One of our museum volunteers has visited the graves of two soldiers who served with the regiment in the mid-nineteenth century.
Whilst on holiday on the Greek island of Kefalonia, Paul Goad went to the British cemetery in Argostoli, where John Anderson and Thomas Havery are buried.
The 19th Regiment of Foot, as the Green Howards were known at the time, were based in Greece for three years.
They arrived on the Ionian Islands from Malta in January 1843, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Craufurd Hay.
At first they were based in Corfu, before the headquarters and three companies moved to their new base in Argostoli, on the island of Kefalonia.
Map of the British Protectorate c1850.
Thomas Haverty’s grave, Argostoli, Kefalonia.
After the fall of Napoleon, the Ionian Islands became a Protectorate of the British Crown.
The protectorate lasted from 1815 to 1864. The political situation on the islands was extremely unstable.
Some groups took a pro-British stance, while others sided with the Greek Nationalists who rebelled against the Ottoman Empire to found an independent Greek state.
Due to the level of unrest the presence of the British Army was essential to maintain British governance.
Other than the information detailed on their gravestones, nothing else is known about the two men.
Thomas Haverty died, aged 33, on 21 May 1843. The text tells us he joined the army aged 14.
“This stone is erected by the serjeants of the regiment as a a token of their esteem for one who after a period of nineteen years zealously discharged his duty to his country of which he was a non commissioned officer.”
The grave of John Anderson, British Cemetery, Argostoli, Kefalonia.
John Anderson served in the Light Company of the regiment. He died on 11 December 1843, aged 30.
“This stone was erected by the non commissioned officers and men of his company as a small tribute of respect to their deceased comrade.”
The 19th Foot left the Ionian Islands, still under Hay’s Command, on the 5th December 1845 to sail to the West Indies.