When you come to Bermuda [1941 – Bermuda]

When it comes to spending your time in the Service on a remote island during World War II, I would wager that most folks first think of the Pacific Theater. However, the American military boasted a robust presence in the Atlantic as well, including places like Bermuda and the Azores. Based on his handwriting, it appears this sender served as his own censor before sending this postcard to Delaware in mid-1941. The Lend-Lease policy would have been the dominant policy at the time, prior to the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ subsequent official entry into World War II in December of 1941.

American military presence in Bermuda was established as a naval operation in 1918 during The Great War, World War I. Being part of the British Commonwealth, Bermuda hosted American installations in conjunction with British military bases during World War II as well, and an entirely new American naval base was built in 1941.  The island’s remote location in the Atlantic, more than 600 miles of the East coast of Cape Hatteras, NC, lent itself to use as a stopping point for land-based (as apposed to Naval) aircraft, and Kindley Field was operated by the U.S. Army Air Corps in Bermuda for that purpose from 1943 to 1948. As the flight range of aircraft increased in subsequent years, the need for the stopover point diminished, and what was then known as Kindley Air Force Base closed in 1970. Use of Bermuda by the U.S. Navy continued until much more recently, but Naval Air Station Bermuda (NAS Bermuda) also closed in 1995. (Source: Wikipedia)

A nice place for you to stay when you come to Bermuda.

Lt. L. M. Dobson

Postmark: American Base Forces A. P. O. 802 – August 14, 1941 (Bermuda)

To: Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hudson, Georgetown, DE

U.S. Military in Bermuda

Footage of aircraft and watercraft filmed in Bermuda in 1941.

The aerial photo below shows Bermuda in 1970, at the time Kindley AFB was closed.

Resources:

Photos of the USO in Bermuda in 1941 – Here Are 7 USO Photos You’ve Never Seen Before