Price Barracks is a military installation located just north of

Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport is an airport that serves the nation of Belize's largest city, Belize City along the eastern coast of Central America. It was named after politician Philip S. W. Goldson, who died in 2001. The airp ...

which is located in Ladyville some 8 miles to the north west of

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, wh ...

. It is the main base of the Belize Defence Force.

History

The barracks has its origins in the British Honduras Garrison which had been established in

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

in the 1960s. In March 1972 the capacity of the garrison was doubled from facilities for 275 troops to 550 troops as a result of a threat from

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

. A significant deployment to the barracks, then known as Airport Camp, was undertaken by the

Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the ar ...

in Spring 1976. Following the independence of the country as

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...

in September 1981 the camp was renamed Price Barracks after

George Cadle Price George Cadle Price, (15 January 191919 September 2011), was a Belizean statesman who served twice as the head of government of Belize from 1961–1984 and 1989–1993. He served as First Minister and Premier under British rule until inde ...

, a former Prime Minister of the country, and it became the main base of the Belize Defence Force. In 1994, the UK Government established the British Army Training and Support Unit Belize (BATSUB) based within Price Barracks as its main international facility for jungle training. However, in 2010, it announced the closure of the facility as part of its Strategic Defence and Security Review. This decision was later reversed in 2015.

References

Installations of the British Army {{Belize-stub