Editing Moi Air Base (section)

==History==

'''RAF Eastleigh''' was a [[Royal Air Force]] airfield in [[Kenya]], in the [[Eastleigh, Nairobi|Eastleigh]] suburb of [[Nairobi]].   The name "RAF Eastleigh" was also used during 1935 for the airfield in England that became [[RAF Southampton]] in 1936.

A detachment of [[No. 45 Squadron RAF]] arrived in December 1929.<ref name=EastRAF>[http://www.rafweb.org/Stations/Stations-E.htm#Eastleigh Eastleigh]</ref> The detachment was reportedly equipped with [[Fairey III]] reconnaissance biplanes. The RAF Unit, Kenya, was established on 14 December 1935. On 15 December 1936, "B" Flight, 45 Squadron, by that time equipped with [[Fairey Gordon]] aircraft, was expanded into [[No. 223 Squadron RAF]].

223 Squadron stayed until 17 September 1939. By January 1940 No. 223 Squadron was located at Gordon's Tree, in the south of Khartoum, in the Sudan.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rafweb.org/Stations/Stations-G.htm | title=Stations-G }}</ref>

The first RAF elements listed on "Air of Authority" for the originally named RAF Nairobi were:<ref name=EastRAF />
*RAF Unit, Kenya (14 Dec 1935 - 6 September 1939)
*SHQ Rhodesian Air Unit (4 - 19 Sep 1939). By 3 September 1939 the Southern Rhodesia Air Section under Squadron Leader M. Maxwell had arrived at Nairobi in the [[Kenya Colony]]. It was initially renamed No. 1 Squadron Southern Rhodesia Air Force, but then became No. 237 Squadron.
*No 2 (Training) Flight, Kenya Auxiliary Air Unit (6 September 1939 - 1 August 1940)
*[[No. 237 Squadron RAF]] (22 April - 30 September 1940)

Eastleigh was the primary RAF station for East Africa, and home to [[Air Headquarters East Africa]] after force reductions in the 1950s. 

[[No. 1340 Flight RAF]] arrived at Eastleigh on 27 March 1953, commanded by [[Squadron Leader]] Charles G. St. David Jefferies,{{sfn|Chappell|2011|p=87}}{{sfn|Ritchie|2011|p=34}} for anti-[[Mau Mau rebellion]] operations. It was equipped with 12 [[Noorduyn]] Harvard IIBs, eight operational and four in reserve, with two being serviced any one time.{{sfn|Wilson|2015|p=69}}

The aircraft were fitted with bomb racks under the wings to take eight  {{cvt|20|lb}} [[fragmentation (weaponry)|fragmentation]] bombs<ref>{{cite web |title=British Explosive Ordnance - Introduction and Fragmentation Bombs: Fragmentation Bombs |website=WW2 Equipment Data |url=http://ww2data.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/british-explosive-ordnance-introduction.html |access-date=5 February 2018|date=28 November 2016 }}</ref><ref>Picture of bomb racks at {{cite web |title=More on the T-6 Texan's combat service |author=Grant, Peter |website=Goodreads.com |date=23 August 2014 |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/6877014-more-on-the-t-6-texan-s-combat-service |access-date=5 February 2018}}</ref> and a single [[M1919 Browning machine gun#Browning .303 Mark II|Browning .303]] machine gun under the starboard wing,<ref name=RAFMuseum_1953 >{{cite web|title=British Military Aviation 1953 |url=https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-military-aviation/1953.aspx |website=RAF Museum |access-date=5 February 2018}}</ref>{{sfn|Ritchie|2011|p=34}} with the ammunition carried inside the wing.<ref>{{cite web |title=CAC Wirraway Technical Details |url=http://dbdesignbureau.buckmasterfamily.id.au/tech_info_cac_wirraway.htm |website=Design Bureau |author=Buckmaster, Derek |date=22 September 2012 |access-date=5 February 2018}} Info from a page about the [[CAC Wirraway]], similar to the Harvard, both developed from the NA-16 trainer.</ref> Because of the wooded terrain, the Harvards weren't used for two months because General Hinde thought they would be ineffective.{{sfn|Chappell|2011|p=87}}

However, because of its high elevation and short runways (which could not be extended because of its location close to the city), from the arrival of [[No. 208 Squadron RAF]] in the late 1950s with its [[Hawker Hunter]]s, jet fighters and bombers had to operate out of nearby [[Jomo Kenyatta International Airport|Embakasi Airport]].  

From 1945 to 1958, Eastleigh also operated as Nairobi's main international civilian airport. [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] (BOAC) and [[East African Airways]] operated flights from Eastleigh until the opening of [[Jomo Kenyatta International Airport|Embakasi Airport]] (now Jomo Kenyatta International) nearby in 1958. Beforehand, the suitability of Eastleigh to post-War commercial airliners became a burning question; it retained a dual military-civilian role while a site was sought for a more modern, bigger civil airport. Funding the new airport became a major hurdle.<ref>Pirie, Gordon: "[https://theconversation.com/nairobis-airports-windows-on-kenyas-colonial-past-and-top-down-planning-154208 Nairobi's airports -- windows on Kenya's colonial past and top-down planning]".</ref> 

During World War 2, it was the location for [[No. 1414 Flight RAF|No. 1414 (Meteorological) Flight RAF]] equipped with [[Gloster Gladiator]], [[Boulton Paul Defiant]], [[Hawker Hurricane]], [[Supermarine Spitfire]], [[Percival Proctor]] and [[No. 1569 Flight RAF|No. 1569 (Meteorological) Flight RAF]] equipped with Hurricanes.<ref>David Lee, ''Flight from the Middle East,'' 1980, 295-7. Appendix A is the RAF Order of Battle in [[AHQ Persia and Iraq]], AHQ East Africa and HQ British Forces, Aden, in November 1945, pp295-298. See also Lake 1999, pp 87, 95.</ref> After the war [[No. 21 Squadron RAF]], [[No. 30 Squadron RAF]], [[No. 82 Squadron RAF]] (perhaps between 1947 and 1952, carrying out aerial surveying) and a Communications Flight operated from the base.

After [[Kenyan independence]] in December 1963, the [[Kenya Air Force]] was formed in 1964. After the [[1982 Kenyan coup d'état attempt|coup attempt]] by a group of KAF officers on 1 August 1982, the Kenya Air Force was disbanded and placed under the control of the [[Kenya Defence Forces|Kenyan Army]].  During this period, KAF Eastleigh was renamed "Moi Air Base."