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36ASCENSION ISLAND %u2013 GATEWAY TO THE FALKLANDSGroup Captain Jeremy PriceJeremy Price graduated from Cranwell in 1959.Initial experience on PR Canberras in Germanywas followed by a lengthy involvement in the AARrole, as practitioner, planner and staff officer.Further flying tours on Valiants and Victor Mks 1sand 2s, included command of No 232 OCU, No 57Sqn and RAF Marham. His final appointment,before taking early retirement in 1987, was asDirector of Defence Commitments (UK).Much has been written about the role of Ascension Island as theforward base supporting British Forces in the South Atlantic and the airoperations mounted from Wideawake airfield. However, little attentionhas been directed to the nature of Ascension Island, the background tothe resident community, the facilities that existed when the firstdeployments arrived, the limited resources available and the measurestaken to mitigate shortcomings and develop Wideawake as the operatingbase for Operation CORPORATE. The missions launched fromAscension are synonymous with air-to-air refuelling and, while theextraordinary air-refuelled long-range air operations hit the headlines,there are but meagre records of the unique challenges faced by both theplanners of these operations and the crews flying the multi-aircraftmissions.ASCENSION ISLANDAscension Island lies in the South Atlantic at 0755S 1415W, almostmidway between the UK and the Falklands. Approximately 34 squaremiles in area it is a peak rising west of the mid-Atlantic ridge, some10,000 feet above the ocean floor. The island was thrown up by volcanicactivity over thousands of years: it has forty-four major craters and thereare a half-dozen extensive lava flows. The most recent eruption wasperhaps only 700 years ago. If it were not for its position, Ascensionwould probably have remained uninhabited.Discovered by the Portuguese in 1501 it was the Royal Navy whoestablished the first permanent settlement in 1815 when Napoleon wasexiled to St Helena. The settlement, now called Georgetown after King