West Indies is a general term for the islands in the Caribbean, many of which were British colonies. This included Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, British Guiana (Guyana), British Honduras (Belize), Grenada, the Bahamas, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Leeward Islands. During the First World War the West Indies contributed about 15,000 troops for active service overseas. about two-thirds of these were from Jamaica.