Dear all, calling all RAF personnel who served in the Mau Mau conflict,
I’m currently serving in the RAF and researching the contribution the RAF made to the Mau Mau conflict in Kenya between 1953 and the end of 1955. To that end, I would be very grateful to hear from any serviceman who was involved in this conflict in anyway; either as aircrew, ground crew, armourers, technical trades, suppliers, photo analysts, intelligence staff etc etc. Any stories of what you personally did in support of this campaign would be very useful as it will all paint a picture of what really happened. So far, from investigating documents in the national archives, I have discovered that the RAF’s contribution was actually significant and did, in no small part, lead to considerable success against the mau mau insurgents along with the many thousands of Army personnel who were posted into the colony at the time.
For example, I have discovered so far that 4 Harvards arrived in Kenya in March 1953 and operated under a newly formed 1340 flight to target insurgents. These operated all the way through to late 1955 when the mau mau was effectively crushed. Likewise, 1 proctor, a Valetta and 2 Ansons were based at RAF Eastleigh during this time and 5 Piper pacer aircraft belonging to the Kenya police Air wing were also used [with 6 RAF Pilots seconded to the Kenya Police Air wing to fly these in Oct 1953], 8 Lincolns from 49 sqn arrived to begin ops at Eastleigh in Nov 1953 dropping 1000lb bombs and stayed for almost 2 years bombing mau mau positions in the Aberdares, 4 Vampires from 8 sqn at Aden were detached to Kenya Apr – June 1954, in Mar 54 the first photo recce was conducted by Lincolns and analysed in a newly created joint intelligence centre, in May 54, Air Commodore Beseigel arrived to become the Senior RAF officer in Kenya and a photo processing unit was established at Eastleigh in Aug 1954 to improve the intelligence system and information gleaned from the photo recce activities. The campaign’s sole helicopter arrived in Oct 54 in the form of 1 sycamore helicopter and operated out of Eastleigh, a number of Auster aircraft were used for sky shouting tasks to try and persuade the mau mau to surrender and 2 Meteor PR10s from 13 Sqn were detached from Aug 54 to Jul 55 undertaking photo reconnaissance.
There is probably a lot more that went on in in this short campaign and I would therefore be grateful for your personal stories if you were involved in this in anyway. If, for example, you were detached with either 8 Sqn from Aden flying or supporting the Vampires, or with 13 Sqn with the meteors, flying the harvards in 1340 flight, or with 49 sqn and others with the lincolns, i would love to hear from you. Equally, if you were an intelligence analyst based at the joint intelligence centre or part of the kenya police air wing involved in this or in any other position in support of this short campaign, I would like to hear your story.
If you also have relatives who were based there and they have photos or personal accounts of what they did, then i would be very interested in these also.
Best wishes and I hope to hear from you soon.
steve [personal email address is [email]stevechap50@hotmail.com[/email]
By: Risely - 1st February 2022 at 20:45
Hello all,
Have enjoyed reading all of the above posts thank you for sharing. My Grandad was part of the RAF during the Mau Mau conflict, I have several photos of him whilst he was over there. He gained his Kenya medal from being over there. I’d be interested in any photos or information you have, big or small, wolfy_twilight@hotmail.com
Claire
By: l.garey - 17th May 2017 at 08:16
Yes, DavidGeorge, very interested! I did manage to contact “Stevie”‘s son a while ago, and found he sadly died just before. He was not able to find his logbooks. See my post 9, above.
By: DavidGeorge - 17th May 2017 at 02:11
Skipping forward 6 years …
My father’s log books show that he was at 100Sqn at Wittering and flew Lincoln SX-944 to Eastleigh on 9 Jan 54, travelling via Idris and Khartoum for “Operations against Mau-Mau. He returned flying the same aircraft 19 Mar 54 .
There is not much detail in his log book. The standard bomb load was “10 x 500 lbs” His aircraft was damaged by shrapnel during one bombing run. He took part in “Search for missing Harvard in E. Aberdares” on 20 Jan 54, and flew to Mombasa with his crew for 3 days (for R&R I believe).
Dad is gone now so I can’t ask him any questions. The only comments I remember were that the bombs were usually dropped into forest so dense that he saw the shock wave of the explosion, but not the flash or resulting damage. Apparently they used to fly with full crew, which was pretty boring for the gunners, so they would drop a brightly painted 44 gallon drum into a lake and he would circle while the gunners let off steam. I think this paragraph reflects my recollection of my childhood exagerations rather than anything my father related to me … apologies
If anyone is still following this topic I hope this info is of interest.
By: pzulba - 22nd August 2011 at 21:45
RAF + Mau Mau
Remember being told to make sure no ‘open fires’ at night just in case the RAF got enthusiastic!!!!
