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12 The Admiralty, however, in a paper C.I.D. 55-C), on the Defence of St. Helena, which was laid before the Committee of Imperial Defence at their 108th Meeting, in January 1911, stated :—
Although under favourable weather conditions ships can anchor off Goat Pound Point, or in Prosperous Bay, or off Egg Island, it would rarely, if ever, be possible to coal in these anchorages owing to the swell: even in the relatively sheltered anchorage at James Bay it would scarcely ever be practicable for a man-of-war to lie alongside a collier to coal, and it would usually be necessary to use lighters: in the other anchorages mentioned even this would usually be impossible, and the difficulty would be accentuated in the case of an enemy, as the local lighters, under protection of the shore defences, would not be available.”
13. The Admiralty contend, therefore, that with Ascension defended and with a garrison at St. Helena sufficient to man the fixed defences at Jamestown and to protect these defences on the land side against a maximum raiding force of 50 men, it would be possible to deny to hostile raiding vessels, over a large area of water in the South Atlantic, any facilities for coaling under shelter of land. For this reason they urge that the maintenance at St. Helena of a small garrison in time of peace would assist materially in the protection of British trade on the Cape route in the early stages of a war. Whereas they point out that under existing conditions the Island offers an easy prize during the first month of a war to any hostile ship in the South Atlantic which can land fifty men at any point outside the arc of fire of the single manned gun.'
Re-establishment of a garrison in the Colony in time of peace.
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14. In the circumstances, and, although they recognise the serious military and administrative drawbacks to the stationing of small garrisons in isolated positions, the Oversea Defence Committee recommend the re-establishment in time of peace of a small garrison at St. Helena. They submit that the present arrangement, under which it is proposed to send out the garrison to the Colony from a home port in time of emergency, might be abandoned, as being unlikely to ensure the presence of the garrison in the Island during the early stages of a war, which is the time when an attack is most to be apprehended.
15. There are several fairly easy landing places on the coast of St. Helena, besides that at Jamestown. It is very desirable, therefore, that the garrison of the Island should comprise some troops in addition to the actual artillery personnel required for manning the fixed defences.
The Oversea Defence Committee accordingly recommend that a garrison of two companies of infantry in addition to the necessary artillery and engineer personnel should be maintained at all times in the Colony.
A garrison of this size would, in the opinion of the Committee, be sufficient to protect Jamestown against a raiding attack on the scale contemplated by the Admiralty. At the same time the proposed arrangement would relieve the Army Council of their present obligation to send out to the Colony, on an emergency arising, a war garrison of some 24 officers and 489 other ranks.
Coaling facilities at St. Helena.
16. The Admiralty, in their letter of the 18th December, 1912, printed as Appendix I to this Memorandum, point out that in the event of the Mediterranean route being unsafe, St. Helena would be an invaluable possession, providing, as it would do, British ships with a coaling station on the Cape route.
17. It may be intended that in time of war merchant ships should, like His Majesty's ships, be coaled from colliers anchored in St. James's Bay; but, if this is not so, the Oversea Defence Committee venture to call attention to the fact that the wharf at Jamestown is at the present time in a very unsatisfactory state of repair, and that the Governor states that unless works on a large scale are carried out for its repair the cooling facilities of the port will be seriously affected.
18. Owing to the deplorable state of depression prevailing in the Colony it neither possesses the expert labour nor the funds to carry out the necessary repairs, and, indeed, even if it could do so, the Governor doubts if the present needs of the Colony justify the heavy expenditure that would thereby be involved.
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