The Horseshoe Route. Chapter 1: Airmail Services in Early June 1940

Transcription

1 The Horseshoe Route Robert Clark Chapter 1: Airmail Services in Early June Introduction This chapter describes the BOAC air mail services between the UK and India, Malaya, Australia, New Zealand and Africa around the time that Italy entered WW II on 10th June. It concentrates on the flying boat services between the UK and Australia and South Africa and their disruption, but includes a brief description of the landplane services between Britain and Egypt and services provided by other companies. The British flying boat terminal had been moved from Hythe (Southampton) to Poole (Dorset) for a short time in September 1939 and was moved again to Poole on 4th January 1940 [Win]. At the beginning of May 1940, the flying boat route through the Mediterranean for both Australian and South African flights was: Poole Biscarosse Marseilles Lake Bracciano (Rome) Brindisi Corfu Athens Suda Bay [Wil]. The landplane route through the Mediterranean was London (Heston) Marseilles Tunis (night stop) Malta Sollum (Egypt). Before the war, Hythe Marignane (Marseilles) had often been flown without a stop, but on 27th August 1939, France had prohibited flights east of a line Calais Paris Lyon Marseilles and so a more western route was taken between Britain and Marseilles with a stop at Biscarosse (with St Nazaire as an alternative) [AH]. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 1

2 An alternative route avoiding Italy was also explored at the beginning of the war and there was an experimental flight on 13th September 1939 over the route Poole St. Nazaire Biscarosse Marseilles Bizerta (Tunisia) Malta Navarino (Greece) Athens [Win] which was a useful preparation for 10th June. As the entry of Italy into World War II was not unexpected, there were changes in the service in May and June. According to CAIS 47 (8th May), with the new timetable of 1st May, Rome was no longer used as a night stop which were now at Marseilles and Athens on the services from Poole and at Athens and Biscarosse on the services from [Win]. However, according to the BOAC aircraft movement charts, Marseilles was used as the night stop in both directions in the second half of May [BA]. There were further changes in early June. The last services with Marseilles as a night stop were CE 226 on 31st May / 1st June and SW 243 on 1st / 2nd June. Ajaccio (Corsica) was introduced as the normal replacement night stop with DS 276, XE 276 and CW 222 all on 2nd / 3rd June although CAIS 52 reports the start being on 6th June. A route avoiding Italy was introduced on 10th June. It was: Poole Biscarosse Marseilles Ajaccio (night stop) Bizerta Malta Corfu (night stop) Athens [Win]. Italy entered WWII on 10th June 1940 and on that date a letter from the Air Ministry to the GPO in London stated [EAS]: With reference to the Empire flying boat service, it has now been decided in view of the developments of the military situation, to suspend forthwith all services west of Egypt. Arrangements are being made to substitute a landplane service via the Sahara, Kano, Khartoum to connect at Cairo with the flying boats operating eastwards to India and Australia and southwards to South Africa. 1.2 Flights that completed the journey through the Mediterranean before 10th June a) Departures from Poole As well as the scheduled flying boat flights to Durban (DS), Sydney (SE) and (CE), there were three extra flights XE 276, XE 252 and XS 277 which avoided Italy and had an overnight stop in Malta. According to CAIS 52 on 12th June, Ajaccio was substituted for Marseilles as a night stop on 6th June after the French authorities had requested that aircraft should not remain overnight at Marseilles [Win]. However, the last flight from Poole to use Marseilles as a night stop was CE 226 on the night of 31st May / 1st June and after that Ajaccio was a night stop on all flights from Poole [BA]. DS 276 Poole Biscarosse Marseilles Ajaccio Bracciano Brindisi Athens Suda Bay Khartoum 1 June 1-2 Jun 2 June 2-3 Jun 3 Jun 3 Jun 3-4 Jun 4 Jun 4-5 Jun 5-6 Jun Corsair Corsair Corsair Corsair Corsair Corsair Corsair Corsair Corsair Corsair XE 276 Poole Biscarosse Marseilles Ajaccio Bizerta Malta Corfu Athens Suda Bay 1 June 1-2 June 2 June 2-3 Jun 3 Jun 3-4 Jun 4 Jun 4 Jun 4 Jun 4 Jun Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 2

