THE NEWFOUNDLAND QUARTERLY :: ONLINE EXCLUSIVES
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Online Exclusive for #430 (b)
"Shoal Harbour consists of some 20 wooden huts, a tiny pier alongside which runs a railroad track, behind which are a telegraph office, a little store which sells the most extraordinary assortment of goods and a small inn which can accommodate three or four travelers at most." On the evening of July 26, 1933 a formation of 24 aircraft, in groups of three in tight V-formation, made its journey in over Bear Mountain in Clarenville, veered east out over Random Island, and began its descent as it headed north up the length of the North West Arm of Trinity Bay. This was the most exciting thing to happen in the area since the Reids had brought their railway through Clarenville to Bonavista in 1911, an event marked by Prime Minister Edward Patrick Morris's numerous stops along this route to the end of the peninsula.
Twenty-four year old Cyril Wiseman, fresh from a stint in Boston, strapped on his I-MARI armband, attached the red and white boat pendant to the prow of his vessel, and made his journey out to one of the twenty-four moorings, marked by neatly laid and numbered 500-lb anchors, positioned along the shoreline extending down to Dark Hole on the south side of Shoal Harbour. Never mind that he was leaving behind a new girlfriend, however temporarily — this was something that he did not want to miss out on. With his punt was one of 48 to service the docked Italian fleet, this was a chance to be part of something special. The Italians, led by General Italo Balbo, were using The Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago to draw attention to their achievements and give them status in the emerging new world order. Balbo was a dashing figure, not just popular but revered. Decorated in WWI, he was one of four generals who took over Italy after that event, and was second in command and heir apparent to Benito Mussolini himself. Now Balbo had the skies of the Trinity Bay region buzzing with the sound of flying boats, approaching the second to last stop on a series of trips that saw them set down in Amsterdam, Ireland, Iceland, Labrador, Canada, Chicago and Shediac. The mode of transport was the Savoia-Marchetti S55s or the S-55 Flying Boat. Unique in its design, the single winged craft was supported on a pair of two twin hulls housing its trans-Atlantic passengers on their return flight. Flight was achieved with a single engine nacelle carrying a couple of in-line engines — one propeller pulling, the other in tandem pushing. The stop in Clarenville and Shoal Harbour was only intended to be a touch and go. The Italian yacht Alice (along with two submarines) took their position in the harbour off the hardwoods plant in Clarenville. But this was not sufficient to handle the new visitors. Railway cars had to be brought in from St. John's to house all the crew. People traveled in from St. John's and east by train from Grand Falls. The extended stay had created an unforeseen flux of employment in the town as well. There was the Ferry Boat command for the moored planes, extra staff at the Central Hotel (or Long's Hotel to those from the area) to cater to the influx of tourists, others to attend to the imported railway sleepers, launderettes for the crew, Boy Scouts to be requisitioned as "cookees" to assist the Italian chefs, and water carriers for the new mess hall at the IOOF lodge. The place felt like the carnival had come to town. Wine flowed. New meals were sampled. Pasta was abundant. Cooking techniques were introduced. Coffee beans were roasted on board the Alice, ground and brought back to the hall. Robins soaked in olive oil as a delicacy somehow did not catch on in the regional cuisine. Evenings at the IOOF hall were like visiting a USO club overseas, except it meant entertaining the future enemy. But it was before the war. Who knew? What kept them there for two weeks? Perhaps the bad weather in the mid-Atlantic and in Ireland, which forced them eventually to divert their route to the Azores. (There they would lose yet more of their crew in a fatal air crash.) To be in the company of these strange but interesting folk was novel. Eyes were opened as well as hearts maybe. But they would soon fade from memory, kept only alive by Balbo Elementary School and the town of Shoal Harbour's main street — Balbo Drive. Balbo himself was gunned down over Tubrok, Libya in 1940, aged 44 years. Clarenville had welcomed its first tour group, had hosted the initial air-bus tour. But what if there had been a defector amongst that group? How would that have changed the face of Clarenville? What if part of this imported Italian village had decided to stay? Maybe Clarenville would have ended up with Newfoundland's first Little Italy! Geoff Adams is an actor and Artistic Managing Director of The New Curtain Theatre in Clarenville. Next year the company plans to explore the what ifs and maybes of the Italian Invasion of Clarenville. Back to Online Exclusives main page. |
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