Page 14 - ARUBA TODAY

A14 LOCAL
Monday 14 august 2017
The improbable connection of Dunkirk with Aruba

Much has been written Own Cameron Highland- been here since February Colin Barber was reputed back to Oranjestad. . We
about the powerful,gut- ers) of the British Expedition- of that year. The Scottish to be the tallest member felt tired, but also proud of
wrenchingmovie Dunkirk ary Forces, commanded soldiers supposedly came of the British military and having walked for several
and much more will be by the then Coronel Colin to Aruba for rest and recre- was ironically nicknamed hours with the Scots. After
written when it collects its Muir Barber were among ation and they were warm- “Tiny”. Once in Aruba, all, they were our island’s
rightfully earned Oscars. It the evacueesof Dunkirk. In ly received by the Aruban it was inevitable that he defenders against possible
is doubtful, however, that September 1940 they ar- community. would form a friendship Nazi attacks. Little did I real-
anything will be mentioned rived in Aruba to replace with a fellow Scotsman Wil- ize that the Scots in Aruba
about the improbable the British soldiers who had At 6’9”, their leaderCoronel liam Ferguson “Scotty” Bar- were as poorly armed as
connection of the saga of bour, an executive with the they were in Dunkirk and
Dunkirk and the island of Shell Refinery and married could not have done any-
Aruba. to a daughter of Mr. L. J. M. thing had the Germans at-
“Nadie” Henriquez, one of tacked. I was just 10 years
Even in Aruba, most peo- the most prominent Aruban old and innocent, but I re-
ple do not know that many businessmen. member that day vividly.
of the Scottish soldiers who
were stationed in Aruba Another officer with the The Scottish troops re-
1940 - 1942 had been sur- group who befriended mained in Aruba until Feb-
vivors of Dunkirk and had Arubans was Major Munro. ruary 13, 1942. That was the
arrived in Arubajust three Major Munro introduced day that the United States
months after the evacua- the game of field hockey army sent several hundred
tion at Dunkirk had come to Aruba and coached troops to Aruba and the
to an end. the Caribe Club team. Un- Scots left on the same ship
der Major Munro’s tutelage that brought the GI’s here.
The 4thBatallion of the 15th Lt. Gen. Colin “Tiny” Barber with Field Marshal Bernard Caribe Club team became Three days later, February
Infantry Division (Queen’s Montgomery during the Northwest Europe campaign 1944-45.

Among the different sports that the men of Caribe Club played
was field hockey that had been introduced to Aruba by Major

the strongest team on the 16, 1942 the U-boat 156
island, even defeating the brought war to Aruba at-
team made up of Scottish tacking the Lago Refinery,
soldiers. Caribe also defeat- sinking oil tankers and shell-
ed the teams in Curacao ing the tank farm.
where English and Dutch
employees of the Shell re- Coronel Colin Barber was
finery had introduced the awarded the Distinguished
game many years before. Service Order(DSO) for
bravery during the Dunkirk
One Sunday afternoon just evacuation and later was
as my brothers and I had promoted to Lt. General
left SundaySchool, a small for his performance in the
group of some 50 Scot- battles across Northwest
tish soldiers who were tak- Europe for which the Bar
ing part in a 15 kmmarch was added to the DSO. The
walked past the Protes- Bar supposedly represents
tant Church in Oranjestad. a “promotion” to the origi-
For the fun of it my older nal award.
brother and I started to
walk with the Scots and Lt. General Barber was
they were happy to have eventually honored with a
us. We chatted with them knighthood: Knight Com-
and they shared water mander of the order of
from their canteen with the British Empire and was
us. By the end of the eve- named Companion of the
ning we had completed Order of Bath. Sir Colin Bar-
the route from Oranjestad ber died in 1964.
past the airport to Balas- clydeharms@yahoo.com
hithen to Santa Cruz and q