‘To Hell and back’

May 24, 2009 News

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‘Special Person’ Carl Bernard Morgan shares experiences of Independence and an impressive military career

“We have to stop all this backbiting; we have to move forward as a nation, and not be divided politically and racially, these are stumbling blocks to development. “We need a genuine desire to move this nation forward.”
By Neil Marks

Named after the great “Monty” and growing up in the fervour of World War II, which, for him, included a steady flow of books and films, it seemed inevitable that Carl Bernard Morgan would find a place in the military, but not the place he found himself in on November 1, 1965.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) was formed on that date, months before the country’s independence, the struggle for which Morgan was deeply caught up in; the euphoria still occupies his inner being, still boils in his bones, still radiates on his face.
The very day, Morgan, who started pursuing his dream of a career in the military at the tender age of 14, became the first officer of the just constituted GDF to visit the border markers in the North West on the eve of the birth of a new nation; a nation that had its groundings out of the treachery of the slave trade and the oppressive system of indentureship.
The British Garrison was withdrawing from the colony in preparation for Independence, and Morgan, an Intelligence Officer, toured the border markers as part of his takeover from the Garrison GSO3 (Int). It is a moment that Morgan will never forget. And indeed, how could he, who had slept, dreamt and pummeled his mind on stories of glory and freedom, not revel in this moment?
A year later, Morgan ended up at the borders again, this time, though, the imagery of war became real – the sovereignty of the newly formed Guyana was threatened.
Today, 43 years since achieving independence, Morgan sits as the chief executive of the MMC Group, a local security and public works conglomerate.
Rewind to 19 September 1944, and his life begins.

STORIES OF WAR
Carl Morgan was born in Georgetown; the last child of his parents. Four girls came before him. His father, Archie, was a descendant of East Indian indentured labourers and worked as a clerk at the Georgetown hospital while being a part-time Corporal in the British Guiana Militia.

When Archie decided to get married to Jane, a descendant of African slaves, he did so in military uniform, serving as foregleam to what his son, Carl Bernard, would do many, many years later.
Hence, Carl Morgan was born a “Dougla” and would soon come to realise how destructive and inhumane the categorisation of different ethnic groups could be.
In fact, today he does not hide abhorrence for the talk of Guyanese being a nation of six races. “I am a full-blown Guyanese,” he charges. “I hate to hear people talking about six races.”
He does not contend that the different cultures help to enrich Guyanese society, but he is adamant that each person must develop a Guyanese identity and stay true to it, beyond the divisiveness that he has seen.
Archie gave Carl the middle name ‘Bernard’ after the famous British military leader Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Al ‘Alamayn, who played a leading role in the Allied victories in Africa and Europe during the Second World War.
It’s a name that Morgan went on to walk around proudly with. “The war was glorious; people were dying, but it was glorious,” he recalls.
The house he first lived in was atop the Merriman’s Funeral Parlour, next to the Georgetown Hospital. He insists he was not afraid of the dead underneath, though his sister regaled her peers with many a story of ghost haunting.
His early school days were spent at Christ Church Secondary and then he moved on to the elite Queen’s College.

“Queen’s College was not just a school, but a way of way of life; it was an institution that affected you in every sphere of life.”
Morgan says it was Queen’s College that molded him into the person he became – Commandant of the Guyana People’s Militia and Commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade.
He started his uniformed service at the age of 14 when he joined the Queen’s College Cadet Corps, rising to the rank of Cadet Officer, a distinction achieved by only a few while still students.
While in school, he took on the opportunity to join the many societies the College had.  “Music was a mistake, though, my voice wasn’t good enough.”
At a very young age, he started exploring Guyana as part of the Tour group. One of the challenges was a two-day walk from Atkinson Air Field base (now the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri) to Linden, at a time when there was no highway, so a path to trek had to be cut out of the jungle. And not only that, they had to dig the ground to get water – they were lost! Eventually, two members of the group went ahead and brought in guides from Linden to lead the group. They reached five days later.
Later on, Morgan took on another trip, this time an overland trek to Georgetown.
He went to Cadet Classes on Tuesdays and Fridays in the afternoon. Training involved rigorous exercises at the Army base at Tacama in the Berbice River during August.

During school days, he was among those on Saturday’s pressing down the door of the National Library at nine in the morning to get the latest books that featured wars. And he was constant at the movies too.
One of his favourite movies is ‘To Hell and Back’, the real life account of Audie Murphy, America’s most decorated soldier of World War II, who chalked up a slew of medals and the adoration of a grateful nation. The battle scenes are first rate, and the exciting sequence in France, where Murphy climbs a smoldering tank and mans a .50 calibre machine gun, single-handedly repelling a German attack, further induced Morgan’s mind to a career in the military.
During this time, the race riots, which gripped the colony was in full swing, but Morgan says it never affected him, nor did it affect those who were in school. He recalls playing cricket and riding along the Georgetown seawall with little bother.

