War Years with Whitfield Benjamin James
Last week, World War II ex-serviceman Whitfield Benjamin James, aka WB, told a true but humorous story about how he managed to get into the Caribbean Regiment of the British Army in 1943.

He recalled: “I was seventeen. There I was standing in a long line of potential recruits at Eve Leary awaiting my turn.

As I took in the scenery while waiting, I saw the Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) who was choosing men walking down the line, looking at each one and saying “you step forward” or “you, you step back”.

“I realised that those he told to step back were the ones who were being rejected. I then realised too that those whom he was telling to step forward to be accepted were the big hefty chaps; and there I was a skinny as hell with not too much meat on me; hardly any shoulders.

“I began to despair about ever getting in the Army.
“Sure enough, when the RSM reached me, he took one look at me and said: “You …STEP BACK!”

“Swallowing hard, I stepped back. I was devastated.

“But then a few minutes passed and it dawned on me that among so many men, he couldn’t remember whom he had told to step forward or step back.

“I debated for a moment, took a good look around and then as soon as his back was turned, I stepped forward. Tense as ever, I tried to keep a low profile.

“A few minutes later the RSM came back. He looked at all of us including me. I kept my eyes averted. Then he said: “All of you men, you are now in the Army, report to barracks and get your kits.”

“Without looking back I scampered along with the others into Eve Leary Compound.

“And that was how I got in”.
Mr. James added an interesting epilogue to his story.
He said: The name of that RSM was L. P. Chung (James cannot recall what the initials stand for). As fate would have it, I ended up working with L. P. Chung for almost 33 years of my life.

“He became my mentor and you know he never remembered that I was one that he had told to step back; that I wasn’t ready.

And I never told him either.”
This week’s ex serviceman, Mr. James, served in the Medical Corps of the Army in those war days.

James was born at Hopetown Village, West Coast Berbice, on January 10, 1926, the son of Charles and Rachel James both of Hopetown.

He was the youngest of ten siblings.
He was seventeen years old when he saw an advertisement in the newspapers calling for recruits to the Caribbean Regiment.

He travelled to Georgetown by train and, as recounted, managed to get into the Army by using his wits.

On being recruited, James was one of five young men chosen to work in the Medical Corps.

This selection followed completion of the basic military training for men who were being prepared for fighting the Germans, Italians and Japanese in the then unknown closing stages of the war.

The man who chose him for the Medical Corps was amazingly enough, the unsuspecting RSM L. P. Chung.

“In fact, even before sending me to the Medical Corps, this same RSM had selected me to work in his Office as a Clerk. I was working in his Office when he made the decision to send me into the Medical Corps,” James said.

James and four other Guianese left for Trinidad for training and assignment on January 10, 1944.

“I remember the names. The four other men were: Henry Bynoe, Ovid Huntley, Eric Thornhill and Wilfred E Bourne. We travelled to Atkinson Field (now Cheddi Jagan International Airport – CJIA) and travelled to Trinidad by aircraft.

On arrival at Trinidad, they found that the newly formed Medical Corps comprised nationals from all the Caribbean Islands.

Their training comprised human anatomy, First Aid and ways of dealing with different types of war related injuries.

He recalled: “We were based at the Hospital near Frederick Street, Port of Spain. Our main task was to give medical care to sick soldiers. I wasn’t particularly fond of this type of work but I embraced it because it was part of the Army and I loved being part of the Army.”

He spent two years at the Hospital, running the wards, helping sick and injured soldiers to recovery and then returned home: disbanded.

“And at age 20, that was the end of my life in the Army.”

“I needed a job. I went to McKenzie and found a job as a Clerk in the Office of the General Manager at the bauxite company.

“I returned to Georgetown and there it was that I ran into my old RSM L. P. Chung.

He was riding his bicycle, a big ben.
He stopped when he saw me.
We talked and I told him I was looking for a job. He asked me if I would work with him on an assignment with the Ministry of Works at Torani Canal in Berbice, which was then under excavation. I agreed. I ended up working alongside L. P. Chung for the next thirty years.

When L. P. Chung left the Ministry of Works in 1976, he retired as Chief Establishment Officer.

On leaving, L. P. Chung recommended me for the job. But then the situation had changed. The Lorry pool which we supervised was disbanded shortly after and I also decided to move on.

L. P. Chung is now deceased. For some reason in all those years I never found it possible to tell him:

“Hey you remember me. I am one of the guys who you told to step back when I tried to join the Army way back in 1943. Too much respect for the man I guess.”

James married Elaine Gibson, a Georgetown girl, in December 1950, and together with her raised five children, four of whom are alive, and reside in the United States.

Elaine died in New York in 1993 and he has since re-married.

His second wife, Florence, is currently in Canada.

James left Guyana for the United States in 1976.

He spent 26 years there during which he pursued a successful career in real estate.

He retired in 2002 as a Licensed Real Estate Broker and Realty Consultant for Residential and Commercial Sales Rentals and Mortgages.

He credits his success in the field to the discipline he received as a result of his training in the military.

He added: “I will also never forget the high level of camaraderie which I enjoyed with my fellow members of the Medical Corps and with soldiers of other Caribbean countries in Trinidad between 1944 and 1946.
He is retired and travels every now and then to the States, but not during winter.