"ADULTS' & their behaviour that CHILDREN follow."

EXCERPT from my book: 1950s/1960s in BRITISH GUIANA now GUYANA.


Our country was experiencing a political 'on-rest' and BRITISH Soldiers were deployed to maintain order because local political leaders were fighting for a change of power. The new political parties sought and continued to achieve independence from the ruling British and they (British rulers) in turn were trying to prevent it from occurring.

There was a large 'in-flow' of the British Soldiers that they were spread in every area of the country. There were many incidents between the local Police and our Military force with the British Soldiers in a repeated struggle for who has the control of the City (Georgetown). We heard of many fights between the local Police Force and Soldiers where in some of the British were arrested.

The hostility between the British Soldiers and the locals people (adults) developed because they (most locals) were opposed to the Ruling British that had mandate to rule and their attempts in trying to prevent the wheels of struggle for change by bringing & using the British Army as controllers. Out of this move towards change can a group of 'think-tanks' from with in some parties who developed & used political
slogans (painted and repeated) around the country.

The political slogans now exposed to all and as you would 'know-it' were repeated by children who did not totally understand the political movement and why it started or where it was going. We somehow, unconsciously joined, got involved in heavy canvassing and verbal fought for the new political change. We followed the militant adults' in their fight for freedom and equality. But is there really such a feeling as equality and freedom?

In the 'heat-of-the-struggle' one evening after school a group of us (boys) were on our way home. We were walking on CAMP street and as we crossed South Road on the East side there was a army jeep parked with British solders. We started to shout, "LIME-E GO HOME." We started running after we shouted and did not look in the direction we were heading because we had expected the Solders in the jeep to follow us. But it didn't happen and as we turned our heads towards our way home we ran into the arms of six British solders. They were walking towards us with guns in their hands.

As we were held by five of them (one of us in each arm) in the air. We started crying and saying "Sorry sir, we aren't going to do it anymore." Our capture was fun to the other solders sitting in the Jeep because they were laughing and our friends that weren't caught also laughed at us. The solders had us in the air for some time and as they did one said, "What you guys are doing is wrong and you could be arrested."

As we were in the hands of the army locals started to shout different remarks,
1- "Why yo lime don't put dem children down and pick pun yo own size."
2- " Lime-e go ome."
3- "We don't want yo in we country lime."
4- "Yo all lime-e causin' mo trouble dan anythin'."

By this time the other solders 'jumped-out' out of the jeep that was about fifty feet away with their guns at a 90% angle waste high and started to tell the crowd to move along. With the new development the British solders let us go and said that we must not follow the adults. We responded by saying yes and as you might guess as we ran away we shouted "LIME-E GO HOME." I was 9 years old.
Leyton E. FRANKLIN B. F. A Hon's