A DISTINGUISHED MILITARY CAREER
A few months after leaving school, he was selected as one of the first six cadet officers of the British Guiana Special Service Unit (BGSSU) and attended Mons Officer Cadet School in the UK in February 1965.  On his return, he was appointed a platoon commander.  He opted to transfer to the Guyana Defence Force when it was formed on November 1, 1965.
This led up to the events mentioned at the outset.
When Morgan came back, he was posted with 30 men assigned to Branch Road, Mahaicony, to keep the peace. The racial disturbance of the period was then petering out, but the soldiers were there to make sure no one was killed.
Morgan says the disturbances were responsible for the dislocation of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people.
At the end of the conflict, 160 deaths were recorded and more than 1,000 homes destroyed.
On the night of Independence, May 26, 1966, when the fireworks went into the air amid the pageantry of the independence ceremony, Morgan was manning security units at the Thomas Lands barracks, now the Army headquarters renamed Camp Ayanganna. A new day had dawned. Peace would reign. Or would it?
On October 12, 1966, a mere six months after Independence, the Guyana government discovered that Venezuelan soldiers were quietly taking over the island of Ankoko at the confluence of the Cuyuni and Wenamu rivers. As a result, Morgan ended at the border region again. This time, he accompanied then Chief of Staff Colonel Pope on a reconnaissance mission.
The next day, even though he was an Intelligence Officer, he flew in with the troops as a combatant. They were met by the Police Commander of the Interior Division Lloyd Barker (who would later become a Commissioner of Police).
With Venezuelan military occupying the entire island of Ankoko, the Guyanese soldiers set up camp in the jungles of Eteringbang.
“Venezuelans used to fly fighter aircraft over our heads, supposedly to scare us; helicopters were doing a lot of filming,” recalls Morgan.
However, the Guyanese soldiers did not fire at the Venezuelans. The crisis was diffused by diplomatic means, but the Venezuelans continue to occupy Ankoko to this day and the Guyanese remain stationed at Eteringbang.
Four years later, Morgan ended up on the frontlines of another battle – that to end an incursion of the New River Triangle by the Surinamese military, which included an established airstrip and a camp.
When the country attained Republican status on February 23, 1970, Morgan was in the camp at the New River base ‘Camp Jaguar” that was set up by the Army to consolidate the country’s position after the camp and airstrip set up in the territory were captured in a lightning assault called “Operation Climax.”
Morgan served in numerous appointments during his tenure in the Army,  including Intelligence Officer, Reconnaissance Platoon Commander, Adjutant of the 1st Battalion; Company Commander, Officer Commanding Training Corps; Commanding Officer Internal Operations Command; General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO 1 Coord); Commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade.
He served on secondment in the public sector as CEO of the Matthew’s Ridge-Arakaka-Port Kaituma (Matarkai) Development Authority 1979 and as Director of Operations of the Guyana Fisheries Corporation before returning to the Force to assume the appointment of Commandant Guyana People’s Militia (GPM) (1982), and in 1988, Commander Operations and Training of the GDF.
He attended the Commonwealth Jungle Warfare School in Malaysia; the Company Commanders’ Course at the School of Infantry Warminster, (UK); the army school of Instructional Technology, Beaconsfield, (UK); the Army Staff College, Camberley, (UK) and the National Defence College, New Delhi, India where he achieved the Master’s degree in Defence Studies.  He also holds the Diploma in Public Administration from the University of Guyana.
Morgan retired from military service on his appointment as Guyana Ambassador to Suriname in 1990. His appointment came at the height of a coup in Paramaribo, orchestrated by Army commander Lt. Col. Dési Bouterse.
Morgan was in Suriname when Guyana agreed to send a batch of soldiers who helped in supervising the handover of weapons by the Surinamese Bush-Negroes in a peace deal.
With the change of government in Guyana in October 1992, Morgan’s stint in Suriname ended.
He returned home and helped to start the COPS security service and later moved on to Neal and Massy, starting up Securicor. Then, he moved to the MMC Group to start up the security division and now manages the entire operations of the MMC Group.
In February 2008, breaking tradition Colonel (Ret) Morgan, became the first former member of the GDF to be elected to the Presidency of the Guyana Legion and pledged to have unity among all veterans.
He said that as President of the Legion, he is keen on looking after the interest of all ex-soldiers. He wants to change the perception that the Legion represents veterans of the two World wars.
“The Guyana legion must be seen as the home of all military veterans, regardless of age.”
Morgan says all he has achieved in his life is due to the enduring support of his family (he is married with two daughters, and a grandson), whether he served in the interior locations, in Suriname, and in his other demanding pursuits, including that of President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce – even with quiet exploits in the visual arts.
As the country prepares to mark the 43rd Independence anniversary, this eminent military officer feels the true spirit of Independence has been lost due to the inability of the country’s leaders to steer the country towards prosperity.
“I grew up learning of this country’s great potential. This potential is unrealised; with this vast landscape and small population, we should have been rich.”
“We have to stop all this backbiting; we have to move forward as a nation, and not be divided politically and racially, these are stumbling blocks to development.
“We need a genuine desire to move this nation forward.”

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