HRH Princess Margaret East African Tour 1956
 

Re above tour (the Townsend tour), can anyone provide details (routes & a/c) for tour, in particular start & end journeys
I know an RAF Heron (Queen's Flight?) was used on some of the internal sectors

Cheers

PZU - Out of Africa (Retired)

pzu

A very involved and complicated tour.
I have some details but not much. I know she flew from LHR to Mombasa via Gibraltar, Kano in BOAC Argonaut "Ajax" and departed Mombasa in Royal Yacht for Mauritius. She returned to Africa in Britannia and then toured Kenya and Tanganyika extensively before returning to UK from Entebbe.



I'm curious as to .
Not confusing it with her visit with Queen Mother to Rhodesia in July 1953? At the time she was very close to (in love?) with Group Captain Peter Townsend, an equerry to the Royal Household. This was widely speculated upon at the time, so much so that the archbishop of Canterbury and sundry others in the establishment arranged that Gp Capt Townsend was posted to Brussels as air attaché at very short notice, as a result when she and the QM returned to London, Townsend was gone.
My interest in this is that during her Rhodesia tour when I was stationed at 5 FTS RAF Thornhill I took tea with her and the QM (at a distance) when they visited Gwelo.


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It was during this visit to East Africa that Princess Margaret flew in Aermacchi MB320 VP-KJJ of Campling Brothers & Vandervaal. She flew from Nairobi West to Kinankop, she had friends there, on 27th October.

The aircraft was flown by Capt Z Boskovic of CBV. Also on board was "Mouse" Feilden of the Queen's Flight. Full details in "Keith Campling and the story of Aviation in East Africa".

Warmtoast

Thanks for reply, 'the Townsend Tour' is a reference to the commonly held view that this tour was designed to ensure that HRH had 'space' to forget Townsend

My folks were based in Tabora at that time, Dad was an ATCO and obviously involved at the 'Drome', and with them being low down on the pecking order and Dad at the 'Drome' Mum was off the luncheon list so she was enlisted into the Tanganyika Police and became HRH's chauffeuse

Your routing for her outward journey is interesting, would this have something to do with an Egyptian Colonel?

As you say she visited Mauritius using RY Brittannia sailing from Mombasa and returning via Zanzibar to disembark in Dar es Salaam to then tour Tanganyika using a Queens Flight Heron and then departing EA from Uganda on a BOAC Argonaut
Meanwhile RY Britannia returned to Mombasa and had about a week to wait for the Duke of Edinburgh to arrive from UK prior to heading off for Melbourne and the '56 Olympics

What I have so far had difficulty with is the 'logisitics' of HRH's transfer to the BOAC a/c in Entebbe - was this the same a/c that brought the Duke from the UK (with him taking the QF Heron on to Mombasa) or a different a/c?

I currently have small set of photo's (5) that show G-ALHD Ajax in Entebbe in late '56, in two them the Duke of Edinburgh can be seen and in a third Princess Margaret but cannot confirm the exact date/s for these photo's

Planemike
Thanks, should have remembered about the Macchi, I have the book!!! Also remember seeing at least one of them in Tabora (& possibly Zanzibar)

PZU - Out of Africa (Retired)

pzu

A couple of snippets from contemporary press reports.

Hope this helps.
WT

Cheers Warmtoast

You must have a better version on of Google than me - as so far I'd had no luck in tracing such detail!!!

PZU - Out of Africa (Retired)

Thanks to everyone
 

My original question was brought about by 5 photo's posted by an old school pal on a FB page - some doubt was expressed by others as to who 'featured' in the photo's and when they were taken

Am now fairly satisfied as to when they were taken and who was featured

Photo's now posted on Malcolm Mccrow's site with due credit to my old school pal (Peter Davanzo - whose Dad was at the time associated with the Lake Victoria Hotel) - Thanks Malcolm

see

Entebbe celebrates the Queen - the first five photos

PZU - Out of Africa (Retired)

'The aircraft was flown by Capt Z Boskovic of CBV.'

And I attended the same school as Boskovic's son. Small world.

FAO CNH
 

Re school, so did I - Nicholson '61-'64

PZU - Out of Africa (Retired)

Hawke 61-64.

You might have been taught maths by my father, Freddie Hill.

(Excuse the thread drift) Planemike, the book you mention seems unavailable in the Big River site (Keith Campling & the story of aviation in East Africa).
Is there anything in there (it would have to be pre-war) about the airstrip at Kololo, Kampala?

Princess Margaret in Kenya
 

Attached is one of my Dads pictures showing the arrival of Princess Margaret at RAF Eastleigh, Nairobi, Kenya in October 1956. Looks like the Heron is present in the background.

More pictures are available if anyone is interested.

QP



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