Two images remain crystal clear in the mind of the man who was at the helm of the island’s home defence force in 2001.

Lieutenant-Colonel David Gibbons, who became the Honorary Colonel of the Royal Bermuda Regiment, can always recall that after deploying troops at LF Wade International Airport and other key sites, it was a "scary time" waiting for what might happen next.

Amid all the confusion and fear of more attacks, he remembers the utter gratitude of American tourists plus the unnerving sight of numerous planes parked in a line at the airport.

In September 2001, Colonel Gibbons was in charge of deploying troops and also reassuring the public of their safety after the terror attacks in America.

He said: "I walked about St George's in uniform and we had soldiers who were now based at the ports and airport, although the navy dockyard was not as significant then as it is today.

"There was a cruise ship in and of course these people are here, kind of stranded, and we had all seen the planes crashing into the towers and it was played out in slow motion and no one knew what was happening.

“Just seeing those replays of the horrible scenes was awful. But I can still remember this as vividly as back then and it was the relief of the passengers, primarily American, when I met them in [Hamilton] and at St George's.

"They were saying 'thank you for being here' and it was something very indefinable, but I suppose when your country is under attack and you are on a foreign land, it was confusing.

"At that time they were still trying to find out what was happening with the fourth plane in Washington DC and if there were other planes out there.

"No one had answers to it and there was a fear that maybe more [hijacked] planes were coming to Bermuda while other flights were being redirected here.

“No one had answers to it and, of course, you had all sorts of rumours and supposition going about. It was all very scary.

"There were replays of the horrible scene in New York and people just trying to come to grips with it. But the people I met then, and it really is something I remember vividly today, were grateful to see us walking on the streets and came up talking to us and we were just talking to them to try to reassure them.

"The second thing that I remember so well from back then was the number of planes lined up at the airport in rows. It was quite a sight."

The entire airspace of the US and Canada had been ordered to close by the Federal Aviation Administration and flights were being redirected to Bermuda.

Planes were lined up at the airport while accommodation was being found for an estimated 600 passengers on the island.

Colonel Gibbons added that the troops had already been involved in deploying to the airport the previous week.

He said: "We had been embodied the week before because of hurricanes and had done some training then.

"It was just prior to [the Twin Towers attack] and when that happened, we needed to get our troops out there again so we were embodied again within three or four hours."