On the threshold of the 47th anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution we are left to wonder if it was all worth it. Many risks and sacrifices were made to get from the start of the revolution in 1967 to where we are in 2014. I would like to share a perspective of that journey through the eyes of a child of only 10 years of age to that of a man 47 years later.
The Anguilla revolution was all about the resolve of a people for a better life. The oppressive regime of the central Government of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla did not provide much hope for the development of Anguilla and its people. When the decision for statehood was announced that would have resulted in full internal self-government in the tri-island-state of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla headquartered in St. Kitts, the people of Anguilla thought that it was time to pursue a life away from St. Kitts. I recall having to learn the statehood national anthem in school while being forbidden from singing it or reciting it at home. A number of my classmates and I were lashed in school for not wanting to learn the words of the national anthem. That all changed on 30th May 1967 when a group of Anguillians under the brave and courageous leadership of Mr. James Ronald Webster seized the police station and had all of the police who were part of the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla police force thrown off island and sent back to St. Kitts.
While sitting in my class in 5th grade at the Valley Boys School (the old wooden structure south of St. Mary’s Anglican Church) on the morning of 30th May 1967, two men drove up to the school and shouted from the entrance door, “Everybody got to go home now, we going to have trouble in Anguilla today”. With my father Mr. Collins O. Hodge being one of the leaders of the Anguilla Revolution, I was privy to some of what was going on. Politics was the main talk in our house as people were always coming by to talk and strategize so I knew that tension was building. I recall running home and going in the bush behind our house and sitting on a huge rock next a loblolly tree all alone and thinking about how my life was going to be messed up and uncertain. Around the same time the Vietnam War was going on and there were almost daily reports on BBC news about the conflict. As a family we all sat around our transistor radio at news time to listen to the happenings around the world. As a child I thought that we were going to have a war in Anguilla as well.
Later the same afternoon of 30th May, I accompanied my father and some of his employees to the police station which was then under the control of the leaders of the revolution. We were there with a whole pile of young men all willing and ready to fight and die if needs be for a better way of life for the people of their beloved Anguilla. There was much tension and anxiety as the sun was going down. Darkness amplified our fear and uncertainty as the entire islands plunged into total darkness since there was no electricity on the island at all except for a few people with little private generators.
The revolution was now on the way. As a child I did not know much of what went on all day with the leaders as I was now back in school. What I knew was that at night men were walking around with guns. Some with revolvers (small handguns) and some with rifles (long shotguns). Based on what my father said, “They were guarding the beaches and monitoring the movement and activities of the “Bradshaws” (the people who were perceived to be opposed to the revolution and sympathetic to Bradshaw’s regime). During this tense period, gunshots were sometimes fired at night. Occasionally, these shots were fired into people’s homes. This activity caused us to change our sleeping location during the night. Before the revolution started, we lived in my grandfather’s old wooden house which was located to the south of where the Anguilla Printers is presently located. The building currently housing the Anguilla Printers was our family home that was under construction and near completion at the time. So under the cover of darkness, my parents and all ten children (ranging in age from 1 year old – 14 years old) would crawl across to the family house to sleep. In one small room, all 12 of us would sleep on the floor on old clothes and sugar bags (these were very large brown bags in which bulk brown sugar was transported/packaged). For protection, we were also surrounded by big sugar bags filled with sand acting as shields to stop any potential bullets from penetrating the walls and hitting us on the floor. This was our regular routine for some time.
