These prohibited areas, mainly the forest ranges of the Aberdares and Mount Kenya, are known to everyone, and there is no risk to law-abiding persons. Emrys Hughes) on 6th May last, Harvard aircraft have been used to drop bombs on known hiding places of terrorist gangs in the prohibited areas in Kenya. The Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. The RAF, Small Wars and Insurgencies: Later Colonial Operations, 1945-1975, Air Media Centre: London, 2011: 33-39. The rebels were compelled to split up into smaller groups and to stay on the move, and (as in Malaya) there was some evidence of increased surrender and desertion due to air action.

At the very least, their non-kinetic impact is known to have been significant. Yet it is important to note that the Harvards only deployed to Kenya at all in response to Army requests for air support, and it is notable that Erskine reached the conclusion after a few months that he needed more – not less – offensive air power.

This would hardly be surprising given the constraints imposed by the environment and the weather, the fact that the Harvards were not designed for use as offensive platforms, that their 20lb bombs, intended for operations in open country, produced minimal kinetic effect in dense jungle environments, and that few 1340 Flight personnel had much experience in the field of offensive or tactical air support.

The impact of air operations during the Mau Mau rebellion has never been easy … There were those who claimed that air operations were at best ineffective and at worst counterproductive. 303 machine gun and bomb racks capable of carrying 20lb fragmentation bombs … 1340 Flight flew predominantly in a ground-attack role… … 1340 Flight, while they could provide direct fire support and fly harassing missions similar to those mounted in Malaya, they could also be despatched to execute independent air strikes … A typical week’s work in July 1953 involved some 56 attacks, 21 in support of ground operations and 35 independent missions targeting suspected rebel hideouts in the Aberdares. The Harvards were adapted to provide a basic offensive capability in the form of a single Browning.

Strange brigade trainer