GRUELLING TRIP ACROSS AFRICA

Southland Times, Issue 23438, 19 February 1938, Page 18

GRUELLING TRIP ACROSS AFRICA

SMALL CAR’S LONG

JOURNEY

MANY MAJOR OBSTACLES SURMOUNTED

The few motorists who drive from the Gold Coast of Africa to England usually go by the Sahara Desert through Algiers, a fairly straightforward route, but Lieutenant Dobson, of the Royal Signals, decided to be different. He chose to travel east to Khartum, across French Sudan. Northern Nigeria, French Equatorial Africa, the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and the Nubian Desert, thence along the Nile Valley to Alexandria, and from Athens across six European countries to England. The Sudan Government expressed consternation at the idea, considering that as large foreign cars had constantly met trouble, an eight-horse-power car could hardly be expected to traverse such country. Nevertheless, Lieutenant Dobson, who had complete faith in the car and in himself, set out from Kumasi, a Gold Coast town, with a companion and gear for Tenkodogo, a small frontier town on the Ivory Coast. From here the travellers drove by a narrow, rough route through burnt-up bush country, arriving 800 miles from the start at the Niger river, which was crossed by ferry. In Nigeria, narrow sandy tracks necessitated low gear work for hours on end, the radiator boiling with no illeffects. Continuing past Lake Chad, the adventurers reached French equatorial Africa over a route so unfrequented that petrol for 860 miles had to be carried. The frontier was a river. An attempt to drive 'die car across ended in three feet of water, with bedding and other impedimenta floating about. Willing helpers from a neighbouring native village soon had the car on dry ground again. A touch of the starter, and off it went, spraying the road like a water-cart. - There followed thousands of miles or arduous motoring over tracks of baked mud, soft sand and rocky terrain. The 500-mile stretch from El Geneina to El Fasher was, it was stated, impossible for a car, so it was arranged that a lorry should follow behind. The Morris quickly outstripped its consort, arriving at El Fasher without mishap, although several times high rocks in the .road struck the petrol tank. When the lorry did not arrive the car was driven back, finding its erstwhile protector incapacitated with a broken shaft. The last 400 miles run to El Obeid was a nightmare, the route consisting entirely of soft sand and taking three days. On this route many brokendown vehicles were encountered. Finally, after 4000 miles, the Morris arrived at Khartoum. From there to Alexandria, the journey was comparatively uneventful, though sand storms and boulders made the going difficult at times. From Alexandria the car was shipped to Athens, and from there the road home ran through Greece, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland and France, surfaces generally being good, though in parts little better than African tracks. The car arrived back in England with its stock of spare parte untouched, except for three spring leaves which had been used on the route.