I took this photograph of Gordon McIntyre sitting at the dining table in Gough House in 1981. As Radio Operator it was Gordon’s duty to send six-hourly weather reports to the South African Weather Service HQ in Pretoria. Above his head is the portrait of Prince Philip that commemorates his brief visit to the island in 1957.
Gough is part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, and South Africa operates its strategic weather station with the permission of the United Kingdom. That explains why the portrait was still on display despite the strained relations that existed between Britain and the Apartheid government. To the right of His Highness there was a framed picture of the State President of South Africa, the Rt. Hon. Marais Viljoen. A patriotic Afrikaner from a previous team had placed a toilet seat over Philip’s picture as a gesture of resentful disrespect. Loathing the Christian Nationalists as I did, I had no compunction in moving the piece of sanitaryware over for the President to stare through. I was then able to look up at his repugnant features without feeling an urge to spit or throw something.
This reminiscence was prompted by Prince Philip’s death on 11 April 2021 at the age of 99.
Here is a link to an article recording the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to Gough Island in 1957.
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