82 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21
At 0740hr on February 27 we set out for
Atbara, and followed the railway line across
the desert to Abu Hamed, where we struck the
Nile once more. This guided us to Atbara, where
we landed at 1115hr. After a stay of 40min for
refuelling we left for Khartoum, which is easily
recognised, being the junction of the White
and Blue Niles. After 2hr 15min we landed at
Khartoum, where we spent the night in the
Grand Hotel.
During the course of inspections it was
discovered that Victoria No 4 had burst an
oil tank, which was replaced immediately. It
was also found that Victoria No 1 had broken
an undercarriage fitting. The men worked
all afternoon and all night in order to get the
machine fit to fly at dawn, but still the job was
not finished until 1100hr the next day, so we
postponed our departure for 24 hours and
stayed another night at the Grand Hotel.
On March 1 we left at 0600hr for Malakal [in
what is now South Sudan]. After about 45min a
sparking plug blew out of our starboard engine
and we were forced to land near a small village.
Within minutes the mechanic had fitted a new
plug, so we took off and joined the formation,
which had circled above waiting for us. It was
interesting to note that the villagers did not rush
out to meet us as we would have expected, but
remained huddled in the shelter of their huts, as
they had probably never seen an aeroplane on
the ground before and must have been terrified.
We were now leaving the sandy desert and
flying over the flat fertile black cotton-soil
country, which is covered with a sparse growth
of bush. At 1000hr we landed at Malakal, an
important irrigation centre on the White Nile.
We spent 30min refuelling before continuing on
our way to Juba. The further south we went the
thicker the vegetation became, and bush fires
could be seen everywhere. Juba is a very small
station which has sprung into importance chiefly
on account of its aerial traffic. We landed there at
1430hr and spent the night in the hotel there.
March 2 was a day of disaster. We intended
to reach Moshi in north-east Tanganyika [now
Tanzania], but only got as far as Nairobi in
Kenya. We left Juba at dawn, 0555hr, and within
5min discovered that something was wrong
with the petrol system; the pumps were notTHE 1934 AFRICAN tour consisted of a total of
nine aircraft; four Vickers Victorias of No 216 Sqn
and five Fairey IIIFs of No 45 Sqn. The crew and
serials (where known) were:
Victoria No 1 (K2807) Sqn Ldr P.H. Mackworth
DFC; Sgt Biddulph; Wg Cdr E.T. Leather DFC, OC
Flight; Flt Lt W.N. Boldero, OC stores & accounts
Victoria No 2 (K2343) Plt Off M. Sorsbie; Fg Off
R.H. Shaw
Victoria No 3 Fg Off M. Hare; Plt Off F.W. Hilton
Victoria No 4 (KR2342) Fg Off U.Y. Shannon,
Sgt Higham
Fairey IIIF No 5 (KR1713) Sqn Ldr H.W.L.
Saunders DSO DFC MM; Fg Off C.H. Moore,
Navigator
Fairey IIIF No 6 Fg Off H.R. Dale
Fairey IIIF No 7 Fg Off J. Boston
Fairey IIIF No 8 Fg Off D.R. Evans
Fairey IIIF No 9 Sgt Hubbardthe 1934 tourists
BELOW A group portrait of No 216 Sqn in front of a Victoria VI at Heliopolis, Egypt, in 1934.
The author is seated in the front row, fourth from left, as enlarged in the inset LEFT. The unit
had long been established in Egypt, initially bringing its Airco D.H.10s to Qantara in 1919
before moving two years later to Heliopolis, from where it operated for the next 20 years.