Manuel Coelho Baptista de Lima Military History Branch
“From an initially distant war, the stranglehold of Azorean exports would soon be felt in the traditional markets, which were at war. The presence of surface squadrons in Azorean waters would disappear just as quickly as the initial neutrality which had protected German vessels in the islands’ harbours. The presence of German submarines in its waters from 1915 onwards reinforced the military fears that had been clamouring for resources since the beginning of the conflict, reaching a climax with the bombardment of Ponta Delgada in July 1917. With an important sea, two important harbours, a German Concentration Camp and telegraph or T.S.F. cable stations, the Azores became the target of US attention and the Portuguese state’s attempt to offset the establishment of an American base in the city. However, the lives of the Azoreans had become miserable: from the scarcity of imports and exports and the serious financial and defence difficulties that had turned peasants into soldiers without resources, the end of the war would become even more radicalised due to the sea warfare and a Spanish flu that would sweep through the archipelago.”