Cornwall at War Museum
My name is Steve Perry. Letting you know that the radar that was in Belize is now on display at the Cornwall at War Museum near Camelford in North Cornwall.
I was posted to Belize when it was still British Honduras flying out in a Bristol Britannia in September 74, refueling at Gander and the Bahamas. The 'International Airport' was a runway in the middle of a swamp with a shed, I mean terminal building at one end. I think the only aircraft that used it were the Britannias changing the army units every 6 months and the weekly 'milk run' by the Hercules. While we were there Hurricane Fifi devastated Honduras to the south and we were flown down by Hercules on relief operations. While we were there we were required to get the garrison into 'good order' and the stores and equipment up to strength. Our recce platoon went down to the Southern border area to cut clearings in the jungle which seemed a waste of time. How wrong we were!! We returned to the UK in March 75. In Sept 75 we became Spearhead battalion and were sent to Northern Ireland. A Commando of Royal Marines then became Spearhead and were sent to Belize as Guatemala were preparing to invade. That's what our preparations had been for. The clearings were possibly for aircraft?? perhaps Harriers or helicopters? Not sure but they were definitely for something