Congo Transport Group
Beginning in 1943 the Central African Division also operated a transport route to Léopoldville in the Belgian Congo for the transport of uranium to the United States. This route was later extended to Pretoria, South Africa via Elizabethville, Belgian Congo for the transport of strategic minerals available in South Africa.
The Congo route, as it became known, also took the form of an alternate ferrying route into the Middle East with a connection into Nairobi, Kenya to Khartoum. In the dark days of 1942 this alternate route offered insurance against loss of the central African airway, but the rising fortunes of Allied military operations soon robbed it of value. Even before the fall of Tunisia in the spring of 1943, the Congo route no longer possessed military significance
| Congo Air Route (14th Ferrying Group) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Location | Coordinates | Notes |
| Pointe Noire Airport | Pointe Noire, French Equatorial Africa | 04°48′48″S 011°53′09″E / 4.81333°S 11.88583°E / -4.81333; 11.88583 (Pointe Noire Airport) | 1,100 miles (1,800 km) from Accra, Gold Coast. Built in 1942 by the United States to facilitate ferrying route through Southern Africa. Re-purposed as transport route refueling/servicing station on Congo Route to Léopoldville, later to South Africa. |
| Léopoldville Airport | Léopoldville, Belgian Congo | 04°23′08″S 015°26′40″E / 4.38556°S 15.44444°E / -4.38556; 15.44444 (Léopoldville Airport) | (247 miles (398 km) from Pointe Noire. Initially planned as a ferrying route, Re-purposed as transport and cargo route for Uranium and precious metals. |
| Élisabethville Airport | Élisabethville, Belgian Congo | 11°35′28″S 027°31′51″E / 11.59111°S 27.53083°E / -11.59111; 27.53083 (Élisabethville Airport) | 964 miles (1,551 km) from Léopoldville. Initially planned as a refueling/servicing stop on the proposed ferrying route, Re-purposed as a stop on the transport and cargo route for Uranium and precious metals. |
| Wilson Airport | Nairobi, Kenya | 01°19′18″S 036°48′54″E / 1.32167°S 36.81500°E / -1.32167; 36.81500 (Wilson Airport) | Prewar airport surveyed for use in early 1942 as alternate Ferrying Station connecting from Élisabethville to Aden or Mahé, Seychelles 04°40′27″S 055°31′27″E / 4.67417°S 55.52417°E / -4.67417; 55.52417 (Mahé Airport) to Bangalore. Never developed or used. |
| Wonderboom Airport | Pretoria, Union of South Africa | 25°39′13″S 028°13′27″E / 25.65361°S 28.22417°E / -25.65361; 28.22417 (Wonderboom Airport) | 974 miles (1,568 km) from Élisabethville. Extension of transport/cargo route from Léopoldville for precious metal shipment. Farthest southern terminus of South Atlantic air ferry route, 8,000 miles (13,000 km) from Morrison Field, Florida. |
Read more about this topic: South Atlantic Air Ferry Route In World War II, Overview, Central African Air Route
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