On 8 October 1950, a photograph taken at Ikeja Airport, Lagos captured a straightforward operational scene, a BOAC four engine aircraft, registered G-ALOP and named “Homer”, being refuelled from a Shell truck on the apron. The photographer is credited as E. H. Duckworth (1894–1972), and the image is preserved within the Herskovits Library of African Studies collections at Northwestern University.
That caption level clarity matters. It pins the image to a location, an airline, an aircraft identity, an exact date, and a specific ground operation, which is precisely what turns a photograph into usable history.
What the photograph tells us, without adding anything that is not documented
The archive description confirms several key facts in plain language.
First, the aircraft is clearly identified as a BOAC aircraft, and it is described as a four engine airplane. Second, it carries a specific registration, G-ALOP, and a specific aircraft name, “Homer.” Third, the aircraft is shown being refuelled from a Shell truck, which captures not only the aircraft but also the fueling method used on the ground at Ikeja at that time.
The caption does not provide a flight number, a route, a departure time, or a destination, and it does not need to. The strength of the image is that it documents the practical reality of aviation, aircraft moved through Lagos, and they were serviced on the apron with equipment and fuel supply systems that were visible and direct.
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Ikeja Airport in 1950, built for war, adapted for civil aviation
Ikeja’s airport site is widely described as having been built during World War II, then developed into a major civil aviation base in the post war period. That timeline helps explain why Ikeja was already capable of receiving large aircraft by 1950.
Airfields established for wartime logistics often became the foundation for peacetime connectivity, and Ikeja followed that pattern. By the time this photograph was taken, Lagos was already operating as a key aviation gateway for Nigeria, with Ikeja handling the movement of people, cargo, and official travel through an increasingly organised system.
The photo itself does not claim that Ikeja was “glossy” or modern in today’s sense, but it does show a working apron environment in which a major international airline aircraft could park, refuel, and continue operations.
BOAC in West Africa, a major airline on a strategic corridor
BOAC, the British Overseas Airways Corporation, was one of the most prominent international airlines of the mid twentieth century. In that era, West Africa was not a side note in aviation planning, it was an operational corridor. Routes linking Britain to parts of Africa relied on a chain of functioning airports that could support piston aircraft operations and regular servicing.
This is why the Ikeja image is more than an isolated scene. It places Lagos inside a larger aviation network that included scheduled airline activity and the on ground support needed to keep it running. The aircraft is not pictured in flight, but the infrastructure visible in the refuelling operation is exactly what made flight possible.
Was “Homer” a Handley Page Hermes, what can be said responsibly
The archive caption identifies the aircraft as a BOAC four engine airplane, registration G-ALOP, name “Homer”, but it does not specify the aircraft type.
Some secondary aviation references and later re posts commonly identify BOAC aircraft in this period as the Handley Page Hermes IV, a British four engine piston airliner that entered BOAC airline service on 6 August 1950 and was used on routes including West Africa. This is historically consistent with BOAC operations in 1950, but because the Northwestern caption does not state the model, the most responsible way to phrase it is this, the aircraft is often identified in secondary sources as a Hermes IV, but the archive record itself confirms only BOAC, four engines, the registration, and the name.
That distinction protects the history. It keeps the article accurate even if later researchers refine the aircraft type identification with additional documentation.
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Fuel on the apron, what a Shell truck reveals about the era
One of the most valuable details in the photograph is also the simplest, the aircraft is being refuelled from a Shell truck.
Today, many large airports use underground hydrant systems in which fuel is delivered through built in infrastructure. In 1950, many airports relied heavily on vehicle based fuel delivery, and the image captures that clearly. A fuel truck at the aircraft implies organised ground handling and a dependable supply chain, because large four engine piston aircraft required significant fueling and careful procedures.
The photo does not list the number of gallons or the exact fueling process, but it does show the operational reality that kept aviation moving, fuel supply was present on site, delivered directly to the aircraft in a controlled, service routine.
The photographer, E. H. Duckworth, and why his name matters here
The photographer credit is not decorative. E. H. Duckworth is documented as Edward Harland Duckworth, a British expatriate officer in colonial Nigeria and the founding editor of Nigeria Magazine. His photographic work forms a substantial visual record of Nigerian life, institutions, infrastructure, and public scenes across decades.
This matters because it places the image inside an intentional documentary practice. It is not only a travel photograph, it is part of an archival collection assembled by someone who repeatedly documented Nigeria’s public spaces and changing systems. When such images are preserved in a research library collection, they become reference points for how places looked, how work was done, and how modern infrastructure functioned in everyday life.
Author’s Note
This photograph is a reminder that history often lives in the quiet working moments, a named aircraft, a date, a location, and the simple act of refuelling that made the next journey possible, showing Lagos already linked into global movement by 1950.
References
Northwestern University Libraries, Digital Collections, Herskovits Library of African Studies, “BOAC four engine airplane G-ALOP (Homer) being refuelled from a Shell truck at the Ikeja Airport”, dated 8 October 1950.
Northwestern University Libraries, Digital Collections, E. H. Duckworth Photograph Collection description, Edward Harland Duckworth (1894–1972), founding editor of Nigeria Magazine.
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, history notes including World War II origin.
Handley Page Hermes, published aviation reference summaries noting entry into airline service on 6 August 1950 and BOAC operations.
Murtala Muhammed International Airport, historical summaries describing the airport’s World War II construction and post war civil aviation role.
