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    The older French settlers found themselves relegated to an inferior position, both economically and socially; the new village physically severed ties between Mainland on the one hand, Black Duck Brook and Winterhouses on the other; and schools serving this area of the peninsula were centralized in Lourdes, consequently imposing an almost totally English language educational system on it. I visited the town in 1970 to exchange views on the teaching of French there, and the then high school principal said that he was obliged to ask the few French students in the upper classes to help him with French pronunciation. The students themselves were frustrated because their pronunciation was different from the one proposed by the teachers, which further contributed to the devaluation of French in the eyes of both sides.

    But let us go back to 1940. This year saw the creation of an American Air Force Base at Stephenville. In fact, the American government had purchased the necessary land in 1939, following agreements between the U.S.A. and Great Britain. At the time, the region's inhabitants considered the construction of the Ernest Harmon Air Force Base to be a great benefit. And not without cause. Faced with a choice between the sometimes precarious life of a fisherman and that of an employee paid regularly in cash, many of the French decided to seek work on the base.