Saturday 10th of June 1967, was a supposed to be celebrated as the Queen's Birthday. Friday 9th June was used as the Saturday to purchase groceries and other goods to celebrate the holiday. Dances were to be held at the Factory Social Centre and Green Korner.
Green Korner was also known as the Brass Castle. This building is now owned by Barker and Kelly and houses the Internet Business Place.
But Saturday 10th June was not to be celebrated as no holiday, for, in te wee hours of the day, or the fore-day morning as granny would call it, armed gangs of men from Anguilla, American and the People's Action Movement, launched an attack in an attempt to overthrow the lawfully elected government of Mr. Bradshaw which had won elections handsomely in 1966.
Prior to that, there was a rebellion in Anguilla which was aided and abetted by the People's Action Movement. Intelligence reports, reached Mr. Bradshaw who was Premier of St. Kitts at that time that persons from the People's Action Movement (PAM) were travelling to Anguilla to take shooting practice at a place called "Junk Hole". They were aided and abetted in this venture by a certain ex-police officer who lived in the Irish Town area.
Intelligence reports also revealed that there was an intended invasion on St. Kitts by some Anguillians aided and abetted by members of the People's Action Movement (PAM). All leave for Police Officers were cancelled. The Defence Force, a voluntary, military organization was called to Camp. The Police and the Defence Force personnel were in a state of high alertness.
There were to be betrayals manifesting themselves later on as the drama of the invasion unfold. The disloyalty, the betrayal, the collusion were to be heaped upon an unsuspecting people and the country.
In times like these, Providence still plays a helping hand, especially to leaders who rose out of the ranks of the ordinary folks to bring social justice to their people. These leaders do not cheat their people by filling their pockets with the people's monies. They do not thief the people's land. They do not strut up and down with their heads up in the air and look down at their people with disdain.
These leaders, Mr. Bradshaw, Mr. Southwell, Mr. France, were the saviours of the ordinary folks. They had to be blessed by the same God who sent His Son into the world to fight those same people who were oppressing the poor and the downtrodden of that day.
The circumstances which followed on that day, 10th June 1967, had to be a manifestation of Divine intervention. The Anguillians and American Mercenaries mistook Statia for St. Kitts. That mistake cost them valuable time which caused them to arrive in St. Kitts late.
The Anguillians were given the impression that the whole of St. Kitts were up in arms against Mr. Bradshaw and that they would find it very easy to capture Mr. Bradshaw, Mr. Southwell, Mr. France.
Mr. Bradshaw was to be dragged through the streets of Basseterre. If they survived, they were to be taken down the seas to Anguilla, where they would be tried and executed like ordinary criminals.
What amazes me most, I should say is that there are two things which amaze me and one of which I am so very thankful for, that one day I would meet the gentleman, extend my hand to him and thank him for being the coward that he is, because if he was a braver fellow, I would not be able to write this article today.
Circumstances (1) ' When the Anguillians and the American Mercenaries intended to blow up the Defence Force, there were certain Defence Force personnel who were supporters of the People's Action Movement. These fellows owe their lives to two things. (1), The Anguillian who was supposed to explode the dynamite to blow up the Defence Force, panicked.
The American Mercenaries, who planted the explosives, had to turn around and ignite the dynamite themselves. There is a very strong supporter of PAM who is very much alive today. When he reads this article, his conscience might prick him when he realizes that he could have been blown to the high heavens.
His Party and its plotters did not care that there were supporters who were at the Camp. They were prepared to kill, destroy, and maim any one and anything in order to achieve their political ends.
The other thing was that, during a State of Emergency, the Officer in Charge of the Defence Force Camp, locked away the Armoury and went to his home, when he should have been there at the Camp to direct things. He was fully aware that there was going to be an invasion.
Intelligence gathering revealed this to be true, but the Commander of the Defence Force chose to go to his home during that time. Wasn't this an act of treason? When the Defence Force was attacked, the plan was that there would be no resistance from the men, because they would have been totally disarmed. But, thanks to Lanval Clarke and Alabama Archibald, one rifle and some ammunition were not handed in, and this saved the lives of many men, including those who supported PAM then and who continued to support them when it was all over.
The other circumstance which amazes me is that people of the New Town area continue to support PAM. On Ponds Pasture, the Shell Oil Depot is situated there. This is where the gasoline for our vehicles, the fuel for planes, the lubricating oils and the Kerosene Oils are stored. These were to be blown up, but the PAM fellow, who was later to become a leader in PAM, panicked and could not carry through on his assignment.
I owe him a debt of gratitude, for I would have been blown up. I was living on Sheppard Street at the time. I wonder how some people got to sleep at nights when the wheel of this event unwinds itself? I wonder if they do sit, drive, walk, lie down in their beds and talk to themselves? Both PAM and Labour supporters would have been burnt alive. This would have made 9/11 look like a Sunday School picnic.
There are some sceptics who question whether or not this 1967 attempted overthrow by PAM really happened. There is a Scrapbook by Ronald Webster who was the Chief Minister of Anguilla just after 1967. In his scrapbook, he gave certain details which reveal the happenings leading up to the invasion.
There are two other Anguillians who wrote booklets on the invasion. In 1980, just after PAM formed the coalition government with NRP from Nevis, Dr. Simmonds, Dr, Herbert and other big wings from the government and the party were invited down to Anguilla to celebrate "Anguilla Day".
Ronald Webster gave a graphic account of what took place in St. Kitts in 1967, right in front of Dr. Simmonds. He did not get up to dispute what Webster said and, on his return from Anguilla, he did not utter any statement, condemning what Mr. Webster said in Anguilla. He did not disassociate his party from what Mr. Webster said. If he had any doubts before then, they were made to disappear " to take wings.
PAM was associated with the terrorist act of attempting to overthrow a lawfully elected government, which was elected through lawful means and which won all of the seats in 1966.
A lot of PAM supporters called Mr. Bradshaw a dictator. If he was, the Commander of the Defence Force would have been tried for Treason. What he did in locking down the armoury was tantamount to a betrayal of the government and people of the day.
Could you imagine a country is in a State of Emergency and the Officer in Chare of the Armoury gone home with the keys? When the Defence Force came under attack and he was telephoned about events, his reply was "Send a vehicle for me." Mind you, the Defence Force was under attack, but they must send a vehicle for him when the man had a car of his own.
Any loyal Commander, upon hearing this, would have jumped in his car and run to the assistance of his men, but, not this Commander.
There are persons in high places, who, one day would come forward and confess to their involvement in this terrorist act. Imagine a country under a State of Emergency, but its Police Officers, commanded "not to shoot" even if they are attacked? What kind of command was that? Were the Police just to stand up and be shot down or were they to just lay down their arms and allow the Mercenaries to take over the Police Station and its weapons?
I am dumbfounded and confounded by all these events, because they really present, disloyalty, treason, sell out. How could a Police Force be given instructions not to shoot at an invading force of Mercenaries? (To be continued).
