Albert Story Narrative Chapters 3 & 4

Crossing Africa

The British controlled the air base at Accra.  It had been previously used as an overseas base by Pan American Airways. The entire field was surrounded by jungle. We stayed there for two days and a night, waiting for our stragglers to catch up. On the evening of our second day there, we were all lined up beside the runway, ready for our flight across Africa. Our next destination was to be Khartoum in The Sudan. Khartoum is located in the forks of the White and Blue Nile Rivers.                                                      We were lined up according to our plane numbers. Being No. 23 we were, as usual, next to last in line for take-off. While those ahead of us taxied out for take off I was sitting atop our plane refueling. I noticed that as each plane lifted off the ground some of our crew were laughing. Then I realized what the laughter was about. At the end of the runway there was a stand of elephant grass about fifteen to eighteen feet high. As each plane lifted off the ground the wheels and landing gear dragged through this grass!

By the time our turn came, darkness had fallen so we taxied down and lumbered along the runway in the dark. We made it into the air and headed eastward. Old Hellzapoppin purred along all night long. Finally as it began to get lighter next morning I could see that something was trailing out from our left wing. I reported this to the pilot who asked if we could tell what it was. None of us could. It was a mystery. Anyway, the plane seemed to by flying well and as we had no other options, we kept on. As we approached Sudan a large weather system had sprung up in our path so we tried to fly south around it. As it turned out, the system was so large that by the time we got around it we were running low on fuel. Our navigator located a small auxiliary British airfield somewhere in southwestern Sudan and we landed. It was at this field that our pilot managed to contact the rest of our group who had made it to Khartoum before the storm. That is when we were informed that the line we were dragging from our wing was the landing lights for the field back at Accra.

This emergency field was surrounded be a fence of acacia thorns and was about fifteen feet high. On the outside of this fence we could see hundreds of natives walking by. They were all, the men at least, carrying long spears.

Chapter 4   Crossing Africa cont.

The natives, all carrying their long spears, continued to walk past and look at the huge plane until darkness fell. Our pilot was busy making arrangements for fuel and arranging for food and a place to sleep for the night. Conrad Pierce and I were assigned to guard the plane while the rest went off to eat. After they returned from eating, Conrad and I were taken to the mess hall such as it was. About the only thing I remember about going to eat were the numerous kangaroo rats in the headlight beam of the vehicle. After our return, the pilot said that two of us were needed to guard the plane during the night. He did not want to leave it unguarded. I was nominated. Our radio operator, Durfree, volunteered also. So while the others went off to the nearby barracks, we were left on guard.

There was no moon that night. It was pitch dark as we sat under the wing of the plane and talked. All the natives had gone and the only sound we heard was the incessant sound of drums coming from the nearby village, and barking dogs. That sound went on most of the night. In the blackness we did make out a small animal, perhaps a jackal or a big-eared fox trotting by. No other animals were seen. Finally we decided to get into the plane and into our sleeping bags for the rest of the night. Next morning as we were preparing to take off I was talking to one of the British soldiers about the numerous natives walking past. I asked him why they all carried spears. “Its for protection against the lions.” He said.

After we finished refueling the plane we headed off for Khartoum. Our base was the British airfield at Wadi Seidna. Wadi Seidna was to be our staging point. Here we waited for all the stragglers to catch up. We stayed at Wadi Seidna for about ten days. This was the hottest place I’ve ever seen. Temperatures daily reached in the high 120s. One day while we were working on the flight line, our pilot took a drink of water, which by this time was quite warm. After drinking he said,” Gosh, I’d give five dollars for a drink of cold water.” Then after reflecting on what he had said, he added,” In fact, I’d give five dollars for a drink of luke-warm water.”