The Kiskadee is a bird native to Guyana and often referred to in Edgar Mittelholzer's brilliant novel, The Life and Death of Sylvia (1953). The bird is so named because its cry seemed by French colonists to be enquiring: "Qu’ est ce qu’il dit?". So what did he say? This blog is about two key topics: EDGAR MITTELHOLZER (his life and his works) and ME (my encounter with Mittelholzer and tales of life in Guyana).

Sunday, 9 November 2014

Guyana (formerly British Guiana), Remembrance Day & Edgar Mittelholzer.


By 1941 95 Guyanese had joined the British forces: 22 went into the RAF, 42 into the navy and 31 recreated for specialised work. Scores of Guyanese also worked in the merchant navy. In 1943, 32 Guyanese enlisted in the British armed forces, 20 travelled to the UK to serve as munitions workers in factories and 48 (one of whom was the pioneering author Edgar Mittelholzer) joined the Trinidad Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
Mittelholzer’s experiences as a naval rating are shrouded in mystery, but his comment that this period was “one of the blackest and most unpleasant interludes” of his life perhaps suggests that the involvement of colonial subjects in the 2nd World War was a complex and ambivalent one. For one, people of colour were not allowed within the TRNVR to rise above the position of naval rating no matter how intelligent or able. In a letter dated 5th July 1942 Mittelholzer describes his Lt. Commander as a ‘monstrous tyrant’, complains about the treatment of the ratings and of their/his wages, which were notoriously low. Below is an excerpt of Mittelholzer’s letter (courtesy of Michael Gilkes) to Captain Denison:
"No, I cannot tolerate this. Shortly after posting this, I shall give myself up for arrest and will come before you for trial. […] It is the price I must pay for having left my civilian comforts to come forward voluntarily and offer services to the Empire. In fact, I shall accept many more such sentences of imprisonment, for I absolutely refuse to give service under such a commanding officer as Lt. Commander Wilkinson, and no matter what suffering I may have to undergo in the future, I shall never be shaken in this resolve."
When informed by the Lt. Commander that he could not leave the navy so “long as he was wearing the King’s uniform”, Mittelholzer “stripped himself naked and walked off the ship”. He was discharged on medical grounds in August 1942, presumably as a result of this incident, and was for some time afterward, kept under naval surveillance.
Mittelholzer, it has to be said, has become a hero of mine. Full of integrity to his end.





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