Page 37 - Demo

37George III, is located on the north west coast. Activities soon extended toGreen Mountain which rises 2817 feet above sea level and dominates theisland; here a farm was set up near the peak on the only naturally arableland, hence the name Green Mountain. The climate is tropical maritime,pleasantly warm with a prevailing south-easterly wind which can reach30-35 knots during the day. Cloud forms readily over Green Mountainwith, on occasion, heavy, blustery showers developing in the latemorning/early afternoon period; the wind and rain, combined with thepervasive volcanic dust, can make for uncomfortable conditions. Theanchorage off Georgetown is affected by a heavy, unpredictable swelloften rendering the pierhead unusable for up to three days a week.The beginning of modern Ascension came in WW II when US Armyengineers constructed Wideawake Airfield in 1942 as a vital staging postbetween the United States and the theatres in North Africa and SouthernEurope. The wartime US base held as many as 4000 servicemen at onetime. The airstrip fell into disuse when troops were withdrawn at the endof the war, but in 1956 an agreement was signed by Britain and the USpermitting the use of Ascension as a tracking station for the USAFEastern Missile Test Range. The airfield was improved and its runwayextended to 10,000 feet. A new base was built together with radar andtelemetry facilities.Ten years later NASA introduced a satellite tracking station 1800 feetup at Devil%u2019s Ashpit in the south east of the island. In April 1982 theairfield had, in addition to its excellent runway, a large dispersal capableof accommodating twenty-four large fixed-wing aircraft and, on oneoccasion, thirty-six helicopters. Wideawake was commanded by aLieutenant Colonel USAF and manned under contract by Pan AmericanAirways (Pan Am) to provide support for up to 285 aircraft movements ayear.The island is administered by a Resident (British) Administrator. Atthe time of the build up the island existed with two shops, a fourteen-bedhospital, two civilian doctors, a dentist, a padre and sufficientaccommodation and an adequate public works capacity to support thepopulation of some 1000, including fifty-eight European families. Thispopulation consisted entirely of expatriates; British (FCO administrators,BBC and Cable & Wireless), Americans (USAF, Pan Am and NASA),South Africans working for the South Atlantic Cable Company and ageneral work force from St Helena. All supplies were either air freighted