Anguilla will be celebrating Heroes and Heroines Day on Monday, December 19. The national holiday was formerly known as Separation Day in recognition of the formal separation of Anguilla from the former Associated State of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla.
Although it took thirteen years for the United Kingdom Government to grant separation to Anguilla, following the island’s 1967 Revolution, it took only a few days for the Anguilla Bill 1980 to move through both Houses of Parliament and passed.
Anguilla began celebrating its constitutional separation from the rest of the state in January 1981. Later on, the Government of Anguilla restyled the holiday Heroes and Heroines Day. It is intended to honour the involvement and contribution made by many Anguillians who were freedom fighters and foot soldiers in the Anguilla Revolution.
This year the holiday will take on a new significance as the people of Anguilla will be paying tribute to Revolutionary Leader, first Chief Minister and Father of the Nation, the late Mr. James Ronald Webster. The Leader of the Revolution died on December 9, 2016, at the age of 90 years plus. A singspiration will be held in his honour on Heroes and Heroines Day at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church where Mr. Webster worshipped. His family is inviting the general public to participate in the event.
The Father of the Nation will be accorded a State Funeral by the Government of Anguilla early in January 2017.
