Atlantic Isle HMS
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 12:41 pm
The equivalent of Britain's Home Guard was the Tristan Defence Volunteers (TDV) who received instruction, for one thing, in the use of small arms. Uniforms consisted of standard webbing belts. etc .. and TDV armbands. By 1944 the need for secrecy abated somewhat, due to Allied successes. The British Admiralty ordered Commander Woolley to commission the naval station on Tristan as HMS Atlantic Isle. In naval law a naval shore station such as Tristan must entail a vessel, so a small boat was used. The ship's company was mustered, along with the TDVs and their rifles. The Commander's wife broke a champagne bottle. filled with fruit salts and a dash of rum over the bow of the boat and the Volunteers fired a three-volley salute.
Allied successes continued and Tristan remained undisturbed by any wartime aggression. A ship called to the island once every three months bringing supplies for servicemen, and the islanders through the canteen, also changes in personnel and mail.
On May 10 1946 with hostilities over. the Navy ended its occupation of Tristan, leaving on the HMAS Transvaal. The vessel had brought a South African civilian team 10 continue operating the meteorological station, and a priest to visit the small Catholic community among the islanders.
HMS Atlantic Isle was paid off and the 'commissioned' name lapsed. Buildings of the garrison were left standing, the mess and recreation rooms became a social hall and a school. Although the Navy left abundant stores behind, there had been much concern of a likely decline in the living conditions of the islanders hereafter. Quickly the British Government gave assurances that it would assume full responsibility to keep the island well stocked of essential supplies. It would seem that the life and times gained during the occupation would continue for the foreseeable future.
Article by John Stone first appeared in the "South Atlantic Chronicle" of July 1997. Log Book December 1997.
Tristan Da Cunha SG359
Allied successes continued and Tristan remained undisturbed by any wartime aggression. A ship called to the island once every three months bringing supplies for servicemen, and the islanders through the canteen, also changes in personnel and mail.
On May 10 1946 with hostilities over. the Navy ended its occupation of Tristan, leaving on the HMAS Transvaal. The vessel had brought a South African civilian team 10 continue operating the meteorological station, and a priest to visit the small Catholic community among the islanders.
HMS Atlantic Isle was paid off and the 'commissioned' name lapsed. Buildings of the garrison were left standing, the mess and recreation rooms became a social hall and a school. Although the Navy left abundant stores behind, there had been much concern of a likely decline in the living conditions of the islanders hereafter. Quickly the British Government gave assurances that it would assume full responsibility to keep the island well stocked of essential supplies. It would seem that the life and times gained during the occupation would continue for the foreseeable future.
Article by John Stone first appeared in the "South Atlantic Chronicle" of July 1997. Log Book December 1997.
Tristan Da Cunha SG359