BEFORE the die was cast on 3 September 1939, the value of Bermuda to a British and American war effort had been recognised, as was the inability of the Crown, over-extended in the defence of its empire, to assure the protection of Bermuda, and the mantle passed to the American Forces.

An army travels with its camp and with the followers thereof. In the good old days of, say, the Roman Empire, you could bring all types of followers, including the wife or girl friend, the house cat and of course your favorite dogs. Nowadays, the two-legged followers are not allowed, but mascots, especially dogs, often creep into the encampment. The tradition of army pets takes its ultimate form in the blindfolded billy goat that leads the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. With a heavily embroidered coat-of-arms over his back, this head goat may be the last of a tradition of centuries. That tradition also took place in Bermuda during World War Two at a place then known as Turtle Hill, but now only generally recognized as the Southampton Princess by locals, leaving off any additional ownership titles.

Turtle Hill was a fair mount in Southampton on lands once owned by Sir Nathaniel Rich, one of the original directors and shareholders of the Bermuda Company, from 1615 until his death in 1636. Sir Nathaniel never had the pleasure of seeing Turtle Hill or he likely would not have returned to the damp grayness of London, which at the time of his demise was again visited by the Black Death.

In 1941, the American Army invested the Hill and it was there sometime before they left in 1945, that a bundle of Bermudian-American mongrels were born. Maybe they were American-Bermudian mongrels, for one is unsure of how to prioritize such double-barreled ethnic nomenclature. At any rate, it is clear from the picture that the lucky seven were "Bermuda spashalls", or "Heinz 57s" depending on the parish dialect, being born in Bermuda but having adoptive American parents, both males.

The presence of these democratic dogs and the American Army at Turtle Hill, in accommodation not quite up to Fairmont standards, needs some explanation, as you may not be aware that on 7 April 1941, on the appropriately named American Legion, the Yanks invaded Bermuda. On that day, over 150 years of erecting forts to prevent such a catastrophe came to naught, as American soldiers, with their guns and all the necessaries to set up camps, piled onto the docks at Hamilton. "We were not amused", especially the Governor of the day, who may have been withdrawn because of his antipathy towards the presence of an American camp on Bermuda soil, the first ever such occurrence on worldwide British ground.

The American leader, Captain (later Admiral) Jules James USN was more diplomatic or "sensitive", as we now say, to the situation and received commendations for his handling of the Bermuda Government and the people of the island. In another connection with Bermuda, Capt. James was a cousin of Nancy Astor, the first woman elected to the Parliament in London; she was married to a relative of one of the richest men in the world, Vincent Astor, who built a great home on Ferry Reach. Astor erected the house with his first wife, Helen Huntington, but both likely lost interest in it when the pristine Castle Harbour, their main vista, was destroyed to make Kindley Field.

One of the Americans who came to Bermuda at that time was a Captain Charles Beaudry USA, who had the good fortune of spending most of the war in Bermuda. Charlie made friends with many Bermudians, but as important he made many pictures of the island and the new military works and Bermuda scenes of the time.

In recent years, Colonel Beaudry donated his photographic collection to the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Along with that of the late Edward Tomasiewicz (acquired by the Museum through the help of Bermudian Spanton Ashdown), it forms a major archive of American activity on the island during the war.

By 1939, the several hundred British guns at Bermuda had been reduced to two 6-inch Breech Loaders manned by the Bermuda Militia Artillery at St. David's Battery. Two more such guns were installed that year at Warwick Camp, but with only four weapons island-wide, it was necessary for the Americans to assume the coastal defence of Bermuda and bring in some big guns. Captain Beaudry was in charge of installing some of these pieces, two of which were at Turtle Hill, where a camp, minus any known followers excepting the lucky seven, was soon installed amidst the rolling cedar strewn landscape. On the highest part of the hill, two circular Panama Mounts were built in concrete to take 155mm GPF guns, one appearing inset in a photograph here presented. Similar guns were placed at Cooper's Island, while massive railway guns, mounted on a set of tracks to nowhere, were installed at Scaur Hill and between Forts Victoria and Albert on St. George's Island. A year later, fixed installations replaced the latter and two others were built at Tudor Hill near the Naval Operating Base, where Captain Jules James set up camp at the first American station at Bermuda. Whether the German military ever posed much of a threat to Bermuda is a moot point. With thanks to them, however, many, including most Bermudians, had a good war here on the island and have enjoyed a stunning aftermath. The building of Kindley Field, the free use of which for civilian flight after the war allowed us to enter an unprecedented period of prosperity through airplane tourism, is something for which we should thank our enemies of old, that is to say, both the Germans and the Americans. So we extend a belated danke schon and thank you, sixty-six years after the fact.

Photographs 1: Bermudian-American mongrels at the Turtle Hill camp. 2: The American Army encampment at Turtle Hill. 3: The Turtle Hill open-air mess hall. 4: The surviving Panama Mount gun emplacement (right centre) at Turtle Hill.5: Detail of the Panama Mount from the air and (inset) its 155mm GPF gun.

Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. The views expressed here are his opinion, not necessarily those of the Trustees or Staff of the Museum. Comments can be sent to drharrislogic.bm or to P.O. Box MA 133, Sandys MABX, or by telephone 799-5480.