During the Second World War, both places became part of defence network designed to safeguard the USA. It all began on 2 September 1940, when Washington signed the ‘Destroyers for Bases Agreement’, under which it would provide Britain with fifty WWI-vintage destroyers in return for a foothold in her colonies. Amongst the bases to be built were two in British Guiana, and several in Labrador and Newfoundland (including Argentia).
Both British Guiana and Labrador saw huge numbers of Americans, up until then a rare sight. Huge numbers of airmen and sailors arrived in Georgetown, and here on the Essequibo (see photo) where a naval base was established. Meanwhile, at its height, there were over 25,000 Americans in Newfoundland, amongst them Johnny Weissmuller, Steve Lawrence and John F Kennedy.
Both colonies had to be defended against possible invasion. In British Guiana, there was therefore much talk of U-boats, and so the Americans brought in an airship and bobbed up and down the coast, peering into the sea. They were right to be worried. Over the course of the war, more than 400 ships were sunk in the Caribbean alone. Meanwhile, U-boats actually got into Newfoundland waters, and attacked an iron ore facility.
In both places, the Americans built huge bases. In British Guiana, in June 1941, Atkinson Field (formerly ‘Hyde Park’) was scraped of jungle, and planted with an airbase. South America had never seen anything like it. From here, vast quantities of military materiel were relayed to West Africa and then onward to the war. A colony famous for its sugar and rum was suddenly sprouting aeroplanes and guns.
Meanwhile, in Labrador, the US built the biggest airports in the world and Newfoundland the island into a fortress. Over 25,000 planes would pass through Goose Bay alone, and 10,000 ships through ‘Newfie John’. It didn’t matter that Newfoundlanders had never been consulted, that there was no democracy, or that what was being defended was not Newfoundland but America. If there was ever an attack, they say, the port of St John’s was to be flooded with burning oil, and the city set ablaze.