October 08th has been set for a major celebration in Kenya’s Taita Taveta County, to recognize the 101st anniversary of flight in not just Kenya but the entire East Africa.
As repeatedly written about here, did the ‘Battlefield East Africa‘ – the Taita Taveta area of Kenya was the scene of bloody skirmishes and engagements between the Germans under Von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Allies, eventually led by General Jan Smuts – trigger the arrival of the railway through a branch line from Voi but also the introduction of aircraft as tools of surveillance.
The rail line was hugely important to facilitate regular supplies of food and ammunition and to evacuate the wounded to hospitals in Voi and Mombasa while the eventual arrival of Caudron Gills, BE2C’s and Henry Farmans aircraft provided the last nail in the coffin as the Germans withdrew from their positions on Kenya’s Salaita Hill once these aircraft began to overfly them to ascertain their strength.
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