In addition to the US Navy NAVFAC Barbados at Harrison’s Point, St. Lucy which was operational from 1957 to 1979 there was another hush, hush and “covert” NAVFAC cold-war submarine tracking facility located in Barbados from 1954 to 1985/87. It was located within the workshop of Dr. Harry Bayley’s bay-house at Andromeda in St. Joseph. …
Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong closed on 6th July 1998. Landing at Kai Tak was a one-of-a-kind experience for pilots and passengers alike. It was breath-taking. With mountains on the port [left hand] side as you flew through a very distinct urban corridor of medium rise buildings bound by high rise buildings on either side, …
Kai Tak airport, Hong Kong – the Bajan connection Read More »
The old US Navy Facility – Barbados at Harrison’s Point, St. Lucy on the North West coast of Barbados is back in the news. In the 1950 and 1960s this US Naval Facility in Barbados was a very important shore based soviet submarine listening station. It had many names: US Navy Facility – Barbados, NAVFAC …
Bajan Alan Emtage in 1989, aged 25, invented the first internet (ftp) search engine – Archie (Archive without the v). At the time he was a post graduate student at McGill University working as a volunteer systems administrator for the School of Computer Science where he conceived and implemented: Archie, a pre-web internet search engine …
The Small World was a silver and black hydrogen filled balloon captained by Arnold “Bushy” Eiloart, whose quest was to be the first balloon to complete a transatlantic voyage from Tenerife to the east coast of the United States. The Small World balloon had the registration G-APOB. The gondola had the registration The Small World …
In 1915 Britain’s War Office, which had initially opposed recruitment of West Indian troops, agreed to accept volunteers from the West Indies. A new regiment was formed, the British West Indies Regiment (BWIR), which served in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “They called us darkies. But when the battle starts, it didn’t make a …
George Blackman BWIR – There were no parades for us Read More »
Errol Barrow was Andrew Cole’s navigator while he was in the RAF, firstly with 88 Squadron during World War II and for two years post-war they both flew with the BAFO Communications Squadron, assigned to Commander-in-Chief and Military Governor of the British Occupation Zone in Germany, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir William Sholto …
The Beautiful Blonde in the Bank – F/L Andrew Leslie Cole AFC RAF Read More »
The McGill University High Altitude Research Project (HARP) space gun project commenced in Barbados in 1962 under the direction of Canadian ballistics scientist Dr. Gerald Bull in his quest to economically launch a satellite into space using a huge artillery piece. The project was abruptly abandoned in 1967. It’s unlikely we will ever know the …
Observation Mission – Firing HARP:
Monday 17th June 1963 Read More »
