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KENYA in 1953
written by Philip Cogan
 I enlisted in my county regiment, 1st Bn Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in 1952. When stationed at Deerbolt Camp, Barnard Castle in 1953 I was in the advance party to Kenya in response to the Mau Mau terrorism. We flew from RAF Lyneham in a Hastings. The whole party had left Barnard Castle dress in BD, KF Shirt, tie, boots and gaiters. Our first stop was Idris in Tripoli. Stepping off the plane the heat was searing. The expression on the faces of the RAF lads told it all. They were in KD shorts, no shirt. We then flew across the Sahara and every one of us was airsick due to the turbulent air over the desert. Khartoum in the Sudan was our next stop where we arrived at about midnight. Even at that time of night the heat was almost as bad as Idris. Next day we flew on to Entebbe in Uganda. Again the heat was horrendous. Finally we arrived at RAF Eastleigh, Nairobi where we were billeted in a transit camp. It was only then that we were allowed to exchange our BD etc for jungle greens and 44 pattern equipment. All of us were suffering from prickly heat or sweat rash. So much for common sense in those days. |
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