I was among the thousands on the muddy Garrison Savannah on the rain-drenched night of Tuesday, November 29, 1966, anxiously awaiting the midnight chimes that would ring in a special new day in the history of Barbados.
Then as the long minute hand slowly aligned itself with and paused precisely and briefly above the slower hour hand over the Roman numeral XII on the clock face, every heart paused in unison.
And as we inhaled the chilled air of November 30, 1966, we screamed, as joyfully and tearfully as our forefathers had done on being emancipated from slavery, as God Save The Queen and the Union Jack were respectively played and lowered for the very last time and replaced by our own National Anthem and Flag.
We had become rulers of our own fate. We had become an independent nation.
Nine years later, I was again among an excited throng of thousands at the same Garrison Savannah for yet another historic event. The year was 1975 but, unlike 1966, I cannot remember the exact time, the day or the date. What I do remember is that it was a late, sunny afternoon in the month of February when the greatest Barbadian cricketer of all time, Garry Sobers, knelt for Queen Elizabeth II to lightly tap him on the shoulders with a sword and softly encourage the shining new knight to “Rise, Sir Garfield”.
Talk about proud, and there were no two prouder moments in the lives of any of us who would have witnessed either or both of those ceremonies on the now internationally acclaimed Garrison Savannah, in the context of its inclusion, with the City of Bridgetown, among UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
If history does not repeat itself and prolonged rain does not again drench The Garrison, come early Friday morning hundreds, maybe thousands, will again gather on the Savannah to witness the annual Independence Day Parade and relive memories of that significant date.
But tell me something. Why, after all of these years, is there nobody who can take me on a tour of the historic Garrison Savannah with all its historic buildings and sites, including the recently uncovered underground tunnels, and show me the historic spot where on November 30, 1966, the new Barbados Flag was hoisted for the first time to give birth to our nation?
Successive Governments and administrations of organizations cloaked with the responsibility of preserving our history, including the nearby Barbados Museum & Historical Society and the Barbados National Trust, seem to overlook the need to identify this missing link in our country’s evolution.
Wouldn’t it be a thing of great pride for any Barbadian to be able to stand before a monument, not unlike that in Holetown, on which is indelibly inscribed the details of that night of greatest significance?
And wouldn’t it be equally as fulfilling to be able to walk from there across the Garrison to another spot on the Savannah to another monument on which is recorded that crowning moment in the life of our only living National Hero, that knight of greatest significance?
Please tell me, somebody.
• Al Gilkes is head of a public relations firm. Email [email protected]