These were very tense times in Anguilla. I recall two very stressful incidents which caused me much anxiety. One late evening, our dogs were balking aggressively indicating that something unusual was going on outside. My father, armed with a revolver went to the door. He shouted, “Who is it? Who is it?” There was no answer. He had his gun drawn and ready to fire, with most of his family nervously standing around him. Suddenly, a flashlight flicked on and revealed the person. It was Dr. Felix Spector (an American doctor who was working here at the time). Dr. Spector was a good family friend who would normally visit during the day. Poor doctor, he was so busy defending himself from the dogs, he could not talk or turn on his light. He could have quite easily been shot or even killed. Needless to say he was then warmly welcomed into our home. My father just sat on the revolver and the good doctor did not even see it. Another incident that brought me very anxious moments was one Sunday afternoon there were reports that armed men had come ashore and were in the bushes in the Northside/Brimigen area. Anguilla’s daring militant young heroes mobilized. I recall “Slim Horsford” driving an open jeep with a number of young men armed with rifles pointing out from both sides of the jeep speeding though the roads in my neighborhood and in the Valley Bottom. Meanwhile, Captain Clayton Lloyd was summons to fly very very low over the suspected area looking for these foreign invaders. As word spread about the possible invading force, the entire island became very tense that night as no one knew where these people were, who these people were, if there really were people and what would happen overnight. For days after, people closed their homes and secured their property before it got dark and stayed indoors. As days passed, there were doubts as to whether or not the story was ever true.
The tension went on for some time as our leaders focused on running our island and finding a diplomatic and political solution and keeping the island functioning as best they could. I recall a number of visits from British officials around that time trying to resolve the Anguilla “revolt” and address some of the grievances. It all fell apart when on the morning of 19th March 1969 we were awakened around 5:00 am by the sound of helicopters flying overhead. This was surreal, it gave a feeling of what one might imagine at the second coming of Jesus Christ; what was done was done. It was now judgment day. I witnessed one of the most painful and saddest events in my life that morning. My 41 year old father at the time, in a very nervous and emotional voice rushed into the room where my mother was in bed with the eleventh child (Colin or Dundun) who was then 6 days away from his first birthday and said, “Lenora, I am gone; I don’t know if I am going to see you again”. Even today when I repeat those words they bring tears to my eyes and my skin goes cold. It was very real at the time. As one of the leaders of the Anguilla Revolution, he had every reason to have been stressed and scared. The events of the 19th March 1969 are etched in my mind for ever. After my father left home running with a revolver and extra supply of bullets, I walked to the “mahogany tree” (the traffic light junction my FCIB). When I got there, there was so much activity. There were British army soldiers on all corners of the block with big heavy guns with chains of ammunition looking really mean. There were soldiers with big communication devices on their backs with tall antennae sticking up. These soldiers of course were all dressed in military fatigue. They were poised and ready to respond to any aggressive movement from anyone. There were some soldiers stopping cars and searching them. I was there when Paterson Hunte rode down on his motorcycle when it backfired making a sound like a shot. The soldiers all got really tense and ready to respond. While this was happening, there was action going on elsewhere but Anguillians were all quite passive and just looking on even though there were some statements made by local people in relation to our quest for freedom and a better way of life for all Anguillians.
I walked from the Mahogany tree to the airport to witness what was going on there as I saw objects being parachuted from the planes in the vicinity of the airport. When I got to the airport, I saw vehicles and other supplies being parachuted on the open field now known as Freedom Park and on the land currently being used for agriculture and in the vicinity of ABC supplies. I was overwhelmed, there was just so much going on. In addition to the vehicles and supplies being parachuted, they were also dropping papers explaining the reason for the invasion. It was awesome stuff going on. It was either later that day or the next day that the big Andover twin engine planes and the four engine Hercules planes started to land on the airstrip that was all grass and dirt. These planes brought in vehicles, food and personnel etc. It was quite an experience to be there when the planes were leaving; especially the four engine planes. There was so much dirt and pebbles being airborne from the thrust of the engines of the planes that a person could not see their own hand in front of their face. This happened until the planes got to the end of the runway and turned around. People just scrambled for cover when this was happening. What I experienced on the 19th March 1969 forced me to broadened my shoulders and grow up quickly.
