Constant Penn's colour photos
Constant 'Penn' Wilson, along with many other ATA pilots, subsequently served with RAF Ferry Command.
Penn was in 113 Sqn - RAF Ferry Command's Southern Atlantic Wing - for the remainder of WW2.
![](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Atlantic_Ferry_Routes_WWII.jpg)
A mixture of military and civilian pilots from various Allied nations ferried aircraft from Montreal to Britain, via Nassau (The Bahamas), Natal (Brazil), Accra (Gold Coast, now Ghana), Maiduguri (Nigeria), Cairo (Egypt), and Rabat (Morocco).
Here are some of the photographs Penn took at the time, sent to me by his grand-daughter, Penny Forester.
Most background information comes from 'Ocean Bridge', by Carl A Christie.
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![Unknown B 24 Passenger Compartment](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Unknown_-_B-24_Passenger_Compartment.jpg) |
Liberator engines over the Atlantic
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B-24 passenger compartment
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![Unknown Penn flying C 47](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Unknown_-_Penn_flying_C-47.jpg) |
![Unknown Lockheed PV 1 Ventura](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Unknown_-_Lockheed_PV-1_Ventura.jpg) |
Penn flying a Dakota
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Lockheed PV-1 Ventura
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![SS Pasteur Carl Lange and Penn](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/SS_Pasteur_-_Carl_Lange_and_Penn.jpg) |
![SS Pasteur Two Scotsmen](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/SS_Pasteur_-_Two_Scotsmen.jpg) |
Penn and Carl Lange on board the troopship 'SS Pasteur'
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... and two Scotsmen
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Nassau, The Bahamas (Headquarters of the South Atlantic Wing)
Aircrew who flew for Ferry Command were the first to admit that most of their experiences lacked the hardships and dangers that other airmen had to endure during the war; some ferry Command personnel wrote back to the northern hemisphere complaining of 'boredom and sunburn'.
![Nassau Bahamas HQ 113 South Atlantic Wing](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Nassau_Bahamas_-_HQ_113_South_Atlantic_Wing.jpg) |
![Nassau Bahamas Hangars](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Nassau_Bahamas_-_Hangars.jpg) |
HQ 113 South Atlantic Wing
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Dakotas and B-29
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![Nassau Bahamas Bruce Raymon and Albert Sharp at Paradise Beach](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Nassau_Bahamas_-_Bruce_Raymon_and_Albert_Sharp_at_Paradise_Beach.jpg) |
Bar Tenders, The Royal Victoria Hotel
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Bruce Raymon and Albert Sharp at Paradise Beach
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![Nassau Bahamas Bruce Raymon and Margaret Wunder 2](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Nassau_Bahamas_-_Bruce_Raymon_and_Margaret_Wunder_2.jpg) |
![Nassau Bahamas C 47s at Windsor Field](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Nassau_Bahamas_-_C-47s_at_Windsor_Field.jpg) |
Bruce Raymon and Margaret Wunder
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Dakotas and Liberator at Windsor Field
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![Nassau Bahamas Crew Assembly 113 South Atlantic Wing](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Nassau_Bahamas_-_Crew_Assembly_113_South_Atlantic_Wing.jpg) |
![Nassau Bahamas Dot Johnson and Penn New Year 1945](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Nassau_Bahamas_-_Dot_Johnson_and_Penn_-_New_Year_1945.jpg) |
Crew Assembly, 113 South Atlantic Wing
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Dot Johnson and Penn, New Year 1945
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![Nassau Bahamas Paradise Beach 4](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Nassau_Bahamas_-_Paradise_Beach_4.jpg) |
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Paradise Beach
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Natal, Brazil
Natal was the jumping-off point for the 1900-mile flight across the South Atlantic to West Africa.
Jack Groover Durham, another ex-ATA pilot, went missing in April 1943 in a flight from Natal.
![Natal Control Tower](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Natal_-_Control_Tower.jpg)
Control Tower
Accra, Gold Coast
Accra was the main western terminus of the trans-Africa airway for multi-engine aircraft. A round trip from Miami to Accra took about seventy-five hours in a Liberator.
Paul Bleecker Makepeace, an ex-ATA pilot, was lost out of Accra on a fllight to Natal in January 1943.
![Accra Ghana Gate at RAF Camp](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Accra_Ghana_-_Gate_at_RAF_Camp.jpg)
Gate at RAF Camp
Maiduguri, Nigeria
Maiduguri was an RAF Station in WWII. There are 7 Commonwealth War Graves there from that time.
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![Nigeria Transit quarters in Maiduguri](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Nigeria_-_Transit_quarters_in_Maiduguri.jpg) |
Airmens' Mess
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Transit Quarters
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Cairo, Egypt
After the difficult flight to Khartoum, the 1,000 mile flight to Cairo was the easiest; pilots followed the green valley of the Nile River until a distant view of the Pyramids heralded the end of the long journey.
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![Cairo Egypt Citadel](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Cairo_Egypt_-_Citadel.jpg) |
Bud Parsons and Penn on the Nile
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Citadel
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![Cairo Egypt Penn at top of Mosque](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Cairo_Egypt_-_Penn_at_top_of_Mosque.jpg) |
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Penn at top of Mosque
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Shepheard's Hotel, where, according to ferry pilot Don McVicar, "without our
spray gun to kill cockroaches we would have been eaten alive"
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Rabat Salé, Morocco
Rabat-Salé is now an international airport and the First Air Base of the Royal Moroccan Air Force.
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![Rabat Morocco B 24 Liberator](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Rabat_Morocco_-_B-24_Liberator.jpg) |
Al Leeward
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B-24 Liberator
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![Rabat Morocco Wellington](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Rabat_Morocco_-_Wellington.jpg) |
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Wellington
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Prestwick, Scotland
![Prestwick Scotland Head Porter Curtis](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/Prestwick_Scotland_-_Head_Porter_Curtis.jpg)
Head Porter Curtis
Penn also apparently managed a visit to Allahabad, India:
![India Taj Mahal 2](https://www.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/images/Constant%20Penn%20Slides/India_-_Taj_Mahal_2.jpg) |
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Taj Mahal from the air
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Human Skulls
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