I.                    Trinidad in the Fifties

There are many things that influence an eleven year old student entering secondary school which help to shape the experience with which he leaves upon graduation. In January 1954 when I entered Naps, World War II had ended 9 years ago. The Americans who by the Destroyers for Bases Agreement September 1940 with the British, had been granted 99 year leases for areas in Trinidad, Chaguaramas, Wallerfield, Carlsen Field, Green Hill in Cedros, and Manzanilla Bay, had withdrawn  to only Chaguaramas, from where their popular armed forces radio WVDI could be heard faintly throughout the island.

 

   Band Playing at the Beach for American Soldiers in Wartime Trinidad

 

The hectic German U-boat activity around the Caribbean and Trinidad made Trinidad the hub of Allied Air headquarters for South America. At Tembladora, Trinidad was the transshipment point for bauxite (alumina) and at Pointe-a-Pierre, (where my dad worked), was the largest oil refinery in the British Empire. Both bauxite and oil were requisite for the Allied Forces. During WWII Wallerfield became the largest airfield in the world and at its height saw planes landing at the rate of one every three minutes. So busy did Wallerfield become that the U-boat mission had to be moved to Carlsen field in Couva. Many sightings of Germans were reported in various coastal areas of Trinidad by older rustics who had no idea they were any different from the white colonials who ran the country. They reportedly bought provisions at good prices which made them popular with country folk. Their nemesis Americans were everywhere; barrelling down country roads on patrol; hailing kids out of airships (Zeppelins) while dropping gum and candy to them. By 1954 the Americans in Trinidad were mainly a memory in the WWII calypso Rum and Coca Cola which confirmed the rest and recreational function of Manzanilla beach where injured and “de-mobbed” soldiers were sent before their return to the U.S.A.

Workin' for the Yankee dollar
Out on Manzanilla Beach
G.I. romance with native peach
All night long, make tropic love
Next day, sit in hot sun and cool off.

Much of this information disappeared from the Trinidadian memory because WWII was conducted with minimum information sharing with the natives since Britain was their master and communication between the British and Americans was considered sufficient. Additionally with America downsizing its presence in Trinidad, contractors denuded the bases of saleable material and only the runways remained as witness to this history.