Recently-retired British Army General, Mike Jackson, who served in Anguilla as a young Captain and part of the 1969 invasion force, was back on the island this week after 38 years, as we put in place our plans for the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the 1967 Anguilla Revolution.

He was entertained at Government House by Governor and Mrs. Andrew George.

General Mike Jackson

General Jackson, 62, was Head of the British Army for the past three and a half years and was based in London in the Ministry of Defence. He retired late last year after a total of 45 years of service. “I was a young officer serving with the Second Parachute Regiment which formed the main part of the British force which arrived in Anguilla on the 19th of March, 1969,” he told The Anguillian. “I didn’t come on that very first day. I came about a month later and was on the island for about three months.”

The Army General, who returned to Anguilla for a two-day visit and stayed at the Anguilla Great House, drove to some parts of the island accompanied by his wife, Sarah. “I went to see if I could find any sign of where our army camp was – just at the back of the school [Valley Primary]. It rings a little memory,” he said.

“We landed from a C-130 aircraft on the airstrip which is now this very smart airport. It was then a dirt airstrip with just a tiny building. It is amazing to see it now,” he stated.

He described the 1969 position in Anguilla as having been “a very interesting and quite tricky situation” and went on: “It was clear that Anguillians, by two referenda, if I remember rightly, and with only a tiny number of votes against, said ‘we do not wish to be part of the Federation of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla.’ Equally, the Foreign Office in London took the view that the secession was an illegal act and hence the arrival of British military and police. But really, it was bizarre in my recollection because what Anguilla really wanted... was not to be part of the Associated State. It seemed to us that most Anguillians were perfectly content to remain a territory of the British Crown – as it still is and very happily, it would seem.

“It was difficult to get over but I think everybody did. After a while, as I remember, calm came back. The Anguillian people realised that Britain was not going to force them into a political status they did not want and if that meant condoning the act of “secession,” well so be it. Now 38 years later I believe that very difficult period for Anguilla, 1967-69, and the year after, the British “invasion” actually set the foundation for Anguilla’s prosperity today.

“As I look at the island now, it is almost unrecognisable from when I saw it. Then the people were poor. There was no electricity, no telephones, no water, no paved roads. I think most people lived by fishing and a little agriculture at that time. It is wonderful to see the change on the island now with the very high standard of living. I like to think that although it was a difficult period, in the end it was all for the good of Anguilla. This prosperous little island with a good infrastructure, a great tourism industry and wonderful beaches, is just fantastic… History has shown that the outcome was a good one.”

General Jackson said he was fascinated by the huge grand display of artefacts at Heritage Collection Museum, whose curator and historian is Colville Petty, OBE. “I would have liked to have stayed longer and was greatly impressed particularly with the section covering the 1967-69 period. Some of the photographs and documents he has there started some bells ringing into my memory. It was an experience to have visited the museum.”

The Former British General, who arrived in Anguilla on Saturday, February 3, left Anguilla on Monday for Nevis.

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