HOME
AFRICA OVERLAND 1972/3
          from London England,  through Morocco, Algeria (Sahara Desert), Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Zaire,
across to Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania,  via Lake Victoria up to Kenya, down through Tanzania and into Zambia.
Well,fantastic, I have had contact regarding two people in the pictures on this site. A very unexpected phone call from Richard Franklin in August.
Unaware of this site he traced us by working through a list of names from a phone listing. The phone call was the first contact between us since he left the trip in Nairobi, Kenya. 
A very welcome phone call it was as we had been trying to find him.
Difficult, as he has lived in France since 1977.
You can see him and me and Des as we are today on
Africa Overland Reunion

Celia Field was found by yet another few phone calls made by Richard.  He could make a business out of hunting people down by phone! Find her in the photos below.

Anyone wishing to contact
Richard Franklin
and/or
Celia Field please email me and I will forward the messages to them.

EMAIL ME

 At this stage of the trip the body of the ambulance moved independently of the chassis
This 1956 Bedford Ambulance is on the last leg of its journey from London to Zambia in 1973. We started at first light.
This very welcome and virtually only stretch of tarmac in Central and Southern Africa outside of the cities is somewhere between Kapiri Mposhe in Zambia, Africa and Mufulira, Zambia and the end of the journey. 
The ambulance was purchased from a Scrap Yard in Chorley, England in 1972 specifically for the trip, for the sum of £50.  Prior to purchase it was owned by the Royal Air Force. It had a 6 cylinder, 3.5 litre engine which had been rebuilt three years before and had hardly been used before it went to the Scrap Yard. However it was short on power so the head, pistons, conrods and rings were removed, new rings were put in and the valves re-lapped, the bearings were not replaced and the engine was reassembled. It did not fail. 
We arrived after travelling for four months and it was supposed to be for only 6 weeks but there was no foreseeing what would happen on the trip.
Our Ambulance, Des Hammill driving down the ramp, Alison Orchard on the ramp, rightBertha the Ambulance we met on the way
Our Ambulance and 
 'Bertha',
 Bangassou,
 Central
 African
 Republic
This trip started out because my sister and I were living in London in 1972 and wanted to visit our father, who was living in Mufulira on the Copperbelt in Northern Zambia, Africa. 
I came up with the idea of driving across Africa. 
This was being done anyway by travel firms so was not unheard of. Extra recruits and organization was required. Many months and a few more recruits later bringing the total to 6 we left on the ferry at Dover, England in December 1972 bound for Zambia in Southern Africa.
What an experience it turned out to be.
We met many wonderful, helpful people.  Sadly we do not have pictures of them all but were you one of them in the pictures below?
Recognise yourself?      Recognise us?
l to r, Gerald, Richard Franklin, Des HammillTamanrasset, Sahara Desert
Tea Break in Europe
Tamanrasset - Algeria
Found - Richard Franklin on the left (with glasses)Found - Celia Field (back to camera) c Alison Orchard, r Des Hammill
  Tamanrasset - Algeria 
 Central African Republic

Our 1956 Bedford Ambulance disappearing into the distance in the Sahara DesertBroken axle showing the internal damage to the ambulance caused by the wheels coming up through the floors

Algeria-Part of the Sahara Desert
One of Many Broken Axles
NOTES 
  • Many a time we thought we would have to abandon the ambulance where she broke her last axle, so to speak
  • I am still awaiting some photos from others who were on the trip, but there will not be many. 
  • Sadly we had little money and film was not a priority, in hindsight (that wonderful thing) a cine camera would have been nice, but money was the problem from the start, hence the overland trip!
  •  I do have a diary but not very detailed and it was unbelievable how things materialised in the bush in the middle of nowhere, like welding machines! 
  • The Africans were kind and helpful,  although there were a few unpleasant incidents in the cities. 
    		•
  •  En route through the  bush though many a time we were asked to join the Africans around their communal village fire, which was a wonderful experience seeing as we could not understand each other's language!
  • The generosity of spirit and the actual giving of their  possessions, from people who in our eyes had nothing, humbled me, but I ramble on. 
  • Without their kind assistance we would have had to abandon the ambulance and walk! to the nearest large town/city to  join another trip and go onwards as there was no going back. 
  • In Kano, Nigeria  we had two other overlanders beg us for the leg of the journey to Nairobi. They had to abandon their vehicle. When the wheel and brake trouble started one  was a welcome extra pair of hands.
    		•
    Yes, this was turning out to be some trip and some experience
    Smashed Wheel Arch/Broken Axle

      Why did we persevere? 

    What choice did we have? 

    If any of you have done this type
    of journey without the back up of what the 
    commercial travelling companies have,
    you will know exactly what I mean.

