother). The bandsmen turned in their instruments after the performance, but fortunately sentiment prevailed and the band was revived on 27^th February 1927 as the Jamaica Military Band.

This band has performed in various Caribbean countries including St. Kitts and Nevis; various cities in the United States and the United Kingdom. The Jamaica Military Band has performed in every military tattoo in Jamaica since 1933.