Barrings Island Incident

The Barrings Island Incident was the culmination of a short dispute between Britain and France over the BOUNDARIES and fishing rights of the tiny French colony of St. Pierre and Miquelon. In March, 1931, at the beginning of the inshore cod season, a group of French fishermen landed on Barrings Island (sometimes termed "Barrings Reef") approximately 10 kilometres from Miquelon Island, between Miquelon and the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland. Members of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary arrived on Barrings Island on April 3, 1931, to demand the French nationals leave. Instead, the French fishermen called on their short wave radios for help from Miquelon. The governor of Miquelon, Aubrey Fauteaux, dispatched a coast guard cutter carrying French marines. These soldiers arrived on the night of April 5-6 and arrested four members of the Newfoundland Constabulary. Whitehall protested the arrests and, on April 15, the Royal Newfoundland constables were returned to Newfoundland territory. The issue of ownership of the island was referred to the International Tribunal in the Hague, which found (June 11, 1933) Barrings Island was British/Newfoundland territory. The incident was blamed for the British government's refusal to subscribe to an issue of French colonial bonds (CFS) issued in the spring of 1931, and strained relations between the two countries well into the following summer.

References

Roger Sarty, The Barrings Island Incident of 1931 and Its Impact on Anglo-French Relations. Canadian Historical Review Vol. 43, No. 3 (Fall, 1985) pp. 235-357.