The VHF Project | The Africa Books | Swahili | Maps and Photographs
East Africa in the 1950s
Colony of Kenya, and the Protectorates of Uganda and Tanganyika
The VHF Project
SEE: East Africa Telecoms 1951-1954 and also Map of the VHF Route
The following background information is provided for those interested in the technical side of the VHF project and the reasons for its implementation.
The three technologies of the telegraph, the telephone, and radio are closely related. The invention of the electromagnet by William Sturgeon in 1825 laid the foundations for large-scale electronic communications, and led to the invention of the electric telegraph by Joseph Henry. The telephone was invented in the 1870s, when Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell independently designed devices that could transmit speech electrically. Bell's discovery came as a direct result of his attempts to improve the telegraph. Radio, utilizing radio waves, owes its development to the telegraph and the telephone. In 1902, Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, proved the feasibility of radio transmission, when he successfully transmitted a transatlantic radiotelegraph message.
Prior to 1949, telephone and telecommunications, including long distance telephone and telegraph systems, relied on single or multiple pair telephone wires strung on telegraph poles. These tall poles were erected next to the railway tracks and alongside our highways and streets, while the wires transmitted telephone, telegraph and radio signals. In Africa, these overhead wires were vulnerable to breakages by elephants and giraffe, and to theft by local tribesmen who cut the copper wire to make bangles.
There was a serious technical problem with overhead telephone line pairs: the characteristic frequency response limited the line to audio frequencies. The overhead pair of lines was capable of carrying only one or two audio (speech) channels at a time, dependent on the type of line. Balanced lines, such as J-routes, could be used. In 1949, only one J-route existed in Kenya; that was the Nairobi-Nakuru route, 100 miles long with 12 channels.
Worldwide, the demand for better communications systems was increasing in both modern and developing countries. This inevitably led to research and development of multi-channel radio repeater telecommunications techniques and systems. A very high frequency (VHF) system was developed where telephone conversations were transmitted in a radio beam from one point to another.
The demand for better communications, and the pressing need for a multi-channel telephone system capable of catering for the needs of a variety of individual and business subscribers, led Marconi engineers to develop and install a prototype of a modern VHF radio communications repeater link system to be used between Nairobi and Nakuru in Kenya. It was successfully tested in Kenya in 1947-49, and used the VHF frequency band for use on backbone telephone routes. Frequencies ranged from 180 to 210 MHz (Megahertz).
The test sites and repeater stations were located on mountaintops because VHF transmissions travel in a straight line (line of sight), and, unlike lower frequencies, are not reflected by the ionospheric layer surrounding the planet. For effective communication the two ends of the communication link must be in sight of each other. To maximize the distance between terminals the survey crews had to select the highest possible sites, usually on mountaintops.
The success of this twenty-four channel prototype system developed by the Marconi engineers led to the use of VHF radio repeater equipment and systems all over the world, including the radio backbone routes across North and South America. The routes have largely been replaced by microwave radio repeater systems worldwide. These systems link into satellites using broadband equipment for television and telecommunications that carries over nine hundred channels.
The radio repeater project from Uganda, to Kenya, Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam was a pioneering one, paralleling the development of the railroad from Mombasa (Kenya) to Lake Victoria and Uganda. Although referred to as the Lunatic Line when it was first proposed, the railroad opened up East Africa to economic development. Likewise, the VHF radio telecommunications system provided the people with access to communications, not only with the rest of the world, but to their own towns and cities.
It was truly an essential element in nation building and deserves its place in the history of East Africa.
If you are interested in more information on this topic, please see The History of the Telephone
The Africa Books
Covering the period 1949 to 1958, the Africa books depict how youth evolves from idealism (White Man’s Drum) through disenchantment (Drums of Rebellion), to acceptance of reality, that is, the equality and universality of mankind (For the Love of a Woman). The trilogy describes life in the colony of Kenya and the protectorates of Uganda and Tanganyika during the period 1949 to 1958. This was a critical decade in history, marked by momentous social change and turmoil. The uprising of the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya (East Africa) in 1952, was the spark that ignited the drive for independence throughout the African continent.
Focused on the building of VHF radio-repeater routes in 1951-1954, the first two books describe life on safari in East Africa. These are not luxurious big game hunting safaris, but working safaris in the bush and back country of East Africa. The books also provide an insight into the experiences and adventures of an expatriate in Africa in crisis.
Set against the background of Africa, the three nonfiction titles follow the experiences of Gordon Mumford, an assistant engineer working on field survey safaris. He had arrived in Kenya after World War II, hoping to find a better life, but his very existence was to rise and fall dependent on the whims and vagaries of the political situation in his adopted home.
Creatively written, the books form an informal history of life in East Africa in the 1950s. What had been a peaceful and sometimes almost idyllic life for the white settlers ended when the Kikuyu tribe revolted. Eventually, the settlers and the British army won the "war" against the Mau Mau rebels, but lost the peace. The African people gained their independence from colonialism, which marked the beginning of the end for the British Empire around the world.
White Man's Drum and Drums of Rebellion
To the young men who worked on the VHF project, the lure of the word safari was irresistible. They had fought in the Second World War, and missed the adrenalin rush that had been their constant companion in wartime. Unsettled and bored in England, they had come to East Africa looking for fresh adventures.
Split into two teams, they were assigned to a four year project that involved the survey and installation of a viable route for a modern VHF (very high frequency) radio-repeater multi-channel telecommunications system across East Africa. The project ranged from Kampala in Uganda, through Kenya to Dar es Salaam in Tanganyika via Zanzibar. They worked under canvas on safari for months at a time, encountering inhospitable country, wild animals, and extreme weather conditions. The books are not technical, but describes their adventures during this period. Halfway into the project, however, the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya’s Central Province rebelled against British rule (Mau Mau), and the safari crews faced more excitement than they had bargained when they found themselves in the midst of a savage civil war.
The third book is called For the Love of a Woman. The coming of independence created crises, both political and economic, in the lives of many. It was a time of change and decisions, not only for the white population, but also for the African and Asian communities. Gordon planned to stay on after independence, but things began to change. No sooner had be begun his studies to become a professional engineer, when his world crashed around him. Instead of supporting his dreams, his wife wanted a divorce. Forsaking his studies, he returned to Kenya to try to save his marriage.
Use of Swahili Language
The books make limited use of Swahili (with a translation) to provide local colour and atmosphere when describing the land and its people. Swahili is the lingua franca for much of East and Central Africa.
>Pure coastal Swahili is a Bantu language that includes many Arabic words. Used by coastal tribes, it was first spread to the interior by Arab slave traders and later by settlers. A simpler form of the language was used upcountry, and was often referred to as "upcountry" Swahili. It was a way for different tribal and racial groups to communicate. There was no written form of the language until the turn of the twentieth century when two missionaries (Steere and Madan) compiled the first Swahili-English dictionaries and grammars.
During colonial times, racial groups in East Africa were divided into three groups, referred to as African (the indigenous people), Asian (people from India, etc.) and European (the "whites" or Caucasians).
Comprised mainly of British civil servants, administrators and settlers, the white population usually spoke to Africans in Swahili. Up until the early 1950s, civil servants were expected to pass the spoken Standard Swahili examination within two years, and, for some positions, had to pass a written examination as well. The fact that their increments would be stopped if they did not pass provided a strong incentive to learn the language.
Maps and Photographs
The books are illustrated with original photographs--mainly black and white shots taken in the early 1950s. There are also numerous large scale maps (using the original place names) and a few sketches prepared by the author
Please take a moment to contact the author or write your comments
Books by Gordon Mumford | African Bookshelf | VHF Project Photos
