The Tribune

AN INVITATION has arrived in Nassau announcing a special ceremony by the US Postal Service of the First-Day-of-Issue ceremony for the C Alfred “Chief” Anderson stamp. “Chief” Anderson is known to the world as the “Father of Black Aviation”.

The ceremony is to be held at Bryn Mawr College in Anderson’s home state of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on March 13. “This will be the first postal stamp issued for a Tuskegee Airman — the nation’s first African-American military aviators,” wrote Arit Essien of the US Air Force.

In his memoirs of a Tuskegee airman, “Chief” Anderson recorded his flight in the skies with the US’s First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt:

“She told me,” wrote Anderson, “‘I always heard Negroes couldn’t fly and I wondered if you’d mind taking me up.’ All her escorts got tremendously upset and told her she shouldn’t do it… When we came back, she said, ‘Well, you can fly all right.’ I’m positive that when she went home, she said, ‘Franklin, I flew with those boys down there, and you’re going to have to do something about it.”

It is recorded that she flew with Anderson to show her support for the Tuskegee programme. According to Anderson, the Army Air Corps started the training of blacks several days after Mrs Roosevelt’s historic flight.

Anderson has etched a name for himself in American history.

But what about his good friend Bahamian born Dr Albert (Bert) E Forsyth? Dr Forsyth accompanied “Chief” Anderson on many of his history making long-distance flights. In fact, Anderson was Bert Forsyth’s co-pilot on their Pan American Goodwill Tour of the Caribbean — it was the first flight of a land plane from Miami to the Bahamas.

This has led a family member in Nassau to wonder if Bahamian Bert Forsyth, who was inducted into the Smithsonian Air Museum and honoured by the US post office, would one day be honoured in his own country. Apparently, some time ago, a move was made in Nassau to try to get such recognition. However, it never got off the ground. It is now time for Bahamians to reconsider etching Dr Forsyth’s contribution into our own history books. Like “Chief” Anderson, a Forsyth postage stamp would be in order.

In March 2004, a landmark in black history was celebrated in a lecture in Nassau to mark that first land flight to the Bahamas. In 1934, with Dr Forsyth at the aircraft’s wheel and “Chief” Anderson with him as co-pilot, under the headlights of local cars, their plane was the first to land on solid ground in Nassau — up until then only seaplanes serviced the Bahamas. It was acknowledged that Dr Forsyth on that flight had helped to develop air tourism to the West Indies.

Before making his historic flight, Dr Forsyth had asked Tribune publisher the late Sir Etienne Dupuch to help the two aviators find a landing spot in Nassau.

“This presented a great problem for me,” wrote Sir Etienne.

“They were making the flight in a land plane and there was no landing strip in Nassau… it seemed impossible for a land plane to visit Nassau unless I could find a spot where a safe landing might be made.”

Sir Etienne located a road system laid out at Westward Villas by a Florida firm that had folded. He warned Dr Forsyth to beware of the casuarina trees that would obscure the roads after dark.

Invitations were sent out and the town folk arrived to witness the history-making event. However, as dark fell, there was still no sign of the plane. Thinking that something had gone wrong, Bahamians were preparing to leave when they heard a droning in the sky.

Cars turned on their headlights to illuminate the road. The plane circled several times and finally came in for a perfect landing. However, when Sir Etienne whisked the two hungry men to Government House, where Sir Bede Clifford was to be their host, there was no food left for them. Sir Bede said he had given them up for lost and his guests had devoured the feast. And so the two airmen dined at the Dupuch cottage, where The Tribune is now located, and bedded down at the home of Mr and Mrs TA Toote, now the location of Charles Carter’s radio station on Dowdeswell Street, just behind The Tribune.

Capt Paul Aranha is one of Dr Forsyth’s remaining Nassau relatives. Capt Aranha, a first cousin once removed, is himself an aviator.

Today Capt Aranha makes an interesting observation, and asks a question. “It’s interesting to see that the United States is honouring Anderson with his own postage stamp,” he said.

“Do you think the Bahamas might see fit to recognise Bert Forstyth?”

A good question that deserves an affirmative answer — and soon.