1940 28 Jul
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Shoghi Effendi, Rúhíyyih Khánum and Sutherland Maxwell left England for South Africa aboard the SS Capetown Castle. It was Mr Maxwell's close friendship with the Canadian High Commissioner in London, Vincent Massey, that helped them secure the sea passage. [PP180]
They departed Southhampton just three days before the German High Command issued an order to the Luftwaffe to establish air superiority along the British Channel coast in preparation for the invasion of England. This resulted in the bombing and strafing of all civilian shipping out of British Channel ports.
Risking U-Boat attacks the ship took them to Durban where they found that all flights to Khartoum had been booked by the military.
They left Mr. Maxwell in Durban to await a flight to Khartoum while Shoghi Effendi and Rúhíyyih Khánum tried to make their way to Khartoum overland. The trip across Africa took them to Stanleyville, Congo; Juba in the Sudan; down the Nile to Khartoum and back to Palestine through Cairo. [PP180–1, TG159]
They arrived in Kisangani then Stanleyville a few weeks later (July 28, 1940), stayed for a week at the Stanley Hotel and made an excursion in the virgin forest. On the way to Juba, the Guardian also stayed in the village of Nia-Nia. [bahai.org]
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* Shoghi Effendi (chronology); Shoghi Effendi, Travels of; Amatul-Bahá Ruhiyyih Khanum; Amatul-Bahá Ruhiyyih Khanum, Journeys of; Sutherland Maxwell; World War II; * Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; United Kingdom; - Africa; South Africa; Congo, Democratic Republic of; Sudan; Egypt |
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Canada
