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Royal
Mail |
The
Empire Air Mail Programme
The Empire Air Mail Programme was inaugurated on the 29th of
June 1937, when the Empire flying boat 'Centurion' left Southampton
for South and East Africa. All mail was charged at 1½d.
per oz. which made it possible to post air mail letters in ordinary
letter boxes. During that year the 'Caledonia' and 'Cavalier'
made survey flights across the North Atlantic, and on 27th and
28th of September the 'Cambria' made the fastest flight across
the ocean between Botwood Newfoundland and Foynes, Eire, with
a record time of ten hours thirty-six minutes. Many other surveys
for routes were also made during 1937. This had been a great
year for British Air Transport, starting with the commissioning
of the world's largest fleet of commercial flying boats, changing
from land planes to faster flying boats, inaugurating the Empire
Air Mail Programme, making ten crossings of the North Atlantic
to schedule, taking the first step in opening the longest air
route in the world (15,000 miles from England to New Zealand),
carried over 70,000 passengers and flown over 6,000,000 miles-no
mean achievement! 1938 saw the schedules of the Empire routes
being accelerated, and air mail figures for the first quarter
gave an idea of how well the Empire Air Mail Programme was working.
In three months over 100 tons of mail had been flown on the Africa
route and the same volume on the India route. This service was
given a great amount of praise from the United States where only
2 tons of air mail was carried per week in 1937. On the 28th
of July Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Papua, Fiji, Norfolk
Island, Lord Howe Island, Nauru, The Mandated Territory of Western
Samoa and the Territories under the Jurisdiction of the High
Commissioner for the Western Pacific were brought into the Programme.
Imperial Airways was in the 1930's the main approved carrier. |
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(below) A poster published in May 1921. |
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(above) postal sorting office |
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(above) 'Royal Mail' being handled at
Croydon before becoming officialy named 'Air Mail'. (below) one of the early Dutch 'Air Mail' carriers at
Croydon. Interesting to note that the wrong crown has been painted
between the G - R. |
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(above) 1920. An auxilliary to the Airmail
Express. The special sidecar that was used by the G.P.O. to take
the airmails from Waddon the new Paris-London terminus, to London. |
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(below
four pictures) the
first official on airfield 'Air Mail' van showing the sequence
from Customs collection to aircraft loading on Imperial Airways
'Horatious'. |
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(above) 1930. |
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(below) airmail experiment 1929.To America via Galway had
been tried, here being uploaded from Croydon. |
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(Below) First Airmail. 14th of
May 1931. |
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(below) Inauguration of the new route Croydon to Capetown.
The Airmail being loaded on the 28th of February 1931. |
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(below) First airmail from Australia 1931 |
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(below) First airmail from Central Africa 1931 |
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(below) Special airmail to Canada. 1932 |
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(above)
loading mail for France 1934. |
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(above and below) loading mail and parcels aboard
Imperial Airways liners. |
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(below) the first 'Night Airmail' by a 'Farman Goliath'. |
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(below) first England to Australia direct airmail. 1934. |
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The public could post
GPO Airmail in the special boxes in the city before 1pm to catch
the night airmail flight. |
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(above
and below) the new
specially designed vehicle for delivering 'Air Mail' between
London and Croydon in 1934. |
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(above)
1934 |
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(above) 'Air Mail' being loaded for Australia
in 1935. (below) loading 'Air Mail' aboard an 'Airspeed
Consul' in 1938. Both pictures taken at Croydon. |
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