After that morning experience, I went home and briefed my family about what was going on. My father was then back at home nervous and shaking. The first time I ever saw my father standing up and peed on the ground without being discrete. I was hurting for him. After fully informing them, I ate and went back on the road. It was now in the afternoon. I was there to witness Mr. James Ronald Webster being carried above the crowd passed from hand to hand and taken into the Valley Secondary School (now the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School) to meet with British officials. There was a mob on the outside affirming their support for Mr. Webster and his leadership of the revolution. Oh! it was tense and I was right there looking on and observing all of it. By the end of that session, Mr. Webster came out to a loud cheering crowd. The British officials were now in for the long haul as it was not a handful of thugs but a very large number of people who wanted a better life and the right to pursue their own goals, dreams and aspiration in a democracy as a dependent territory of Britain.
The period between 19th March 1969 and 19th December 1980 was a testing period as Britain was still trying to see how they could get us to reconcile our differences with St. Kitts. However, the people of Anguilla was resolute in that there was no going back to be part of the tri-island state of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. The administering power was left with no choice but to formally separate Anguilla from that union and work with our local democratically elected Government. Finally, on 19th December 1980 that formal separation came. However, during the period of 1969 – 1980, some much needed infrastructure was established. Britain financed (some of the work was done using the labour of British engineers) some schools, surfaced the airport runway, built the big wharf in Sandy Ground, and oversaw major road construction. The British also assisted with the development and introduction of electricity grid network and fixed line telecommunications network with international access (a very basic national telecommunications network with a few lines existed before 1969 but was destroyed in a Hurricane).
Now, through the eyes of an adult some years later; the period between 19th December 1980 to the present is the period that all of us as Anguillians must take full responsibility for. This is the period where as a nation we seem to have lost our focus and our resolve to pursue a better life for ourselves and future generations of Anguillians. Where did we go wrong? The same basic things which brought about the revolution in 1967 are the same basic things that we are without today. We still don’t have reliable running water and electricity. Water and electricity rates are very high. Some of our roads are in a serious state of disrepair. Health services are unacceptable and we have high taxes without proper representation. We have embarked on tourism as the main pillar for our economic development and yet today we still don’t have the basic infrastructure that is central to tourism development such as an international jet airport to accommodate flights coming out of major markets in Europe, Canada, USA, and South America; a deep water harbour to accommodate cruise ships and a mariners to attract marine based tourist and developed natural tourist attractions. There is much talk and yes, talk about diversifying into other areas of development but to date not much is happening.
A new vision which seeks to unify our people and develop a sustainable economy is desperately needed. Our people need hope for the future. Our youth need a good opportunity at realizing the Anguilla dream. A dream where they can someday own a house, own a car, have a family, raise children and be able to afford to educate them. The late Mr. Robert Bradshaw once said that Anguillians don’t know what they want. Is he right? Our leaders of the revolution are all disappointed with where we find ourselves today. Mr. Bradshaw must be laughing in his grave and our revolutionary leaders who have passed on must be crying in their graves over the state Anguilla finds itself in today. The leaders of the Anguilla Revolution were ready to sacrifice all including their lives in the pursuit of a better life for all of the people of this island. The pursuit of our forefathers must be our focus and resolve customized for our time.
So as we celebrate the 47th anniversary of Anguilla Day Revolution let us commit to pick up that dream and vision of our forefathers and deliver their pursuits for a better new Anguilla they set out to build for all of us.
Finally and most importantly as we celebrate the 47th anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution, I salute the leader of the Anguilla Revolution, my hero, Mr. James Ronald Webster. When the stakes were high and your life was on the line you bravely and courageously held the mantle of leadership. To the other members of that leadership team we love you and will long remember you, this includes my father who was and still is my inspiration. To all people of this island who were ready for fight to the death for the Anguilla “cause”, I salute you. To the people of Anguilla at home and abroad who supported the struggle, I salute you. May the dream and spirit of the Anguilla Revolution live on.
May God bless us all and may God bless Anguilla.
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
