The airstrip was built by the Americans back in World War II, and then later lengthened to accommodate spacecraft. Other businesses open at set times, and their opening hours are also published. Some of locals are often willing to take experienced visitors with them, There are Fumaroles and Lava Tunnels to explore (at Command Hill, near the Catholic Grotto). All the while, space age windmills line the coast, spinning madly.
This bird will help us explain why the American air base on Ascension Island is called "Wideawake Field."

He said Chenault's absence during the Japanese surrender bothered MacArthur because the Flying Tigers had been so important to the war. The rest of Ascension looks dead, or at least in a coma. The same way you came in - by plane. During the Second World War the United States Government, by arrangement with His Majesty’s Government, developed Wideawake Airfield. The only hotel on the island, operated by the Obsidian Group, has been closed since the 25th of September (same goes for it's 2 hostels and cottages), as Obsidian ceased operations following the last flights to the Island. Text is available under [http://wikitravel.org/shared/Copyleft Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0] images are available under [http://wikitravel.org/shared/How_to_re-use_Wikitravel_guides various licenses], see each image for details. The British air force base had newer, better housing compared to the American base—but it was all pre-fabricated and as austere as the dead volcanic hills around me. Most of them are no longer secret—thanks to GPS and Google Maps, anyone can pretty much look at anywhere they want. I wondered what how they referred to their houses—inhabitation units?

All rights reserved. I was curious to find out and as luck would have it, I got the chance: while en route across the Atlantic, we had two whole days on Ascension. Giant green sea turtles nest on Ascension, and one night, I was able to witness the birth of thousands of cute, golf-ball-sized baby turtles. She was stationed on Ascension Island serving with the USAF when Dad died--and with me here and she on Ascension, she helped me arrange to donate my father's World War II Ascension Island papers to the Island Heritage Society. Or add a comment to this page. There are no hire cars available. The island may be reached by air or sea.

If you'd like to contact her just email her at: rchapsblog@gmail.com. With his gentle blue eyes glistening and his bottom lip often quivering, 95-year-old Eugene "Tex" Ritter sat down with me to talk about his days as a "Hump Pilot" during World War II. Just email us at: rchapsblog@gmail.com.

That’s the whole point of a secret military base—to remain unknown and practically invisible. It’s a weird place. He was a retired officer, a "full bird Colonel" as they say in the Army, so he could get people in the military to. The country code for Ascension is 247 and the population is too small to need area or trunk STD codes. Passports must be valid for a minimum period of 6 months from the date of entry into Ascension, and visitors must also have full medical insurance which will cover the expense of medical evacuation, if needed. There is no public transport (including taxis) on Ascension. If you get the chance to go out fishing with the locals, you may walk away with a bag of tuna. My grandparents framed this print. During this period, the island enjoyed increased revenues from the sale of flax, with prices peaking in 1951. Today, some twenty donkeys still wander the hillsides like animal ghosts from the old world. The RMS Saint Helena ceased operations in 2018 after a new airport opened on Saint Helena. During World War II the shipping of fresh vegetables overseas was not practical and remote islands where troops were stationed were not a place where they could be grown in the soil. Today, there are weekly US military flights to an Air Force base in Florida and RAF flights to both England and the Falkland Islands. Click the pic for the story. In March of 1942, one of the most remote islands in the world received a visit from the United States military. When I shared that information with Ritter, he promptly produced his Flying Tigers identification card. [2] (Numbers starting with 0 or 5 have been reserved for future services). It starts its route in Cape Town. "I told him the C-46 and he said 'We use those for checkpoints flying over the Hump.". During World War II, the UK permitted the US to construct Wideawake airfield on Ascension in support of trans-Atlantic flights to Africa and anti-submarine operations in the South Atlantic. Support local journalism: New subscribers, visit floridatoday.com/subscribe. When a rather adventurous acquaintance of mine once sailed around the world, he tried coming to Ascension but never made it to shore—he was quickly approached by a British military patrol boat and commanded to leave immediately or face arrest. The International Prefix is 00.

From July 1942 to the end of the war in 1945 US planes transited Ascension Island destined for the North African, Middle Eastern and European theatres of war . From 5PM. Invisible Ascension Island made that all possible. "The Air War Finds A Handy South Atlantic Island" was the caption on this Peter Hurd painting of Ascension Island, from Life Magazine, April 1945. There are signs pointing to it near the port, M 17:00-19:00, Sa 10:00-12:00, or by special arrangement if possible (call 2326(W) or 2455(H)), It's part of Diocese of Cape Town along with it's counter-part in St. Helena. The island was first inhabited when the British garrisoned it as part of imprisoning Napoleon on St Helena to the southeast (1815). So that was it?

