The three months covered by this survey have brought upon the Allied Cause disasters almost beyond the conception of British subjects on this side of the world. The occupation of Denmark and Norway; the evacuation of our forces, first from Central Norway and then from the north; the invasion of Holland and Belgium; the surrender of King Leopold and the consequent isolation of the British and French Armies in the region of Dunkirk; and finally the defeat and capitulation of the French, each followed fast upon the other; and all there was to sustain us were the heroic fighting in the retreat to Dunkirk, the successful evacuation of the first and second expeditionary forces, and the magnificent defences of Calais and Boulogne.

¿ "History of Second World War in Bermuda"

Warwick Camp has been the home on the range of the south shore for upwards of 150 years and is now the abode of the Bermuda Regiment, formed in 1963 from the amalgamation of the Bermuda Militia Artillery and the Bermuda Rifles.

It is due to that military presence and the compulsory purchase of private lands of the neighbourhood, that we enjoy the wonderful public beaches that stretch from Horseshoe, or Great Turtle Bay in the west, to Warwick Long Bay in the east. During the Second World War, Warwick Camp also became the home of the last British guns ever to be emplaced at Bermuda, their purpose being to keep enemy warships at sea beyond the range from which they could shell the important Dockyard at the west end.

What follows is a contemporary account of the Warwick Camp Battery for two six-inch Breech Loader guns between September 1939 and April 1940.

"On receipt of the War telegram (3 Sept. 1939), the BVRC, under the command of Major (later Lieut. Colonel) Ambrose Gosling, with an establishment of 257 (17 officers, non-commissioned officers and men) were embodied. Prior to the completion of embodiment, working parties of the regular unit, the King's Shropshire Light Infantry, under the command of Major Hughes-Hallett, completed the digging of the defence works.

"These parties were, however, relieved by the BVRC on the 4th September. Military action in the succeeding days was mainly routine, with the exception of initial excavation work at the site of the proposed gun emplacements on the South Shore. On the 16th October, the violence of a hurricane compelled the detachments of the BVRC at St. David's to evacuate their posts and to withdraw temporarily to the barracks at St. George's.

"The wind on this occasion attained a speed of 131 miles an hour and did much damage throughout the islands; the wharf below Government House was partly destroyed and at Clarence Cove, below Admiralty House, the figure of Neptune, which overlooked the Cove, somewhat ominously lost his trident. It was recovered and restored to his grasp. The first signals of the hurricane were hoisted at 10:00 A.M. on the wind did not wholly abate until on the 17th.

"On the 9th September, Admiral Meyrick arrived back secretly in a Canadian ship and immediately the question of the protection of the South Shore was raised and representations made to the Colonial Office, the Admiralty and the War Office. It was pointed out in these representations that, in the opinion of the Admiral and his advisers, the Dockyard was vulnerable to a bombardment by an enemy raider taking up a position off the South Shore.

"A telegram sent to the Secretary of State on the 10th September remarked: 'I feel it my duty to refer to the entire lack of Artillery Defense of the Southern Shore, where a ship can approach within 10,000 yards range of His Majesty's Dockyard, unmolested.

"The Dockyard is of Imperial, rather than local, importance and Admiral Meyrick has emphasized to me that in the absence of cruisers from the neighbourhood, a "tip and run" bombardment by enemy ships at large is a possibility and one which we consider should be guarded against'. The telegram asked for two six-inch guns.

"In the meantime, Lieut. Colonel the Honourable Roger Swire, MC, at that time Officer Commanding the Troops reported that the barrel of a six-inch gun was available at St. George's, and that suitable mountings were stored in the Ordnance Department. Other parts were manufactured in the Dockyard and this gun was erected in the vicinity of Warwick (Camp) in a position commanding the approaches to the Southern shore.

"On the 7th November the first gun of the new two-gun battery on the South Shore near Warwick camp fired its first testing round, and from that date was kept fully manned and ready for action. On the 30th of that month a telegram was received from the War Office in regard to the increase in armaments, and the dispatch of a second 6 (-inch) gun was promised.

"At this time, the pocket battleships were known to be at large and the Secretary of State for War emphasized the prime importance of speed in the erection of the battery.

"It was with relief that news of the destruction of the Graf von Spee, after suffering defeat at the hands of HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles, reached this island. As all these three ships had been based on Bermuda, and Commodore Harwood was a great favourite, the action was hailed with special pleasure here.

"On the 17th April (1940), the second six-inch gun promised by the War Office arrived in Bermuda and was subsequently placed in position near Warwick Camp."

Today, the great guns at Warwick Camp languish in an overgrowth of casuarinas and Mexican or Brazillian peppers ¿ however you would care to name their final and most pernicious enemy, other than neglect.

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Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Comments can be sent to drharrislogic.bm or by telephone to 799-5480.