84 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21
Philip Cunliffe-Lister, Secretary of State for the
Colonies, and Air Vice-Marshal Cyril Newall,
AOC RAF Middle East. Naturally we received
a hearty welcome from our comrades, which
cheered us tremendously after a very trying day.
I stayed at the New Stanley Hotel. In the evening
Bill Markham took Flt Lt Boldero, Fg Off Hare,
Plt Off Hilton and me out to a sundowner party,
to a house about ten miles out of town owned by
a Mr Crofton, who was a “white hunter”. It was
three in the morning when we returned to the
hotel — what a party!
Kilimanjaro!
At 0850hr on March 3 we set out for Moshi. It
was only a short hop, but as they had made
so many arrangements for our entertainment
we simply had to spend a night there. After
leaving Nairobi we found we were flying over
an immense plain teeming with game of all
descriptions; as we were not flying very low I
was only able to recognise them as buffalo and
many kinds of buck and gazelle. The sky was
(^888) ⁄⁄⁄⁄ 1010 ths covered with clouds at first, but after we
had been flying for an hour we noticed them
breaking away ahead.
Then, suddenly, without any warning Mount
Kilimanjaro came into view. It was an awe-
inspiring sight. For 19,000ft [5,800m] this
beautiful smooth conical-shaped mountain
rears itself up into the sky. It springs out of the
flat plain and stands alone in solitary majesty.
The lower slopes are covered with tropical
vegetation and coffee plantations. Higher up, the
growth was less prolific and took a darker hue.
As the temperature decreases with increased
altitude, so the flora changed from tropical and
sub-tropical to temperate and frigid, the upper
3,000ft [900m] being covered with permanent
snow. It was a sight for the gods.
Moshi is a small village on the southern side
of the mountain, and we landed there at 1030hr.
Every British member of the community was full
out to give us a good time, and they certainly
succeeded. In the afternoon I went for a bathe in
a small concrete swimming pool which had been
constructed by the local Inspector of Health, the
cold, crystal-clear water running straight off the
mountain, obviating the necessity of purification.
Afterwards we played simultaneous games
of hockey and soccer and I refereed the hockey
with “Bedlam” Sutton, the local bank clerk.
Unfortunately we lost the hockey 2-3 — but we
drew the soccer 4-4. That evening I dined with
the Inspector of Health. During the course of
conversation his wife said, “When I saw all your
ABOVE As the flight proceeded southwards the terrain changed from the sandy desert of northern Africa to the
savanna grasslands of Sudan and on to the mountains of the Eastern Rift range, of which Mount Kilimanjaro is the
highest point. The port Pegasus of the author’s Victoria frames a magnificent view of a snow-capped peak.