For more on his life and death, click the pic. The mental distance between this tiny place and elsewhere, the fact that everyone is a temporary visitor to a somewhat secret place. Yet for all the natural beauty of the island and the surrounding sea, there was also a strange sort of listlessness on Ascension Island—the sadness of buzz cuts and lifetimes spent in remote places. Here's a favorite photo of Robin with her engineer father. There is a Wi-Fi hotspot in Obsidian Hotel's lobby and patio for £10/day. She was a cheerleader and he was a football player.

Hydroponic technology was tested as a viable source for fresh vegetables during this time.

My life with PTSD: Crowded concerts, intimacy are triggers, columnist writes, Amazing: Paralyzed veteran's 1,200-mile handcycle ride to end with celebration. A dead, volcanic landscape stretches out between a dozen or so black cones, each streaked with earthy red tones. They met during high school having grown up in a suburb of Pittsburgh.

Ritter's wife of 73-years, Betty, told me that her husband has only recently started talking about his experiences as a Hump Pilot during World War II in recent years. From 1943-1945 tens of thousands of American planes landed on the island on a route from the United States to Brazil and then northwards through Africa. The main settlement and "capital" is Georgetown where the tourist information office is in the Obsidian Hotel (see "Sleep" section). The tourist information office is in the Obsidian Hotel (see Sleep). You probably haven’t heard of Ascension Island because they never wanted you to. Ritter and his crew took their plane — dubbed "Flying Eagle" — and made the journey to India, making stops along the way in South America, the Ascension Islands and the Coast of Africa. RMS ship Sain Helena [1] also stops in Ascension island. Sport fishing is the main attraction for visitors to Ascension Island. Twenty-five thousand planes landed here as they headed across the Atlantic to theatres all over the world. I sincerely hope that I am not revealing any state secrets here, but the American base on Ascension Island feels like the most soulless college campus in the universe. The internet allows anyone to peek into anyone else’s backyard, be it the White House or Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan. RAF Ascension Island, also known as Wideawake Airfield or Ascension Island Auxiliary Field, is a military airfield and facility located on Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean.

In addition to the winds, pilots had poor visibility often contending with rain, sleet, hail, snow and icing of the windshield. The exact details in the stories are a little hazier than they used to be but the pride of having served his country and the emotion associated with flying dangerous missions has not waned. Wind is the soundtrack of Ascension Island—wind and wild canaries, introduced from the actual Canary Islands and who make do with the scraggly tree limbs, singing like cheerful children. My father corresponded with the author for many years. ", "He never really talked too much about it much," Betty chimed in, "really just these last five or ten years.".

In addition to the altitude that could wreak havoc on the propeller-driven planes and the jagged rocky peaks that dotted the skyline, pilots had to contend with violent winds caused by warm air from the Indian Ocean meeting cold dry air from Siberia. Wideawake Field in a painting by Peter Hurd for Life Magazine, April 30 1945. Situated in the South Atlantic, the island’s ex- ... landed on the island during his second exploratory voyage around the world. An Entry Visa issued by the Administrator's office allows a stay of up to 3 months. He wanted to go back in 1982--for the fortieth anniversary of the completion of Wideawake Field--and started pestering anyone and everyone he could.

The Post Office in Georgetown offers a vast array of Philatelic items for sale from the three islands of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha. My father also has a chapter in this book, "Voices of my Comrades: Americas's Reserve Officers Remember World War II" edited by Carol Adele Kelly. In the 1960s the island became an important space tracking station for the US.


Ascension Island was garrisoned by the British Admiralty from 22 October 1815 to 1922. I kept driving—seeking, searching—and then drove my car right onto the island’s famous runway.

Positive thinking was my goal. Ascension Island is mostly just a big clinker of volcanic rock. Let me tell you—it’s not easy getting to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean—halfway between Africa and Brazil. I am working on an article about my father's unit on Ascension Island during World War II and I realize the one thing I haven't written much about here is that he returned to the island in 1988.

Ritter was ready to fly for his country. Ascension Island features what was at one time reputed to be the world's worst golf course. Then the real work, the real challenges began of making countless treacherous flights over the mountain range known as the Hump. Americans on Ascension Island in World War II. Because everything is imported prices for food are very high on the island. Watermark theme. Long Beach, as inviting as it looks, has a very hazardous undertow and is not suitable for sea bathing. There are a few paths (such as Rupert's Path) suitable for hiking into the more lush highlands, as well as mountainside lava tubes to explore.

He and Betty got engaged before he took off in his C-46 cargo plane from West Palm Beach. There are also some beaches and ocean swimming in certain coves, such as Comfortless Cove and English Bay. Sometimes the community hosts a fish fry that is open to everyone. During the Second World War, Ascension assumed even greater strategic importance.