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diplomatic relationship alive. The result was a tentative agreement in early
June that he and Deputy Premier Paul Southwell would meet for general talks on
the neutral island of St. Martin . But when the Lieutenant Governor of Dutch
St. Martin thought it over, he withdrew permission for the meeting. St. Martin is half French and half Dutch, and the
Governor saw no reason to be dragged into a squabble between two islands
belonging to the British.
The
next event took place on June 6, and at first it didn't seem to have anything
to do with the Anguillan rebellion at all. Bradshaw's Government emptied its
main prison facilities on Cayon Street in Basseterre , shifting the prisoners to other locations
and even sending some of them over to Nevis .
For the first time in well over a hundred years, the cells of the Cayon Street prison were all empty. It seemed an odd
thing to do, without much point or meaning.
But
then came the night of June 9. As The New York Times reported under the
headline " Rebels on St. Kitts Attack the Police":
Gunmen
attacked police headquarters here before dawn today with small-arms fire 11
days after Premier Robert Bradshaw's Government had proclaimed a state of
emergency. Policemen and members of the volunteer defense force rushed to guard
government offices and installations. Police chief John Lynch-Wade reported that
one defense force member had been wounded and at least two men had been
detained.
By
the time the dust settled, many more than two men had been detained. On the
morning after the attack, the Bradshaw Government arrested all the leaders of
PAM, including Billy Herbert. In addition, two Britons were also arrested:
James Milnes Gaskell, the young owner of the Montpelier Hotel over in Nevis , who had served as entree for Billy Herbert
to the Conservative Party in England , and Miss Diana Prior-Palmer, then a guest
at another Nevisian hotel.
Milnes
Gaskell had come over the previous night from Nevis and was planning to take a morning flight
from St. Kitts to return to his home in England . A journalist at the hotel, a Reuters man
named Ronald Batchelor, told Milnes Gaskell there had been trouble the night
before and suggested that Milnes Gaskell could expect to be detained, since he
was known to be a friend of Billy Herbert's and the rest of the PAM leadership.
Milnes Gaskell thought not; at the worst, he expected to be deported, which he
didn't mind since he'd been planning to leave anyway.
Two
Kittitian lawyer friends of Milnes Gaskell's accompanied him to the airport;
one of these was named Robert Mc-Kenzie Crawford and he has a further role to
play a little later.
St.
Kitts is serviced by Leeward Island Air Transport, generally known as LIAT, and
the LIAT personnel at the airport knew Milnes Gaskell since he was a frequent
traveler in and out of the island. This morning they looked at him oddly when
he arrived, and the clerk on duty told him, "You can't travel today."
"Why
not?"
The
clerk, a friendly and peaceable man, was embarrassed but adamant. "I can't
say. You just can't travel today."
Outside,
Milnes Gaskell saw a plane landing. He said to the clerk, "You mean to
tell me, if I went out there and got on that plane, you'd stop me?"
"No,"
said the clerk.
However,
there was a police corporal standing guard at the outer door, and more police
were anticipated momentarily; so, rather than make a mad dash for the plane on
the runway, Milnes Gaskell walked instead to a telephone, called Ronald
Batchelor at the hotel, and said, "It looks as though I'm to be
arrested."
"Fine,"
Batchelor said, "I'll just add your name to this list here that I'm about
to send out."
At
that point a Land Rover arrived at the airport, full of police, led by one
Sergeant Edgings. This was the same Acting Assistant Superintendent Edgings whom we last met at the
airport on Anguilla , when he was being sent away. Now, back to
his permanent rank of Sergeant, he had come out to Golden Rock Airport to apprehend
diplomatic relationship alive. The result was a tentative agreement in early
June that he and Deputy Premier Paul Southwell would meet for general talks on
the neutral island of St. Martin . But when the Lieutenant Governor of Dutch
St. Martin thought it over, he withdrew permission for the meeting. St. Martin is half French and half Dutch, and the
Governor saw no reason to be dragged into a squabble between two islands
belonging to the British.
The
next event took place on June 6, and at first it didn't seem to have anything
to do with the Anguillan rebellion at all. Bradshaw's Government emptied its
main prison facilities on Cayon Street in Basseterre , shifting the prisoners to other locations
and even sending some of them over to Nevis .
For the first time in well over a hundred years, the cells of the Cayon Street prison were all empty. It seemed an odd
thing to do, without much point or meaning.
But
then came the night of June 9. As The New York Times reported under the
headline " Rebels on St. Kitts Attack the Police":
Gunmen
attacked police headquarters here before dawn today with small-arms fire 11
days after Premier Robert Bradshaw's Government had proclaimed a state of
emergency. Policemen and members of the volunteer defense force rushed to guard
government offices and installations. Police chief John Lynch-Wade reported that
one defense force member had been wounded and at least two men had been
detained.
By
the time the dust settled, many more than two men had been detained. On the
morning after the attack, the Bradshaw Government arrested all the leaders of
PAM, including Billy Herbert. In addition, two Britons were also arrested:
James Milnes Gaskell, the young owner of the Montpelier Hotel over in Nevis , who had served as entree for Billy Herbert
to the Conservative Party in England , and Miss Diana Prior-Palmer, then a guest
at another Nevisian hotel.
Milnes
Gaskell had come over the previous night from Nevis and was planning to take a morning flight
from St. Kitts to return to his home in England . A journalist at the hotel, a Reuters man
named Ronald Batchelor, told Milnes Gaskell there had been trouble the night
before and suggested that Milnes Gaskell could expect to be detained, since he
was known to be a friend of Billy Herbert's and the rest of the PAM leadership.
Milnes Gaskell thought not; at the worst, he expected to be deported, which he
didn't mind since he'd been planning to leave anyway.
Two
Kittitian lawyer friends of Milnes Gaskell's accompanied him to the airport;
one of these was named Robert Mc-Kenzie Crawford and he has a further role to
play a little later.
St.
Kitts is serviced by Leeward Island Air Transport, generally known as LIAT, and
the LIAT personnel at the airport knew Milnes Gaskell since he was a frequent
traveler in and out of the island. This morning they looked at him oddly when
he arrived, and the clerk on duty told him, "You can't travel today."
"Why
not?"
The
clerk, a friendly and peaceable man, was embarrassed but adamant. "I can't
say. You just can't travel today."
Outside,
Milnes Gaskell saw a plane landing. He said to the clerk, "You mean to
tell me, if I went out there and got on that plane, you'd stop me?"
"No,"
said the clerk.
However,
there was a police corporal standing guard at the outer door, and more police
were anticipated momentarily; so, rather than make a mad dash for the plane on
the runway, Milnes Gaskell walked instead to a telephone, called Ronald
Batchelor at the hotel, and said, "It looks as though I'm to be
arrested."
"Fine,"
Batchelor said, "I'll just add your name to this list here that I'm about
to send out."
At
that point a Land Rover arrived at the airport, full of police, led by one
Sergeant Edgings. This was the same Acting Assistant Superintendent Edgings whom we last met at the
airport on Anguilla , when he was being sent away. Now, back to
his permanent rank of Sergeant, he had come out to Golden Rock Airport to apprehend
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