From the archive, 17 October 1961: Islanders flee volcano for sanctuary of Cape Town

A volcanic eruption on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha forces the displaced onto a boat for South Africa

theguardian.com, Thursday 17 October 2013

Evacuees from Tristan Da Cunha on board a Dutch liner bound for Cape Town in 1961. Photograph: Central Press/Getty

Cape Town, October 16

More than two thousand people gathered at the docks to welcome the islanders who stood in groups on the deck of the liner as it entered the harbour. For most of them it was the first sight of any country outside their own island, now devastated by eruptions.

The Rev. Charles Jewett, of Bristol, Anglican priest from the island, said soon after their arrival: "They know they can't go back. The volcano was a pretty big affair when we left and it is ten times bigger now. They know the island is written off, from the living point of view."

Mr Sidney Glass, great-great-grandson of Corporal William Glass, the island's original settler, commented: "We are all very unhappy about leaving. We would have liked to stay; but it's better to be going to Britain than to be staying on a volcanic island."

His voice has the odd inflection of the islanders, who still speak a kind of Victorian Cockney, pronouncing "W" for "V". Mr Glass had high praise for the island's British administrator, Mr Peter Wheeler. "He is a really good man, the way he organised things (for the evacuation)."

Next to him in the lounge of the Tjisadane sat Mrs Margaret Wheeler, who left the island with her three children on Tuesday. The youngest is only a year old. "He had a great time during the earthquakes," Mrs Wheeler said. "He wasn't a bit scared."

But for the rest of the islanders the last hours before they were taken off by the motor-vessel Tristanian were "pretty terrifying" in the words of Mr Glass. "First of all," he said, "there were great rumbles. Then rocks started falling. The first cracks appeared on Sunday, and a big one on Monday, east of the settlement. That night we spent in the potato patches.

"There was only enough shelter for the women and children so we men had to keep walking about all night."

That night they were too far away to hear the rumbling of the volcano. But next day they had to retrace their steps to the beach where the two fishing vessels were waiting to take them off, on Mr Wheeler's orders.

Tomorrow thanksgiving services are to be held in two churches here. There will be pleasure trips and the islanders will he transferred to the liner Stirling Castle tomorrow and sail for Britain on Friday. Mr Jewell said: "They look forward to going to Britain - it has always been home to them in a way. I am going back to London with them and I would like to stay with them until they are settled down." So much clothing has been collected for the islanders in response to an appeal by the Capetown Red Cross that no more is needed at present.

British officials hope that the delicate question of colour will not be a problem here. Most islanders are racially mixed. But Mr Peter Lewis, a British Embassy official, said yesterday he was sure that the problem would not arise, as the islanders would go ashore with friends.

The entire population of Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, was evacuated following the eruption of Queen Mary's Peak in 1961. Most families returned to the island in 1963. The current population is 264.

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/oct/17/boat-people-volcano-cape-town