INTERESTING AVIATORS I HAVE MET

I remember back in 1960 being in Nairobi West (where Wilson Airport is situated) standing with my mother watching a train pass by, filled with refugees from the Belgian Congo. The train was full, with many of the people dressed in pyjamas, or whatever they could find to wear in their haste to leave.

- IRIS MCCALLUM

THE NEWSPAPERS were full of horrific stories of what people had endured and how many were killed. Everyone was affected from missionary nuns, to families and businesses.

The lucky ones who had managed to escape were on that train. Unbeknown to me at the time, there were people who had been airlifted out by a young woman aviator called June Wright.

June flew multiple missions into the Congo in a Piper Commanche until the Aketi airstrip that she used was overrun by the rebels. Aketi airstrip is in the Bas-Uele Province in the north of the Congo. It is very difficult to convey or comprehend how vicious and dangerous these times were in the early days of the Congo revolt against the Belgian colonial powers.

In the week she had spent evacuating the refugees, she had flown approximately 6000 miles in very difficult weather and over the almost impenetrable Congo equatorial forest.

For her courage and dedication, she was awarded the Commendation for Valuable Service In The Air by Queen Elizabeth II.

June was also the first woman in Africa to be awarded the Amelia Earhart Medal for her courage and rescue missions in the Congo. The Belgians also recognised June's courage and she was given a plaque in the shape of a coin with her name inscribed and with great simplicity "La Belgique reconnaissance".