Oakes bought the bush land which sat off Nassau Street, about three miles or so from the city centre, Nassau. Harry Oakes has millions to spend and he spent a fortune all over the Bahamas. Christie, Harry Oakes was the biggest fish anyone could have caught in that era. If they invested, a hotel might be constructed, a new subdivision might be carved out of the bushes or Bay Street could entertain some new businesses. If they bought land, then maybe they might invest. He travelled America and Canada pulling foreign investors to the Bahamas to do one thing. Sir Harry Oakes, the gold mining millionaire moved to the Bahamas on the behest of Bahamian H. Oakesfield is named after the man who once owned the area. The area is home to government buildings, the University of the Bahamas, schools and several generations of native Bahamians.īurma Road – The Road Where the March Started. Oakes’ Field became Oakesfield, as it is known today. When the airport was moved, the area became zoned for residential and commercial purposes. The Project was in the area called Oakes’ Field.Īfter the war, the landing strip became a regular airport. The riot began over pay for the Bahamian negro labourers at the “Project.” The Project was the military landing strip for British and American planes during World War 2. Where the footsteps of men who cemented their efforts for change, into the minds of those living, and those yet to be born, once existed, have long ago been concreted over. They were either renamed or removed altogether when further development of the area took place. Their bottled up frustrations perforated the smugness of the ruling elite of Nassau, who long felt that the docile Bahamian labourer could do nothing, but grumble, and accept his fate.Īs time moved on from June 1, 1942, the historical markers, and the memories of the popular uprising that started in Oakes’ Field, in New Providence, began to fade.Īt some point, the name of the roads in the areas where the men marched into history, were erased. The same way rushing water can carve a gigantic hole in the thickest of rocks, if given enough time, and enough force, so did the pent up frustrations of marginalised Bahamian labourers in 1942. The Burma Road Riot carved out an indelible place in Bahamian history.
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