In celebration of Anguilla Day, I have chosen to use a few excerpts from Anguilla’s Battle for Freedom 1967 – 1969 to remind all of us of the reason for this national celebration. This editorial is in remembrance of all our national heroes and heroines who have passed – and it pays homage to all those with whose presence we are still blessed. Though the events outlined are mainly those surrounding 30th May 1967, we must be mindful that the Anguilla Revolution did not begin and end on 30th May, and there were many more persons who contributed to the revolutionary effort than those mentioned in these excerpts.
“The spate of shootings – the nightly sound of gunfire – during the latter part of May 1967 was incontrovertible evidence that Anguilla was in a state of revolution. The Anguillian people had concluded that the time had come to relieve themselves of the political and economic stranglehold of St Kitts. They had concluded that the time had come to take the reins of power into their own hands and chart and fashion their own destiny. And Monday the 29th day of May 1967 was the day of decision. At a public meeting held at Burrowes Park that afternoon a crowd of some 300 people listened intently as Wallace Rey advocated the immediate expulsion of the St Kitts Police. Others in support of the proposed action included Collins O. Hodge, John Rogers (Bob), Atlin Harrigan and Ronald Webster. The crowd was in agreement with all the arguments put forward and there and then voted, by show of hands, in favour of expelling the Police from Anguilla the following day.
“Armed with this affirmative vote, Peter Adams, Ronald Webster and Atlin Harrigan led the crowd in procession from the park to the Police Station where Adams (Anguilla’s representative in the Legislative Council in St Kitts) gave notice to Acting Superintendent, Charles Edgings, the officer in charge, that the Police had to leave Anguilla by 10:00 am the following day (Tuesday 30th May).”
A series of incidents which followed included an attack on the business premises of Albert Lake, the guarding of the airport, the surrounding of the police station by a hostile crowd, the hijacking and search of a police van and the blocking of the airstrip to prevent LIAT from landing with police reinforcements.
“The atmosphere in the Police Station itself was extremely tense and several policemen were in fear of losing their lives. They had arms but they were vastly outnumbered. Some still clung to the hope that assistance from St Kitts would eventually reach them. This hope finally vanished when the Anguillians shut off the electricity generating set which supplied the building with power. Their communications equipment was now immobilised and all contact with St Kitts was lost.
“The time was 11:30 am when Ronald Webster advised Edgings that a plane was standing by at the airport to take some of his men to St Kitts… Cut off from St Kitts, and isolated, Edgings had little choice but to accept the offer…”
The St Kitts policemen left the island in batches piloted by Anguillians and friends of Anguilla. The revolutionaries took the opportunity to seize the arms and ammunition.
“The last semblance of authority of the St Kitts Government, in Anguilla, disappeared at 5:45 pm on Tuesday 30th May 1967 when Acting Superintendent Charles Edgings and Corporal Smithen left Wallblake Airport for St Kitts….The Anguillians had taken control of their own affairs.”
Later that evening, Premier Robert Bradshaw declared a state of emergency in the State of St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla and indicated that:
. . .We intend to use all our powers firstly, to re-establish law and order more firmly than ever in Anguilla; secondly, to bring the culprits to justice; and thirdly, to re-establish confidence there…Outside assistance is being actively organised and will be brought to bear with utmost speed.
“The leaders of the Anguilla Revolution also decided to act with utmost speed because the successful expulsion of the St Kitts policemen, and the departure of the Warden some weeks earlier, created a situation where the island was without any legal institutions. It was without government, so during the afternoon of Tuesday 30th May 1967 they established a Peacekeeping Committee, the first semblance of a political decision-making structure, for the purpose of managing the island’s affairs until democratic institutions emerged. The Committee of fifteen leading citizens comprised Walter Hodge (Chairman), Atlin Harrigan, Peter Adams, Alfred Webster, James Baird, John Rogers, Clifford Rogers, Ronald Webster, Wallace Rey, Camile Connor, Philip Lloyd, Charles Fleming, Wallace Richardson, Emile Gumbs and Mac Connor. Its immediate tasks were keeping the essential services running, maintaining law and order and defending the island against outside aggression (from St Kitts).
“According to Emile Gumbs, when the composition of the Committee was being discussed, at a meeting at the Community Centre, Wallace Rey remarked:
Now that we have finally got rid of the Police, Anguilla belongs to us. We are in control. All our worries are over.
“Rev. C. Leonard Carty, who was at the meeting, took a more cautious view of the situation when, in response to Rey’s comments, he observed:
It is a mistake to say that our worries are over. They may have only now begun because Anguilla is now our responsibility. We can no longer blame anybody else for anything that goes wrong.”
Reverend Carty’s words still ring true today. The pace and course of our development over the last forty six years are the result of actions taken and decisions made by us as a people. What happens to Anguilla over the next forty six years is still up to us. We ought not to play ‘victim” of circumstances in which we find ourselves as those circumstances were created by decisions we made at one time or another. “Anguilla is …our responsibility”. Bearing in mind the sacrifices made by the revolutionary heroes and heroines – for us to be able to utter these words – we ought to bear that responsibility proudly and confidently.
