The AFRICAN QUEEN’ - The true story behind the film
KEVIN PATIENCE SpeakerNet Sponsor
- Region:
- Anywhere
- Notice Period:
- Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
- Type:
- Hobby
- Fee:
- Paid: £65
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 1st April 2024
Almost everyone has heard of or seen the film ‘The African Queen’ starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn based on the book by C.S. Forester. The story is set in German East Africa now Tanzania in the First World War, where a steam launch captain and a woman missionary make their hazardous way down a river to attack a German lake steamer. However the original story published in 1934 and the film script of 1951 are very different. For years it was thought that the novel was based on the Naval Africa Expedition of 1915 to break the German supremacy on Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa. However recent research by Kevin shows the original story to be based on a completely different naval action in East Africa.
Views: 2133 | Enquiries: 1About KEVIN PATIENCE
I grew up in Kenya and served in the Royal Air Force, who also taught me to dive. On leaving the service I completed a commercial diving course, returned to Mombasa and was involved in salvage operations on the Kenya coast. In 1976 I published my first book on East African railway history and in 1977 became a commercial diver in the Arabian Gulf based in Bahrain and later established a marine salvage company. In 1982 I was appointed MD of a Kenya diving company in Mombasa responsible for operations in East Africa and later returned to Bahrain and established a new diving company with contracts in the Gulf and East Africa. With an interest in military history I was involved in the restoration of British forces graves in Bahrain, and the recovery at sea of a propeller from a crashed Air France airliner as a memorial to those killed and was honoured by the French government. In the 1990s I published a number of books on the military and transport history of East Africa and an acclaimed study of the German cruiser ‘Königsberg’ sunk in East Africa in 1915. Later writing articles for a number of aviation, medal and railway journals. In recent years I co-organised steam train safaris in East Africa and led World War 1 Kenya battlefield tours. Now resident in the UK, writing and research continues, together with presenting talks on a variety of subjects.
Other Talks on SpeakerNet by KEVIN PATIENCE
- OPERATION MINCEMEAT and THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS
- The BRIDGE over the RIVER KWAI and the DEATH RAILWAY
- The AIR FRANCE aircraft accidents at BAHRAIN
- AVIATION around POOLE BAY 1910-1976
- 'SHOUT AT THE DEVIL' - The Destruction of the German cruiser KÖNIGSBERG - 1915
- SCAPA FLOW - Salvaging the IMPERIAL GERMAN NAVY
- SALVAGE MASTER - A Career in Commercial Diving and Marine Salvage
- BUILDING the 'LUNATIC LINE' 1896 - 1901
- ROLLS- ROYCE and the SILVER LADY
- TREASURES from the DEEP
- GARRATTS - BEYER PEACOCK'S GIANTS
- HANCOCK'S QUEST - A search for the man behind the medals
- 'HERA' - A Cornish shipwreck tragedy
- SEND a GUNBOAT - The ROYAL NAVY in EAST AFRICA in the 19th Century
- The BOMBAY EXPLOSION and the day it rained GOLD
- The TRAFALGAR LADIES - A short after dinner illustrated talk
- TWO SETS of MEDALS - A genuine unique issue to the same gentleman
- SEA SAFARI - Travels on the British India Line
- WW 1 in KENYA - 1914 - 1916
Send a message to the speaker
If you are interested in this talk and wish to contact the speaker, please complete the following form: