Since 1940, the influential West Indies Commission, chaired by Lord Moyne, thereby known as The Moyne Commission, had advised that the British West Indian islands should be connected by air. In 1944 an ‘expert in aeronautics’ arrived in Dominica to decide on the best place for an airport.
The year before, in 1943, the first aircraft to land on Dominica had touched down at Benjamin Park, Portsmouth, with the Governor of the Windward Islands aboard. On landing, the plane got stuck in the mud in ‘the mang’ and tipped over. Luckily no one was injured.
This trial landing confirmed that a proper airport should be constructed somewhere. The British writer, Alec Waugh, recounted the airport saga in his book ‘The Sugar islands’ in a chapter entitled ‘Typical Dominica’:
‘An expert in aeronautics was sent to locate an airfield [1944]. He selected a strip on the northwest coast. The immediate disadvantages of this site were obvious. Not only was it occupied by a valuable coconut plantation, but it had no direct communication with the capital. Passengers would have to motor to Portsmouth, then go by launch to Roseau, a journey that would take at least four hours.
The expert maintained, however, that no other site was suitable, so the coconut palms were felled, a vast quantity of stones were collected by hand labour, and simultaneously, so that there should be direct access from the airport to the capital, work was resumed on the Imperial Road… For a year the work continued. Then, when the air strip had been cleared and a valuable plantation ruined, a second aeronautics expert [arriving in 1950] decreed that the site chosen was unsuitable…’
The concern was that the approach from the mountains down the valley would inhibit future expansion. (This was indeed so). And its position adjacent to a river subject to flooding was dangerous. (This was indeed proved to be so on numerous occasions). As an official report put it, ‘at the end of 1950 reconsideration was being given to the possibility of building an airstrip at Melville Hall.’ The new team recommended that the airport should be sited at Woodford Hill.
But too much had transpired in the interim: Melville Hall had already been bought by government; it had sold the rest of the estate not required for the airport to the Colonial Development Corporation (CDC) for agricultural development; Woodford Hill had just been bought by Antilles Products Ltd., directed by P. Foley and G. Band, from Froebel Laville, to become the crucible of the new banana industry, which would later be bought over by Geest Industries. It was too late to change things now.
By then, the money for extending the road from Roseau had run out and another grant had to be found. That took ten more years. The travelling public waited until 1957 for the completion of the road across the island so that the construction of the temporary airstrip could proceed to receive its first plane in 1958.
While Dominica waited for the airport question to be resolved, some other means of air transport had to be found. The solution was that the island should be served by sea planes. The governments of British Guiana (today’s Guyana) and the Government of St. Vincent, had gone ahead and bought their own aircraft, amphibious Grumman “Goose” seaplanes. Dominica made arrangements with these two colonies to service the island while it waited for a land-based airport.
A weekly chartered flight to and from Barbados by British Guiana Airways was inaugurated on 23 May 1950. The plane used the sheltered harbour at Portsmouth. This was followed by a similar amphibious Grumman Goose seaplane operated by the St. Vincent Government Air Service, which called twice weekly also at Portsmouth.
The Dominica government bought a motor launch to service the seaplanes and transport passengers. This was rather ominously nicknamed, the “Crash Launch”, as it would also act as a rescue vessel in case the seaplanes crashed on landing or take off.
But because the majority of the traveling public were from Roseau and they did not want to make the long launch journey to the better harbour at Portsmouth, the “Goose” landing place was shifted to Soufriere Bay and all the coconut trees along the Scott’s Head isthmus were cut down to facilitate take off.
Eventually, Melville Hall airport was completed and was officially opened on 22 November 1961. And thus, the seaplane service was ended. It had taken seventeen years from 1944 for Dominica to get its first airport, albeit in the wrong place!
Lennox, I hope you are enjoying Dominica ancient days of darkness; and present day of backwardness!
I too like history, and appreciate the photographs which you presented; pity you do not have one of the Aircraft that was assembled in the bush in Dominica recently; and flown off the island; still flying somewhere in the world.
Now I am about to say something you are not going to like; but I would like to remind you; you are the one, the only Lennox Honychurch; who I must say put a curse on Dominica, so that our island never get an International Airport.
You Lennox Honychruch are the one who said ” Dominica will never get an International Airport; you all will never see an International flight leaving Gatwick Airport in England, and land in Dominica.”
Your curse on Dominica seems to be holding; you Lennox cannot deny you said that.
Anyway I must inform you that 99.99999% of all flights from England, to the Caribbean originates at Heathrow International near London!
The Melville Hall runway should be extended by at least two thousand feet into the Atlantic using rocks and soil from the mountain on the west end of the runway.That way aircraft could land from the east from the ocean all the time. Jets could land there. It is too late to construct another runway at a different location so the current runway should be extended again.
It would be better and cheaper to extend it to the West, back to Governor, taking the estate of the Frobel Laville, and the land between the top of the airport.
In any event there still exists the problem of night landings; there are Mountains to contend with.
The best location for an International Airport on the island, is precisely where the UWP was building it, when Roosevelt his father (not the magic man Chichi) the other one; Athie Martin and all the rest who shut it down.
I hear Chichi gave a magic wand to his son; which the younger Chichi who waves it over Dominicans to confuse their mind to get them to vote for him eh.
Dominica is ruled by Rumpelstiltskin!
Who was Rumpelstiltskin!
Rumpelstiltskin is a fairy tale popularly associated with Germany where he is known as The tale was one collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of Children’s and Household Tale.
If you check the tale, we will find Roosevelt to be not only a modern day Ali Baba, but…
Nothing has changed in over 70 years when it comes to the construction of proper airport for Dominica. Every government seems to have their experts advising them on the suitable location should be. Hope we get it right this time. This shows the importance of knowing your history.
Thank you for sharing our history. I really do appreciate it and look forward to the next. Those pictures tell so much! Thank you again!
Based on this article, it is conclusive that from time immemorial, Melville Hall has always been unsuitable for an airport…….it is not a political ‘thing’.
And how many international airport have been promised by the Skeritt Government? Also when was Canefield airport built? And finally, can you please tell us how many flights Liat served Dominica with between Canefield airport and Melville Hall airport during the Freedom Party Government when Dominica was not a share holder of Liat? So therefore , how many flights a day is Liat serving Dominica with now, since Dominica became a share holder.?
I think these information are necessary since most people who were born in the late 70’s or early 80’s may not remember the work of the Freedom Party in Government
Thank you
Yes “dominican for real” all this upcoming in future episodes with pictures. Thanks for your interest.
“LH”, Thanks for your response. Looking forward to it. We appreciate all of your hard work in keeping our history alive. There’s a lot of folks who were born around 1977 and later who are not aware of the good old 80’s and 90’s. One young man, thought I was kidding when I told him Canefield airport was a very busy place in the 80’s and early 90’s.
I doh know about this one, I was not yet born!
Hhahshahaha!
Nevrtheles, in the late 1950’s to just prior to landing at Melille Hall they landed in the sea at Scots Head.
The Gorman Goose would fly in from Barbados, and land in the Ocean.
As i remember every thing written here is true except that the first sight chosen was on the east northeast to be exact stones were gathered by people from wesley and ,marigot broken by hand to what we called bolders and macadam these remained on the spot so long that the area was over grown by guava trees by the time the melvillhall airport and imperial road started .I remember being the first to drive a passenger laden vehicle into roseau from the north while the airport was being built that was about 1957
Quite correct MR DOMINICA. Misquote from Alec Waugh, who actually wrote: “So an expert on aeronautics was sent to locate an airfield. He selected a strip on the north-east coast.” All other details also accurate from your personal experience.
The account you are given about the broken boulders and overgrown, was when the Americans, the British and the rest of the allies were going to build the Airport at Melville in the 1940’s.
If you regularly read DNO you can still find where I debated that; and stated at the same time they built gigantic Airports in Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Guyana, and Guantanamo Cuba, all of which are operated as International Airports.
And let it be know the reason those Airports were built is because they served a strategic purpose in World War II.
It you read my comments, you might remember I said it was because of our stupid mentality, and procrastination which cost us that free Airport.
The Dominican mentality of; “we doh want it, and we doh want Americans here” for fear of what they would have done to our women.
The war ended, and all we got is the broken rock-stones you mentioned and miles long of guava trees.
“The account you are given about the ” Simple a typing error; but I must correct it before teacher Elizabeth notice!
If she notice that all hell will break loose, she even accuse me of being the dunce Man Dog eh!So, the sentence should read “the account you are giving.”
I suspect she already saw the error; I know that for a fact, because one of the two thumbs down, or perhaps both came from her.
Whenever I get a single thumbs down, I know that comes from her.
Have heard these stories before. Nice to see the photos. Amazing!!!! It is crazy we still have airport saga 80 years later. Are we in Dominica capable of learning from history to shape our future? DNO keep these coming thanks to Mr. Honeychurch. History is important for it is said if you don’t k ow where you com from you do not know where you going and those who forget history are doom to repeat the same errors. I would suggest all these old photos and stories move to a historical tab on DNO after it moves through general section. That is a good online record.