Four Wings
27th Oct 2020, 15:59
As it is 60 years since the extraordinary airlift of troops under the UN banner to Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), Congo (now DRC) perhaps some PPruners may be interested in a few photos I took while working on Accra Airport at the time.
All UN air traffic was routed via Accra where the USAF set up an emergency ATC operation. Aircraft were principally USAF C-130s plus two RAF Comet 2s and two Aeroflot Il18s.
The UN troops were initially Moroccan, Tunisian and Ghanaian Armies followed quickly by Nigerian Army.
My role was that I worked for Shell and was called in as an extra hand to help with the refuelling - hence Shell equipment features prominently. Most photos were taken on 20 July 1960 which happened to be my 24th birthday. Several stories to tell but here are the photos to whet your appetite.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1799x1201/accra_20_jul_60_6_9650233b83a3d7029cc8f69da5dedfffa8fee07a.j pg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1798x1263/accra_congo_17_jul_60_1_35604ffe16e83cfba95f6bbc3d2354e26992 9b97.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1800x1205/accra_congo_20_jul_60_1_3262c6691bdf2e611603d9081f44e669c7f1 4afe.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1799x1187/accra_congo_20_jul_60_2_0dd48906f60215b52db7b04cc89bf037604d 0219.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1798x1145/accra_congo_20_jul_60_3_32790aff48f72af801e8963eaad443c6a14a 256e.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1798x1166/accra_congo_20_jul_60_4_336f02f01d53dcc282c6910943b3e03a1a08 a799.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1798x1221/accra_congo_20_jul_60_5_853b6842e0c60cb2c6afa7c8d2b847ca46ec fa1f.jpg
All UN air traffic was routed via Accra where the USAF set up an emergency ATC operation. Aircraft were principally USAF C-130s plus two RAF Comet 2s and two Aeroflot Il18s.
The UN troops were initially Moroccan, Tunisian and Ghanaian Armies followed quickly by Nigerian Army.
My role was that I worked for Shell and was called in as an extra hand to help with the refuelling - hence Shell equipment features prominently. Most photos were taken on 20 July 1960 which happened to be my 24th birthday. Several stories to tell but here are the photos to whet your appetite.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1799x1201/accra_20_jul_60_6_9650233b83a3d7029cc8f69da5dedfffa8fee07a.j pg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1798x1263/accra_congo_17_jul_60_1_35604ffe16e83cfba95f6bbc3d2354e26992 9b97.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1800x1205/accra_congo_20_jul_60_1_3262c6691bdf2e611603d9081f44e669c7f1 4afe.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1799x1187/accra_congo_20_jul_60_2_0dd48906f60215b52db7b04cc89bf037604d 0219.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1798x1145/accra_congo_20_jul_60_3_32790aff48f72af801e8963eaad443c6a14a 256e.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1798x1166/accra_congo_20_jul_60_4_336f02f01d53dcc282c6910943b3e03a1a08 a799.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1798x1221/accra_congo_20_jul_60_5_853b6842e0c60cb2c6afa7c8d2b847ca46ec fa1f.jpg