For those men and women who were serving in the Bermuda Police in 1965, I’m sure you will all recall the industrial dispute between BELCO and the BIU in January which culminated in the serious disturbance on Serpentine Road outside BELCO during which 17 of our police officers were injured, including Ian Davies who was seriously injured and never fully recovered.

The Bermuda Industrial Union is hosting an event at BIU Headquarters from 5.30pm – 8.00pm  next Monday 2^nd February to reflect on the 50^th Anniversary of the BELCO Strike, and the Union has expressly invited any police officers, past or present to attend.

The evening will include a panel discussion and the BIU has kindly invited three former police officers, all of whom were serving at that time, to sit on the panel.   They are Wentworth Christopher, Andy Bermingham and myself, and we will be joining former BIU President Ottiwell Simmons, and John Stovell, former Vice President of the Electrical Workers Union in 1965. 

We are being invited to express our personal views about this momentous time in our history, and members of the audience will be invited to ask questions of the panelists.

As one of the officers who was serving in the Police at that time,  I could never have imagined in 1965 that 50 years later the BIU would be extending a cordial invitation to us to come and discuss what happened on 2^nd February 1965.

Wentworth, Andy and I are all looking forward to participating in the discussion on Monday, and we would encourage you to attend.  Refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the evening.

Very little has been written about February 2^nd 1965 from the point of view of the police officers present that day,  but 2 years ago we published a first-hand account written by former P.C. David Mulhall which did just that.  Dave Mulhall's account was also published in the Royal Gazette on 2d February 2013.

CLICK HERE for the article on our website

CLICK HERE to view the article in the Royal Gazette