William Hills:
Leaphia Darko donated to us her account of her father, William Hills. William was a well-travelled man, a Bajan of the Victorian era. Eventually he would become a veteran who, having moved to England, lived a life that sounded to us quite charming around the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire areas. He later served in the Second World War, as did his sons. The small vintage, sepia-toned image his daughter has of him date from his time as a young man in the British Army……
“Yes, he was my father. This is a picture of him. He was in the First World War. That’s a picture of him in the Second World War – he was a night watchman at Austin Aerodrome, while his two sons were at Dunkirk.
“He came from Barbados. He was born in Barbados, and I think he just left home. He didn’t go to school. He taught himself to read. He lived in America a lot, so he did tell us about America but that’s about all.
“My mother is his second wife. He didn’t marry his first partner, but she had this photograph in her purse. When she died, his daughter – my half-sister – gave it to me.”
Quite how and when exactly William came to England is unclear. Obviously, there were Caribbean regiments in the First World War that recruited from Jamaica and the Caribbean. Leaphia didn’t know what regiment her father was in, or how old he was exactly in the photos:
“We don’t know anything about [his regiment] really. The relatives of his first partner, who is investigating his history, she thinks that is the Sherwood Foresters because of the crest. (on his cap badge in picture.) He lived in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and that’s really all I can say.
“His first family were wonderful. We all got on like a house on fire. If you did something naughty, that was the look he gave us, in that photo… The lady who was his partner, I went to visit her relatives last year and she said she thinks he might have descended from a British family. His great-great-great-great-grandchild is blonde with blue eyes.
As was perhaps to be expected, William didn’t talk in much detail about the War:
“When he married my mother, all we know is that we were sitting on his knee (he had a great sense of humour) but he would just mention the Somme, and trench foot, etcetera, because we were young [he didn’t go into much detail]”
William died in 1959, his health probably affected by his life as a miner in his later years:
“He was 30 years older than my mother. He used to work down the mines, and when he tried to get a job somebody said to my mother “He’s not going to see 50….””
From what we saw of William Hills, identified by only his military attire, his amiable smile, and the tone of his daughter’s account, the positivity in this story and its outcome was enduring:
“He was a very strong man. Even though he had his foot amputated he still stood and walked like a soldier.”
Children of The Great War 