    		NOTES - NOT IN ANY PARTICULAR DATE ORDER
    • The axle first broke a few miles out of Kano, Nigeria a few days into February, date not noted! 
    • The tapers of the axle and hub had worked loose, allowing the hub to move around on the axle, eventually causing it to break. The rear axle should have been replaced with a heavy duty floating axle before we left, because the town axle could not take the thousand or so miles of 'corrugations' that we drove over in the Sahara Desert (like driving over a washboard).  If the axle nuts had been tightened every 2-300 miles, the problem may not have arisen, but we did not know.
    • The interior was smashed to pieces, both sides, as each time the axle broke (both sides, but never together) the wheel smashed up through the floors, mangling the cupboards on the one side and the food storage bins on the other. From that point on the road dust poured into the ambulance. 
    • The ambulance had seven leaf pack rear springs.  Four of these leaves broke on one side. The guys took the four leaf springs out and replaced them with a length of mahogany.  The piece of wood never broke.
    • The engine never failed us but the plugs fouled up now and again because of our very slow speeds after the axles broke.
    • At one stage we were travelling at an average of 10 mph because the wheels and hub were gradually coming off the axle because of the ever loosening nut. We had to keep our ears open for a distinctive knocking sound.  This noise forewarned us that the wheel and hub was actually in the process of falling off and a shout would be made to the driver, to stop immediately, in order to halt the fall of the wheel.
    • At one stage we had to stop every two miles to bang the nut back on the wheel and we were still  only just into Zaire, with a long way to go. 
    We broke yet another axle only hours from Nairobi, not far from Lake Nakuru, famous for it flamingos. This was the worst break, possibly because it was on tarmac and we had not been vigilant about listening for the knocking sound as we were all asleep bar Des who was driving (well he may have been!) 
    The ambulance crashed to the tarmac with an almighty bang, throwing us around and obviously waking us up. On inspection the wheel and hub had disappeared over the edge of the escarpment and into the darkness, pitch darkness no lights of any sort for miles. This happened at 02.45hrs - what could we do?  Well we all went back to sleep apart from Richard and Mandie who volunteered to hitch into Nairobi to find assistance.
    In daylight we found ourselves to be on a bend on the edge of the road with the huge drop beside us (really) and there was a large ugly gouge in the tarmac where the axle had dragged along before we came to a halt.
    This time the ambulance was seriously damaged and where to find the wheel? It was located in shrub part way down the hill (thank goodness for shrub). The doors were virtually ripped off their hinges and the damage included a 4 foot by 4 foot hole in the floor. We found out later that we were only 25 miles from Nairobi.
    Meanwhile, back on the side of the road at daylight someone stopped to help us.  He turned out to be a mechanic for the Kenyan Police.  Des nipped off with him taking the axle and hub, returning at 16.00hrs with it re-welded, courtesy of the workshops of the Kenyan Police.
    Back in Nairobi, Richard and Mandie had been introduced to and received very kind assistance from Abdul Rehman and his family. He allowed us to stay on his property and we were there about three weeks whilst we sorted ourselves out and repaired both axles and the brakes.
    FINALLY, ON APRIL 24TH 1973 THE REMAINING THREE OF US, ALISON, MANDIE AND DES LEFT NAIROBI. WE HAD NO FURTHER TROUBLE AS WE SPED ALONG THE GOOD TARMAC ROAD TO MUFULIRA, ZAMBIA. WE AVERAGED 50 MPH AND DID THE 1,800 MILES IN FOUR DAYS. WE ARRIVED WITH MUCH BELL RINGING (YES THE ORIGINAL  AMBULANCE BELL STILL WORKED) AND SHOUTING  TO BE MET BY MY FATHER (GERRY), MAY AND MY BROTHERS EDWARD AND  PATRICK.
  • Because of the wheel problems we were driving on average about 12 hours a day (to cover ground) at 10 mph.
  • In March the ambulance developed brake trouble which progressed to total brake failure but we managed to repair the two front brakes in Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Until the repairs were carried out the braking system consisted of Richard nipping out of the cab with his lump of wood and wedging it under the front wheel. 
  • Readers please note we were travelling along dirt 'roads' with virtually no traffic except other 'Overlanders' (as we were called), until we reached towns or cities - and then the fun began!
  • The state of the ambulance was unbelievable by the time we reached Mufulira.
  • The body swayed independently of the chassis and the back doors were roped shut.
  • We climbed into the back of the ambulance through the hole in the back of the cab. Inside were the remains of our beds, clothing, utensils etc. The damage to the inside was irreparable. 
    		•  Abandoned to its fate, yet she did us well. We flew on to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
    From a Scrap Yard in Chorley, England to her Final Resting Place in a Scrap Yard in Mufulira, Zambia, Africa after a brave journey of 18,000 miles. 

     
    STF406H
    Our Route through Africa To Mufulira

    Anyone interested in an organised Africa Overland adventures
    or any other overland trip contact Go Overland

    Or, if you wish to view other peoples overland adventures visit Africa Overland

           Back to top.
     Africa Overland © Alison Orchard Hammill - October 2000.      Updated 15 April 2007