First Impressions of the Congo

And in ‘61 they decided to post me to the Congo. I had never ever refused a posting of any kind. I always looked at it this way, if I joined the military if they sent me somewhere I would go. As it happened I was posted to the Congo and it was a bit of a culture shock, bit of a difference from being here. A lot of people at that time, I looked at Africa as being like, how do I describe this, Tarzan or the jungles. When we flew over Leopoldville, I couldn't believe it, there's this beautiful city sitting in a sea of green and we circled the city, come in and landed at Leopold airport. When we landed and opened it, we got out of the plane, I could hardly hear because we were on a four-engine aircraft, the temperature was 100 degrees when we got out of the aircraft, and a captain who I knew was welcoming me to the Congo and handed me a nice fresh orange.

Mr. Knapton describes the sights when first arriving in the Congo.