Among the dozens of T&T men who registered to fight in Europe during World War I (1914-18), there are many who never returned to their homeland. Their stories were quickly forgotten and their names emblazoned on the cenotaph at Memorial Park, Port-of-Spain, remain the sole reminder of their ultimate sacrifice.
There were two distinct factions of recruits. The first comprised men of colour from largely humble origins, like Ruthven Ignatius Pegus, who was born and raised at Moruga and was killed in 1917.
The other group was called the “Merchants and Planters Contingent,” since its rank came from the sons of the white elite of society who sought glory in battle and found only the bark of gunfire instead.
It is from the second set that one of the most heart-rending tales of the war comes.
It is the story of the sons of John Lamont Eccles and his wife, Jessie. John was the son of William Eccles (1816-59), who was attorney and manager for the vast assets of William Burnley (1782-1850) of Orange Grove. William was also responsible for the island’s first railway—the Cipero Tramroad—in 1847, and the foundation of an orphanage and school that is now the St Mary’s Children’s Home. William Eccles was instrumental in the building of the St Mary’s Anglican Church in Tacarigua, where he was buried, along with two of his sons and a daughter who died in her youth.
Upon his death, William’s sons, John Lamont Eccles and Burnley Hunter Eccles (both named for prominent planters), took over his stewardship, with the former running Orange Grove and the latter at Woodbrook, which was also part of the Burnley empire. John and his brother both passed away in 1892, within six months of each other, aged 43 and 39 respectively. John had three sons with his wife, Jessie, who died around 1912.
After their deaths, their families were compelled to move from their estate homes, since the management of the Burnley properties passed on to other people and eventually, the properties were sold in 1899.
All the boys enlisted for action, with the youngest being the first to fall. His name was Hilton Burnley Eccles and he was born in 1887 at Orange Grove. Only five years old when his father died, he grew up in Port-of-Spain, and though details are sketchy, he settled down in Canada with his wife Theresa and worked as an accountant. He signed up with the Canadian Infantry (Quebec) Unit on October 23, 1914, and was sent to Africa, where he served in the Natal Campaign. Reported missing from his machine gun detachment, he was found dead on November 2, 1916. His remains were interred at the Regina Trench war cemetery in Grandcourt, France.
Hilton’s elder brother Vernon John Lamont Eccles was born in 1883 and was also part of the Canadian Infantry, though of the Alberta Regiment. He was married as well. Like his brother, Vernon served in South Africa during the Natal Campaign and was killed on the same day as his younger sibling. Vernon had attained the rank of captain. He was buried at the Courcellette British Cemetery in France. His wife remarried shortly thereafter and lived the rest of her life in New York.
The Natal Campaign was part of the fierce fighting that raged in Africa, one of the lesser known theatres of conflict in World War I.
The eldest son of John Lamont Eccles, 2nd Lieut John Vivian William Eccles, served at the headquarters of the King’s Own Royal Lancashire Regiment at Salonika in what is now modern-day Greece. On May 4, 1917, he was aboard a ship that was torpedoed in the Mediterranean Sea by a German submarine. His body was never recovered, although his name was inscribed on the Savona Memorial in Italy.
Another twist in the Eccles tragedies of World War I is the death of Col Robert Eccles, who was the son of Burnley Hunter Eccles. His rank outstripped that of his fallen cousins and he served as part of the War Office administration in London after his tour of duty with the Oxfordshire Regiment ended.
Col Eccles was standing next to a cache of ammunition on October 30, 1915, in the yard of the headquarters, when it exploded, killing him outright. He was accorded a grave at the prestigious Kensal Green Cemetery in London.
Perhaps the only silver lining of this sad episode of history is that the dead men’s parents did not live to see their sons die in wartime.