View source for Moi Air Base

{{Short description|Military airport east of Nairobi, Kenya}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name = Moi Air Base<br><S>RAF Eastleigh</S>
| ensign= Air Force Ensign of Kenya.svg
| ensign_size= 150px
| native_name = 
| partof = 
| location = [[Eastleigh, Nairobi|Eastleigh]], [[Nairobi]]
| nearest_town = 
| country = Kenya
| image = 
| caption = 
| coordinates = {{Coord|1|16|37.9|S|036|51|44.3|E|region:KE_type:airport|display=inline,title}}
| type = Air Base
| pushpin_map = Kenya
| pushpin_label = Moi Air Base
| pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Kenya
| ownership = [[Kenya Defence Forces]]
| operator = [[Kenya Air Force]]
| controlledby = 
| site_area = 
| code = 
| built = {{Start date|1936}}
| builder = 
| used = 1936-present<!--{{End date|1946}}-->
| height = 
| materials = 
| condition = 
| fate = 
| battles = 
| events = 
| current_commander = <!-- current commander -->
| past_commanders= <!-- past notable commander(s) -->
| garrison = 
| occupants = 
| open_to_public = 
| website = 
| IATA = 
| ICAO = HKRE
| FAA = 
| TC = 
| LID = 
| GPS = 
| WMO = 
| elevation = {{Convert|1632|m|0}}
| r1-number = 06/24
| r1-length = {{Convert|2380|m|0}}
| r1-surface = [[Asphalt concrete|Asphalt]]
}}

'''Moi Air Base''', formerly known as '''RAF Eastleigh''' and '''Eastleigh Airport''' {{airport codes||HKRE}} is a military airport located to the east of [[Nairobi]], in the [[Eastleigh, Nairobi|Eastleigh]] suburb.  The airport is used by the [[Kenya Air Force]]. Additionally, the airfield is the home of the [[East African School of Aviation]] run by the [[Kenya Civil Aviation Authority]], which was established at the airport in 1954 as the DCA training school.  The airport is also used to train Kenyan Air Cadets.

Due to its military status, the airport is not shown in any official map of Nairobi.  Instead, the area is left blank.  This does not affect [[Google Earth]], though.

==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 December 1935 - 6 September 1939)
*SHQ Rhodesian Air Unit (4 - 19 September 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."

==References==
[[File:First ever flight to Bombay. Eastleigh Airport Nairobi. 20 Nov 1950.jpg|thumb|right|First ever flight to Bombay, Eastleigh Airport, 20 November 1950.]]
{{reflist}}
* {{cite journal
 <!-- {{sfn|Chappell|2011|p=}} -->
 |title=Airpower in the Mau Mau Conflict: The Government's chief weapon 
 |last=Chappell
 |first=Steve 
 |journal= Air Power Review 
 |volume=14
 |issue=1
 |year=2011
 |series=Spring 2011
 |issn=1463-6298
 |publisher=Royal Air Force: Centre for Air Power Studies
 |url=http://www.airpowerstudies.com/APR%20Vol14%20No1%20Booklet.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903131716/http://www.airpowerstudies.com/APR%20Vol14%20No1%20Booklet.pdf 
 |archive-date=3 September 2011 
 }}
* Jefford, C.G.''The Flying Camels: The History of No. 45 Squadron, RAF''. High Wycombe, UK: Privately Printed, 1995.
* {{cite journal 
 <!-- {{sfn|Ritchie|2011|p=}} -->
 |last=Ritchie
 |first=Sebastian
 |journal=Royal Air Force Historical Society Journal
 |year=2011
 |issue=55
 |title=The RAF, Small Wars and Insurgencies: Later Colonial Operations 1945-1975
 |publisher=Air Power Studies
 |url=http://www.airpowerstudies.co.uk/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/RAFAHBCOIN2.pdf
 |access-date=5 February 2018}}
* {{cite book
 <!-- {{sfn|Wilson|2015|p=}} -->
 |last=Wilson
 |first=Keith
 |title=RAF in Camera: 1950s
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FkfdCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA77
 |publisher=Pen and Sword
 |year=2015
 |isbn=9781473827950}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.mccrow.org.uk/EastAfrica/NairobiAirport/Nairobi%20Airports.htm Photographs of Eastleigh and other Nairobi airports from 50 years ago]
* {{ASN|HKRE}} - Eastleigh Airport
* Radfan Hunters - [http://www.radfanhunters.co.uk/Eastleigh.htm Eastleigh and Embarkasi]

{{Airports in Kenya}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Nairobi]]
[[Category:Military installations of Kenya]]
[[Category:Airports in Kenya]]
[[Category:Military airbases]]
[[Category:Military airbases established in 1936]]

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