A permanent memorial has been placed at the East End to the St David’s Islanders who lost their homes 81 years ago in a wartime pact between Britain and the United States.

The deal gave the US a 99-year lease to build its army and air force base, along with the island’s new airport at Kindley Field.

But it destroyed the way of life that defined St David’s, even as it opened the way for the end of the Second World War and the growth of modern Bermuda.

Rick Spurling, president of the St David’s Island Historical Society, addressed the ceremony on Tuesday overlooking Annie’s Bay, near Clearwater.

A bronze plaque now commemorates the 1941 sacrifice of almost the entire southern coastline of St David’s.

Mr Spurling said a string of islanders born before 1941 were still alive, including some old enough to recall the loss of their homes.

He added: “Today, we gather here to recognise and pay tribute to their extraordinary sacrifice and their wonderful way of life lost for ever, to help win the war against the most evil dictator of all time, but also to show gratitude for our airport, on which our tourism and international business and all the spin-offs depend.

“You are now standing or sitting on the site of the home of Tommy Fox, overlooking the beautiful Annie’s Bay.”

A pillar of the community widely known as “Uncle Tommy” was also “the uncrowned king of St David’s” and the only Bermudian the US Government named a road after on the new base.

Mr Fox died in 1942 after “observing in total consternation the annihilation of his beloved Southside”, Mr Spurling said.

Annie’s Bay, along with the society’s museum at Carter House, was the only site left untouched.

Mr Spurling said the site had been chosen with the permission of the Bermuda Land Development Company for its link to Mr Fox and the original Annie’s Bay.

He said it was a fitting place for the memorial because most of the dispossessed families on Southside, said to be 40 out of 65 families, lived “here on the hillside just above, called Orange Hole, a collapsed cave full of orange trees”.

“They lived in their modest homes in harmony with their fellow islanders and nature.

“Gardens wove through the neighbourhood with the best of Bermuda’s arrowroot, onions and Easter lilies.”

Mr Spurling said the old way of life came with “14ft dinghies moored here and there, nets drying on cedar posts near the beach, gigs and whaleboats pulled up in the mangroves or on a makeshift cradle in the mature cedar forests that filled the valleys”.

“Every home, no matter the size, enjoyed spectacular views of Cooper’s Island, Nonsuch Island, and the blue ocean beyond.”

Ronnie Chameau, a member of the historical society, said: “Hopefully, this site can be set aside for a future park – Annie’s Bay Memorial Park.

“Southside had some of the most beautiful coastlines, bays, beaches and islands.

“The culture and diversity of the islanders created an independent and self-sufficient community that saw little value in material things, wealth, or status.”

Ms Chameau said they valued “simplicity, hard work, a do-anything-myself attitude, good food and caring for each other”.

Mr Spurling said a quote from the plaque commemorated the “good life, and their disinterest in material wealth, by stating `the islanders were never rich, except in life’.”

The plaque was placed on a boulder quarried free of charge at Coney Island and donated by Island Construction, he said.

It was carried to the site by D & J Construction at no cost, and prepared for free by the firm Bermuda Brickyard, who also paid for the shipping and duty of the bronze plaque.