The Government and people of Anguilla have shown their thanks and appreciation to the late George Vernon Flemming by according him a National Funeral.
At the time of the 1967-1969 Anguilla Revolution, Mr. Flemming was a member of the Anguillian Diaspora residing and working in St. Kitts, the administrative seat of the Central Government to which Anguilla was subjected. He openly and fearlessly campaigned for the formal separation of Anguilla from its political and constitutional ties with St. Kitts-Nevis.
It was a political struggle for separation that Anguillians fought for since the unpopular union of Anguilla with St. Kitts in 1825. It continued and gained momentum in 1967 when the island became part of an Associated State with Britain, but with responsibility for internal affairs squarely placed in the hands of the despised St. Kitts Labour Party Government. Accusing that Central Government of neglect and ill will, for almost a century and a half, the Anguillians finally rebelled in 1967 and took over the running of their island’s own affairs.
It was during that period of modern Anguillian history when the late Mr. Flemming was among a number of Anguillians, at home and abroad, who championed the island’s cause for separation. A prolific newspaper writer, he gave strong support to Anguilla’s quest for separation and self-determination. In order to gain more mileage and influence, he aligned himself with the then Opposition Peoples’ Action Movement (which later became the St. Kitts Government) and appeared on its political platforms calling for the separation of Anguilla. As a result of his political alignment and defence of Anguilla, he was imprisoned, and when set free by the court, he was immediately jailed again, later released by the court, but was never charged.
When the Peoples’ Action Movement eventually became the Government of St. Kitts, Mr. Flemming, a Lieutenant in the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force, served as the ADC of Prime Minister Dr. Kennedy Simmonds, who did not oppose the formal separation of Anguilla from St. Kitts-Nevis in 1980 by the British Government.
Mr. Flemming eventually returned to Anguilla where he settled down and, among other national activities, established the Anguilla Cadet Corps, a paramilitary organisation promoting discipline, self-development and patriotism among secondary school students and other youngsters.
He passed away on November 20, 2020, at the age of 81 and was accorded a National Funeral by the Government of Anguilla on December 19. During the funeral service, at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, conducted by the Rt. Rev. Errol Brooks and Rev. Fr. Raliville Christian, Mr. Flemming was posthumously honoured by the Government. The Anguilla Badge of Honour and Queen Certificate were presented to his daughter, Jackie Fleming, by Premier Dr. Ellis Webster.
Just before the presentation, Premier Webster described Mr. Flemming as having been a patriotic Anguillian who contributed to the cause of Anguilla while living in St. Kitts – and spoke about the ridicule, threats and unjust imprisonment he suffered there. He said that as a result of his contribution to Anguilla, the Executive Council had decided to accord him a National Funeral including the flying of flags at half-mast and the bearing of his body to and from the church.
Leader of the Opposition, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, also spoke about Mr. Flemming’s patriotic commitment to his homeland while in St. Kitts and of his work with the Anguilla Cadet Corps when he returned to Anguilla.
The Funeral Brochure also contained a tribute from the Rt. Excellent and Rt. Honourable Sir Kennedy Simmonds, the former Prime Minister of St. Kitts – Nevis. Among other statements, he said Mr. Flemming’s name was indelibly recorded in the history of St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla. Mr. Jonel Powell, the Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture, in St. Kitts-Nevis, also paid glowing tribute in the brochure to the Anguillian freedom fighter.
The tribute section of the National Funeral was conducted by Mr. Flemming’s friend, Anguillian businessman, Mr. Quincy Gumbs.
Following the funeral service, called “A Celebration of the Life of George Vernon Flemming”, the funeral procession, led by the Royal Anguilla Police Force, the Police Community Band and the Anguilla Cadet Corps, wended its way to the Sandy Hill Cemetery. There, a Police Firing Party discharged three rounds of gunfire; and the National Flag was presented to Mr. Flemming’s son, Roy, an aircraft pilot.
Mr. Flemming’s remains were interred into a vault constructed at his request in the shade of a towering “pomserrette” tree, one of Anguilla’s best known traditional berry-growing trees.
– Contributed
