Captain Bloom dies at 90

Bloom died on Monday in his sleep at the age of 90, at his home in the United Kingdom (UK). And one of his wishes was that a portion of his ashes be scattered in the waters off the north west peninsula where he served for several years as a pioneer of the local Coast Guard from its inception in 1962.

During the army mutiny, Bloom took one of the Coast Guard vessels out to sea at Teteron and fired the vessel’s guns onto the Chaguaramas hillside, bringing down mounds of earth and effectively blocking the single roadway from the army headquarters to the rest of the country.

Bloom was seriously wounded by an unknown gunman as he slept in his quarters some 18 months after the state of emergency, although he expressed the view that the shooting was not connected with his role in the 1970 incident.

The British-born Bloom eventually migrated to the UK in 1974, and became Queen Elizabeth II’s Messenger at Buckingham Palace.

He was the father of four children Susan, Peter, Janet and Robert Bloom, and was married to Mary Bloom.

Speaking with Newsday, Janet said the family will always remember her father as someone for his bravery, laughter and his giant love of life. “He was a brave and honest man who lived life to the fullest,” she said. “People will know him for the quelling of the uprising in the 1970s revolution, and his heart always remained close to Trinidad and Tobago. His last dying wish was that a portion of his ash be scattered in the seas around Chupara Point which is on the North Coast of Trinidad,” she said. She added his funeral will take place in the UK.