Lyneham to
Karachi in 1943
Today a direct flight from London to Karachi takes just over 10 hours in
a comfortable widebody, more likely a few hours longer with a stop to make
a connection. Back in 1943, for the young men of the
Royal Air Force transferring with their short/medium range aircraft, such
a journey was a very different proposition.
This page summarises
the jouney made by my father, Sergeant William McDonald Grant, when he
transferred from RAF Lyneham to Karachi in November/December 1943 as a member
of 176 Squadron. William was the observer on a Bristol Beaufighter
VI no. X8028, piloted throughout by Sergeant Gosling. Please
note that the mileages are my estimates based on current commercial routings
and don't take account of the conditions in 1943, e.g. routing round Spanish
airspace. (The return jouney, some 13 months later,
was very different - in a Consolidated Liberator KG821 direct from Rathmalana
except for a diversion to Kankesanturai in Ceylon because of bad weather.)
| Date |
Departure |
From |
To |
Flying Time |
Miles (est) |
Notes |
| 25.11.1943 |
11:00 |
Lyneham |
Portreath |
1h 0m |
170 |
|
| 29.11.1943 |
08:05 |
Portreath |
Gibraltar |
5h 40m |
990 |
|
| 30.11.1943 |
08:15 |
Gibraltar |
Castel Benito |
5h 20m |
1060 |
Near Tripoli |
| 01.12.1943 |
09:15 |
Castel Benito |
Cairo West |
5h 35m |
1110 |
|
| 04.12.1943 |
06:45 |
Cairo West |
Habbaniya |
4h 10m |
750 |
50m w of Baghdad |
| 05.12.1943 |
06:25 |
Habbaniya |
Bahrein |
3h 15m |
615 |
|
| 06.12.1943 |
03:25 |
Bahrein |
Sharjah |
2h 0m |
310 |
|
| 06.12.1943 |
06:10 |
Sharjah |
Karachi (Mauripok) |
3h 35m |
735 |
|
| |
|
|
Totals |
30h 35m |
5740 |
|
Version 1.4 25/08/2007