Britain’s Small Wars – http://www.britains-smallwars.com/ not a lot on it
Flypast did an article on 1340 Flight a few years back – sorry can’t find it now
My Dad was an ATCO at Eastleigh & then Wilson in ’54 & new Punch Bearcroft of the Police Air Wing
The Last Colonial Regiment – The History of The Kenya Regiment
has some BRIEF references to air ops against the Mau Mau
PZULBA – Out of Africa (Retired)
By: stevechap50 - 22nd August 2011 at 20:53
Mau Mau 7 Sqn
sorry, is that a book or a website?
By: sycamore - 22nd August 2011 at 20:52
Try `Britains small wars` for a bit more info..
By: stevechap50 - 22nd August 2011 at 20:34
Mau Mau 7 Sqn
Many thanks for the info. From the research i have done, the first lincolns were deployed into Kenya, operating out of Eastleigh from mid November 1953. They deployed there with 49 Sqn who operated them until about Jan/Feb 1954 I think and then they were replaced by aircrew and ground crew from 7 Sqn I assume?? they must have done a 3 or 4 month tour and then were replaced by another lincoln sqn. Perhaps someone out there knows for sure when the lincoln squadrons roulemented and how often – unfortunately i have not been able to find this out. I know 49 Sqn did at least 2 tours out in Kenya 1953-1956 but not sure about the others – does anyone know?
Anyway, if you know anymore about Stevie’s experience or are able to get hold of any photos about the RAf in kenya then grateful if you could drop me a line.
Regards
steve.
By: l.garey - 22nd August 2011 at 17:25
Re Lincoln 7’s comment above about 7 Sqd, we (Jim and I) were in 115 (Peterborough) Sqd ATC together in 1954. The one Lincoln pilot we both especially remember was Flt Lt JB Stephens, of 7 Sqd at Upwood, and I am pretty sure he told us of his experiences in the action against the Mau Mau. That must have been in 1953 I presume.
By the way, if anyone knows what happened to “Stevie”, both Jim and I would be very grateful!
By: Arabella-Cox - 22nd August 2011 at 16:36
Mau Mau RAF in Kenya
stevechap………
I have e-mailed you.
Planemike
By: stevechap50 - 21st August 2011 at 23:02
mau mau
guys,
managed to get a picture of a crashed harvard at Eastleigh in Aug 55, many thanks to Brian lewis for this and for all of your help in recounting your personal experiences in Kenya whilst your father was stationed there.
steve
By: stevechap50 - 19th August 2011 at 20:53
Mau Mau
Lincoln 7 – yes, they probably were, do you know when?
HTH Resmorah – many thanks for the info. Yes, i was aware they came from Wittering, but not aware of the route they took when they went out there. What else do you know? Were you actually in Kenya yourself?
OHOPE – yep, i’d be interested in seeing some pics of the Harvards involved in this conflict as well, unfortunately i don’t have any …so if there is anyone out there with some photos of any aircraft or personnel involved in the mau mau conflict, i would be most grateful if you could send them to me. My personal email address is [email]Stevechap50@hotmail.com[/email] if you would like to send them to that address.
all the best everyone.
steve
By: Lincoln 7 - 19th August 2011 at 19:15
I thiink you will find 7sqrn were also there.
Jim.
Lincoln .7
By: Resmoroh - 19th August 2011 at 13:38
49 Sqn (Lincolns) were, during part of the Kenya Det, based at Wittering. They used to rotate the airframes (major servicings, etc) and crews from time to time. The outbound flights always seemed to take place on a Saturday morning. Wittering airfield had to stay open after a Kenya-bound a/c had taken off for Luqa until it had reached its PNR. Seemed to take for ever (the Lincoln was not the world’s fastest fan-driven bomber!!!!!!!!!!!
HTH
Resmoroh
By: OHOPE - 19th August 2011 at 03:43
I would be interested to see pictures of the Harvards used in these operations .
By: QuePee - 19th August 2011 at 03:21
Mau Mau
Steve,
Thanks for your interesting post. I say interesting becuase my father was posted to RAF Eastleigh at the end of the Mau Mau campaign and although I heard many stories and saw some examples of what the Mau Mau were all about, there seems to be very little in the way of documents/books etc on the subject.
I have many photos from that period in my fathers career, some directly aircraft related but many more of the RAF police operations in the Rift Valley area and elsewhere. Probably many of them are not suitable for publishing on an open forum but I am more than happy to share them with you by PM if you wish. Of course some of the aviation related pictures would be appropriate and I would be happy to post them here if there is sufficient interest.
Good luck with your research.
QP
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August 18, 2011 at 8:33 pm