Fighters to Egypt. A shortcut?

[David W]

I was reading the other day about the Air Ministry's plan in 1940/1 to get fighters to Egypt by unloading them at Takoradi, and them flying them to Egypt via Khartoum. Thus saving a long "steam" around the Cape and up Eastern Africa.
But did this plan ever come into fruition?

[phylo_roadking]

David, the Takoradi Air Bridge was actually quite sucessful. Aircraft were indeed uncreated at Takoradi and flown via a set of refueling points to Khartoum then up the Nile into Egypt and the Canal Zone. It was also a route into the Middle East for a lot of RAF personel; obviously larger aircraft could carry passengers

The fuel dumps and fields had been established by PANAM before the war - as the request of the AMERICAN government; matched by a similar set of routes down through South America, it was envisaged VERY early by the Pentagon that there would be a need for "force projection" - the rapid movement of aircraft - to foreign climes

The problem was - it meant flying HUGE distances over desert....the whole route was 3,800 miles long...

From that tiny point in Western Africa they leaped to the first staging post Lagos, 380 miles away. From Lagos Nigeria to Kano over dense jungle still in Nigeria 520 miles over equatorial forest. Between Kano and El Geneina already in Sudanese barren desert plains some 960 miles with refueling stops at Maiduguri in the heart of Africa, El Fasher, El Obeid, on the long way this time facing typical sandstorms of East Central Africa, until reaching Khartoum the Sudanese capital. The journey proceeded this time along the majestic sinuous Nile river 520 miles through strategic refueling points at Sueir, and stretching out 560 long miles to Wadi Halfa, Luxor and finally after five days over the perilous jungle and thunderstorms of Equatorial Africa, barrens and desolate landscapes of the semi deserted southern Sudan, then came in sight, the greatness of the pyramids, the historical intriguing city of Cairo, the outpost of Middle East Command.

and involved several landings at sandy unmetalled airfields...meaning that even when BRAND NEW aircraft reached Egypt they immediately needed a FULL overhaul!!! There were also huge navigational problems, and quite a few aircraft were simply lost en route The whole operation was very large; as of the 1st of August 1941, there were up to 200 pilots employed in ferrying duties alone.

Ah! Apparently Hurricanes and P-40s were ferried over the route...

[David W]

Thanks mate!

[Andy H]

Some more information and detail here:-

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=52658

Regards

[David W]

Thanks Andy.

[Carl W Schwamberger]

If my memory is not failing me. The US airman Robert L Scott who authored 'God is My Copilot' decrobed flying the central African route in a multi engine aircraft. Probably in 1942.