1979 Union Island Uprising

1979 Union Island Uprising
Date 7th-9th December, 1979 Location Union Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Result Saint Vincentian victory Secession attempt quashed
Belligerents
Union Island separatists Covert support: Grenada	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Barbados
Commanders and leaders
Lennox 'Bumba' Charles	Milton Cato Tom Adams
Strength
54 rebels	44 policemen
Casualties and losses
1 rebel dead, 40+ arrested 1 civilian killed

The 1979 Union Island Uprising was a short lived revolt and secession attempt.

Background

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines would peacefully achieve its independence from the United Kingdom on October 27, 1979. The Lesser Antillies were in a period of turmoil at the time, with Grenada undergoing revolution, La Soufrière erupting, and disarray from independence. Conditions on Union Island were especially poor at the time, fueling resentment across towards the central government across the island, further cemented by the community witnessing the tremendous progress being undertaken in neighboring Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

Independence plot

A group of disgruntled Unionites would arrange a meeting with Maurice Bishop, Prime Minister of Grenada, on the neighboring island of Carriacou, where Bishop would agree to lend a boat full of Soviet weaponry as well as 50 soldiers. A plot was concocted wherein the rebels were to arrest any police officers on the island and declare independence, where they then would be recognized and supported by Grenada. However, the ship on which the weapons were loaded on would sink, killing its driver with it, and causing all arms to be lost. Panicked, fearing that potential police investigation into the disappearance of the boat's driver would cause the arms to be uncovered, the rebels decided to begin the revolt early, against the wishes of Grenada.

Uprising and suppression

On the 7th of December, 1979, a group of men led by Lennox 'Bumba' Charles, a Rastafarian man disillusioned by the conditions on the island led a group of like-minded rebels towards the Union Island police station, where the station would be bombed, causing the four police officers on the island to flee with no resistance. The men would proceed to seize facilities on the island, with the intention of declaring independence.

The Saint Vincent Labour Party government lead by Milton Cato, elected only two days prior and believing the revolt was a simple distraction away from a future coup, would immediately be sent into a state of panic following news of the revolt, declaring a state of emergency and enforcing a dusk through dawn curfew across the nation until June the following year. Cato would immediately appeal to Adams of neighboring Barbados, who agreed to send a force of 40 police officers, a decision that would be very controversial domestically in Barbados. Police officers would ready themselves on neighboring Palm Island, where they would remain for a day uncertain as to the size of the rebel group. Only 6 men are believed to have guarded the island at the time, with Bumba fleeing the island only a few hours after the revolt to nearby Carriocou, with many rebels soon going into hiding following his departure. Inspector Ruthord Cox, himself a native of the island, would land near Clifton and restore order, and would soon embark on an arrest spree, arresting anyone with dreadlocks and many innocent senior citizens, who soon would all be shipped off to Fort Charlotte. There they were beaten and given little food, and forced to sleep on the cold floors of the prison with little bedding material available. One citizen, a supporter of the arriving policemen, would be fatally shot as he was mistaken for a rebel. Shortly after the rebellion was crushed Grenada would arrest Bumba and extradite him to Saint Vincent where he would be tried.

Aftermath and legacy

Only four men were ever charged for the revolt, including Bumba. The Barbados Defense Force, instrumental in the suppression of the revolt, would go on later to participate in the U.S. led invasion of Grenada 3 years later. Public facilities on Union Island would vastly improve in the decade following the uprising, largely quelling separatism and Unionite resentment towards the central government. Bumba, later released, is still viewed very positively in Union Island today, with him producing the island's first newspaper, starting the first steel orchestra and bringing the sport of basketball to the island.