Britain, like many major European countries, had vested interests in strengthening its influence on its African colonies, Britain also needed to counter threats posed by Mussolini.  Imperial Airways started to construct an air route across Africa from Lagos to Khartoum and then north to Cairo.  Airfields and staging posts were constructed at Lagos, Kano, Maiduguri, El Geneina, El Fasher and El Obeid.  Further development followed with a deep water port and dock facilities being constructed at Sekondi with a large airfield and accomodation for personnel being constructed nearby at Takoradi.  On the 14th July an advanced party followed on the 21st August by the main party arrived by sea at Takoradi.  The two parties contained some 350 men which included 25 ferry pilots.  Small maintenance parties of RAF tradesmen were sent to each of the airfields along the route from Takoradi to Cairo.  

Longer and stronger runways were built, radio communications were set up and living accomodation was constructed with supplies of fuel, oil, starter batteries, safety equipment, rations and basic spares being distributed.  On the 5th September a Blenheim and six Hurricanes arrived in crates at Takoradi.  On the 18th the first air convoy was flown from Takoradi to Egypt arriving seven days later.  

They were the first of many machines that reached the Middle East along this route.  On the 8th February 1941 the first aircraft from America, a hundred Tomahawks, arrived at Takoradi.

On the 30th July 1943 the unit erected its 5000th aircraft.  In October 1943 the unit ceased to operate its aircraft role after the Axis forces had surrendered in North Africa.  

Between September 1940 and October 1943 5203 aircraft plus 156 Hurricanes from 177 MU at Apapa, Lagos had been dispatched. These included 2272 Hurricanes, 1114 Blenheims, 736 Spitfires, 337 Beaufighters, 259 Kittyhawks and 232 Tomahawks.

When Japan entered the war in December 1941, aircraft delivered by boat to Takoradi were also flown across Africa, Arabia and India for squadrons in the Far East.  

The first RAF aircrew posted to Takoradi were mostly prewar trained.  They were provided with the valuable assistance of BOAC navigators for their first flights along the route and were the first convoy leaders.  They were joined by twenty four experienced Polish NCO pilots led by S/Ldr Rayski who flew tirelessly and immaculately whenever an aircraft was ready for ferrying.  A small contingent of Rhodesian pilots was an early addition to the ADU (Aircraft Delivery Unit), they were followed by some twenty pilots from the South African Air Force and some RAF pilots on rest from operational squadrons.  Some pilots arrived at Takoradi by boat to join squadrons in Egypt and flew their aircraft from Takoradi to their new squadrons.  Some of these pilots were straight from flying school and the twenty four hour flight from Takoradi to the No 1 ADU based at Cairo in Egypt, a distance of 3500 miles, with a dozen or so landings, in some cases doubled their experience on Hurricanes.  

Most of the ferry pilots were posted to No 1 ADU in Cairo which occupied the Nile paddle steamers moored alongside the Isle of Gezira in Cairo.  Whilst waiting for the next ferry trip the pilots enjoyed the facilities at Cairo.  By the autumn of 1941 another RAF base at Port Sudan was re-erecting Kittyhawks, Bostons and Baltimores.  These were flown to Summit for service modifications. Another base at Shaibah also re-erected Bostons and Baltimores.  Some of these were collected by the ADU but most went to Russia, being collected by Russian pilots.  Collection and delivery from Port Sudan and a limited collection and delivery from Shaibah was added to the committments of No 1 ADU.  This was followed later by the onward transmission of reinforcement aircraft from Egypt to India and the Far East.

Such a vast reinforcement programme had its problems.  U-boats took their toll on crated aircraft and personnel.  The engineering was carried out by partially trained tradesmen who mainly were dealing with aircraft of which they had no previous experience.  The small parties based at each airfield spread across Africa, had to take all the necessary actions to enable convoys to move on to the next airfield.  This included refuelling from cans or with hand pumps, restoring serviceability of aircraft and repairing them when damaged. Sand affected engine wear, instruments and variable pitch airscrews.  Moulded perspex distorted or cracked in the heat.  Distribution of spares caused repair delays.  Malaria, jaundice and dysentry reduced the effectiveness of staging posts.  All these problems caused delays in aircraft movements but the flow never stopped.

Once at Egypt aircraft were delivered to maintenance units such as Abu Suier, Kasfariet, Kilo 17 and Heliopolis for servicing and modification for operational flying.

Ferry pilots would return to Takoradi in the back of BOAC Lockheed Lodestars or RAF Bombays.  After a few days wait at Takoradi a pilot would be allocated to a convoy.  Six fighter aircraft would be led by a medium bomber whose crew would contain a navigator and wireless operator.  The lead aircraft would use HF radio to obtain bearings from the next airfield on route.  There was no radio communication between the lead aircraft and the machines being convoyed.  

The convoy leaders at Takoradi, selected for their experience and not for their seniority in rank, were made totally responsible for convoy procedures and discipline.  The convoy leader would ensure that all aircraft had been flight tested and that all pilots had been adequately briefed, this included handling and taxiing on the ground.  Each aircraft was given a specific position in an open formation so that the lead aircraft could see all the machines at all times.  If an aircraft broke away because of a problem all the other aircraft remained on station.  If the lead aircraft force landed a deputy leader, appointed before take off, would take over.  The route to be followed, position of emergency landing grounds and the next airfield were explained at each stage by the leader.  Convoy discipline had to accomodate pilots with a bare minimum of flying experience and others to whom, after a tour of operations, the temptation to indulge in some free aerobatics was hard to resist.  Transgression of flying discipline or disobedience of orders were dealt with immediately by the convoy leader, who was the authority.

During the first few months of 1941 the main fighter machine being ferried was the Kittyhawk.  On many P-40s the electric constant speed unit of the airscrew leaked oil, then sand stuck to the oil.  It covered the windscreen and quarter panels and blanked forward visibility when landing.   

The first leg of the route Takoradi to Lagos was 380 miles, from Lagos the heading was north-east to Kano which was 460 miles away. During the flight to Kano the machines would pass over emergency landing grounds at Eshagbo, Minna and Kaduna.  It was then eastwards to Khartoum some 1600 miles away.  Refueling could be done at Fort Lamy or Ali.  From Khartoum the aircraft would fly a distance of 1000 miles to Cairo and the approved track roughly followed the Nile, accompanied for much of its length by a British built railway.  Refueling was either made at Wadi Halfa or Luxor.  The most difficult and frustrating part of the whole journey was the bus trip from the airfield at Cairo to the houseboats in Cairo!  The 80 mile road journey in an antique and unserviceable Egyptian bus driven by a maniac over atrocious roads was far more dangerous than flying!  An average collection took three to four days to get back to Takoradi, three days rest at Takoradi, five days flying in convoy, three days rest at Cairo.  On average this would result in 400 flying hours with 400 passenger hours a year.

With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor it became necessary to reinforce the RAF in the Far East.  The first leg from Cairo to Shaibah was well known.  The route then went to Bahrein Island in the Persian Gulf, a distance of 400 miles and in roughly 400 mile flights to Sharjah, Jiwani, Karachi, Jodhpur, Delhi, Allahabad, Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon, Penang and Singapore.     

In the event of a forced landing the pilots carried a water bottle, Horlicks and Benzedrine tablets and a rubber bottle with tablets to convert urine to drinkable water.  As time progressed parachute harness packs were adorned with fishing lines and hooks, compass buttons and a knife.  We wore long sleeve shirts and long trousers for protection against mosquitos should we be forced to land en-route and a good comfortable pair of shoes.

The original ambitions of most ferry pilots was to join an operational squadron.  Individual requests from No 1 ADU for a posting to an operational squadron was not sympathetically received.  After seventeen months as a ferry pilot I had made more than 300 flights totalling 495 hours on eight types of aircraft on routes that ranged from West Africa to China.  When the Eighth Army began its artillery barrage on the 23rd October 1942 I was recuperating from Malaria in Alexandria.  A few days later I was declared medically fit and asked for a posting.  Within a few days I was assigned to 80 Squadron part of the Western Desert Air Force under the command of Air Vice Marshall Sir Arthur Coningham who as a Squadron Leader fifteen years earlier had pioneered the Takordi route.