Role: Soldier, Firefighter and Community Leader
George Arthur Roberts was a Trinidadian soldier, firefighter and community leader in Great Britain. When World War I began, Roberts enlisted in the Trinidad Army and then signed up to the European Service and worked his way from Trinidad to England, where he was placed in the Middlesex Regiment. As a rifleman he fought in the battles of Loos, the Somme and in the Dardanelles. He was wounded first at the Battle of Loos, and then in the Battle of the Somme.
According to the wartime magazine Every Week, he distinguished himself by his “extraordinary” ability to throw bombs back into enemy lines, as he did with coconuts as a child, and became known as the “Coconut Bomber”. The magazine also reported that he was given special leave to return to Trinidad to recruit more volunteers and was able to sign up more than 250 men with his “vigorous speeches”.
When the World War II broke out he was too old for combat. Instead he enlisted in the Home Front, saving countless lives in Southwark as a firefighter during the Blitz, having completed his training with the fire service in 1939.
In 1943, Roberts was made a section leader and in the King’s 1944 Birthday Honours he was awarded the British Empire Medal “for general duties at New Cross Fire Station” and for his part as a founder and pioneer of the Discussion and Education groups of the fire service throughout the World War II.
