Military of Bermuda
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2014) |
While the defence of
History
The defence of the colony against an expected Spanish attack was the first concern of the first Governor of Bermuda, Richard Moore, when he and fifty-one other settlers arrived at Bermuda aboard the Plough on the 11 July 1612, to join the three men left behind in Bermuda from the 1609 wreck of the Sea Venture. The construction of fortified coastal artillery batteries was consequently prioritised over other construction, with the artillery manned by volunteers (convicted criminals were also sometimes sentenced to serve in the batteries instead of imprisonment). A militia was also raised on the lines of the militia in England, which grew to a battalion composed of nine companies (one for each parish). All fit males between the ages of 16 and 60, whether free, indentured, or enslaved, were liable for militia service.
Bermuda tended toward the Royalist side during the
Bermuda became the primary
Following the loss of Britain's ports in thirteen of its former continental colonies after the
Prior to the American War of Independence, the only Regular Army unit in Bermuda was an Independent Company, based in St. George's. With the buildup of the Royal Naval establishment in the first decades of the nineteenth century, a large number of military fortifications and batteries were constructed, and the numbers of regular infantry, artillery, and support units that composed the
The Colony's prominence as a naval station was underlined during both world wars thanks of its location in the North Atlantic Ocean, its naturally-protected waters, and the presence of the Royal Naval Dockyard and its military defences. With the US, the primary threat to Bermuda in the nineteenth century, becoming an ally in both wars, US forces began to make use of Bermuda also.
The US had operated a
The US bases were not the only, or even the first, air stations operating in Bermuda, however. The civil airport, a flying boat station on Darrell's Island, was taken over by the RAF at the start of the war, and used by two commands. The government airline, Imperial Airways/BOAC, which had operated Darrell's Island before the war, adopted its war time role, and its camouflaged flying boats maintained trans-Atlantic service through Bermuda throughout the war. US Navy aircraft also briefly operated from Darrell's Island, maintaining anti-submarine air patrols, before their own base was operational. Before the US entry into the war, anti-submarine air patrols were flown on an ad-hoc basis by the Walrus flying boats of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, operating from its own base on Boaz Island.
With the buildup of the US bases on the island, the enduring alliance post-war, under
The Royal Naval dockyard and the attendant military garrison were closed during the 1950s. A small supply base,
- The Royal Bermuda Regiment
- Royal Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard Unit
- Bermuda Police Service
- Bermuda Reserve Police
- Airport Security Police
- Bermuda Cadet Corps
- Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps
Defunct or amalgamated
- Bermuda Militia Artillery
- Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps
- Bermuda Volunteer Engineers
- Bermuda Militia Infantry
- Bermuda Home Guard
Military expenditures 2005/06 (Revised) – dollar figure: $5,687,000 (Defence), $50,467,000 (Police).
Military expenditures – per cent of GDP: 0.11 NA% (Not including Police).
Military – note: defence of Bermuda is the responsibility of the United Kingdom
Adapted from the
See also Government of Bermuda Budget Statement 2006/07 (pdf file).
- Bermudian Privateering
- Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda, and the Royal Navy in Bermuda 1795–1995.
- Royal Naval Air Station Bermuda 1939–1943.
- Corps of Colonial Marines. 1814–1816.
- Castle Islands Fortifications
- British Army, Bermuda Garrison. 1701–1957.
- Bermuda Militia.1612–1815.
- St. George's Garrison
- Prospect Camp
- Warwick Camp
- Boaz Island and Watford Island (British Army base)
- Ordnance Island
- Agar's Island
- Locally raised Militia, Volunteer and Territorial Army Units. 1894–1965.
- Royal Air Force, RAF Darrell's Island.1939–1945.
- Royal Air Force, Kindley Field. 1943–1945
- Royal Canadian Navy, HMCS Somers Isles. 1944–1945.
- Royal Canadian Navy, Naval Radio Station Bermuda, Daniel's Head. 1961–1968.
- Canadian Forces, Canadian Forces Station Bermuda, Daniel's Head. 1968–1993.
Former US Bases In Bermuda
- United States Naval Station, Base 24, on White's Island, Bermuda. First World War.
- United States Naval Supply Station, Bermuda at Agar's Island. First World War.
- US Naval Operating Base, Naval Air Station Bermuda, and Naval Air Station Bermuda Annex (Southampton Parish). 1941–1995.
- United States Navy Submarine Base, Ordnance Island. Second World War.
- United States Navy, Naval Facility Bermuda. (Tudor Hill) 1954–1995.
- Bermuda Base Command, US Army. 1941–1945.
- United States Army, Fort Bell. 1941–1948.
- United States Army Air Forces, Kindley Field. 1943–1948.
- United States Air Force, Kindley Air Force Base. 1948–1970.
- United States Naval Air Station Bermuda (St. George's Parish) (originally Kindley Field). 1970–1995.
- United States Coast Guard Air-Sea Rescue, at Naval Station Bermuda and Kindley AFB
- National Air and Space Administration, at Kindley AFB/US NAS Bermuda
See also
References
General references
- Defence, Not Defiance: A History Of The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, ISBN 0-9696517-1-6
- The Andrew And The Onions: The Story Of The Royal Navy In Bermuda, 1795–1975, Lt. Commander ISBN 0-921560-03-6
- Bermuda Forts 1612–1957, Dr. ISBN 0-921560-11-7
- Bulwark Of Empire: Bermuda's Fortified Naval Base 1860-1920, Lt.-Col. ISBN 0-921560-00-1
- Flying Boats Of Bermuda, Sqn.-Ldr. ISBN 0-9698332-4-5
- Bermuda From Sail To Steam: The History Of The Island From 1784 to 1901, Dr. Henry Wilkinson, ISBN 0-19-215932-1