3 Kisumu Mozambique Durban 6-7 Jun 7-8 Jun 8 June Corsair Corsair Corsair Figure 1.1 Postmarked on 31st May and again on 1st June in London. Likely flown on SE 252 that left Poole on 2nd June iving in Sydney on 15th June. Flown to Auckland on 20th June. SE 252 Poole Biscarosse Marseilles Ajaccio Brindisi Athens Suda Bay Basra Calcutta Bangkok Singapore Sourabaya Darwin Townsville Sydney rtn 2 June 2-3 June 3 June 3-4 Jun 4 Jun 4-5 Jun 5 Jun 5-6 Jun 6 June 7 June 7-8 Jun 8-9 Jun 9-10 Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun 15 June Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria Carpentaria MT XE 252 Poole Biscarosse Marseilles Ajaccio Malta Athens Suda Bay Basra Calcutta Bangkok Singapore Sourabaya Darwin Townsville Sydney 5 June 5 June 5 June 5-6 Jun 6-7 Jun 7-8 Jun 8 Jun 8-9 Jun 9-10 Jun 10 Jun 11 June Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun 17 June Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Corinna Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 3

4 Only the Empire Airmail Services that were still to cross the Mediterranean were suspended after 10th June. SE 252 and XE 252 / SE 253 continued and ived in Sydney on 15th and 17th June respectively. They connected with the TEAL service on the Awarua that flew from Sydney to Auckland on 20th June. A cover postmarked in Sheffield on 31st May was received in Carterton near Wellington on 21st June and would have been flown on SE 252. A cover postmarked in Sussex on 4th June and addressed to Saigon has a Hanoi transit on 13th June and a Saigon ival datestamp on 15th June. It was likely flown on XE 252, iving in Bangkok on 12th June and then flown Bangkok Hanoi by BOAC on BH 244 on 13th June [BA]. The Bangkok Hong Kong service was via Udorn, Hanoi and Fort Bayard (present day Zhanjiang). DS 277 Poole Biscarosse Marseilles Ajaccio Bracciano Brindisi Athens Suda Bay Khartoum Kisumu Mozambique Durban 5 June 5 June 5 June 5-6 Jun 6 Jun 6 Jun 6-7 Jun 7 Jun 7-8 Jun 8-9 Jun 9-10 Jun Jun 11 June Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra Cleopatra XS 277 Poole Biscarosse Marseilles Ajaccio Malta Brindisi? Suda Bay 6 June 6 June 6 June 6-7 Jun 7-8 Jun 8 Jun 8 Jun 8 Jun Clyde Clyde Clyde Clyde Clyde Clyde Clyde Clyde According to CAIS 52 [Win], flown at the request of the Air Ministry and important freight was flown. Both Corinna with XE 252 and Clifton with SE 253 ived in on 8th June and they flew together to iving on 10th June. Corinna then continued to Sydney on 11th 17th June and likely flew both the XE 252 and the SE 253 mail. According to the Straits Times of 13th June, there was a delivery of air mail from London to box holders in Singapore on 13th June and a general delivery on the 14th. That corresponds to XE 252 / SE 253. SE 253 Poole 6 June Clifton Biscarosse 6 June Clifton Marseilles 6 June Clifton Ajaccio 6-7 Jun Clifton Bracciano 7 Jun Clifton Brindisi 7 Jun Clifton Athens 7-8 Jun Clifton Suda Bay 8 Jun Clifton 8-9 Jun Clifton Basra 9-10 Jun Clifton 10 Jun Clifton The mail was then likely flown from with XE 252 on 11th June. CE 228 Poole Biscarosse Marseilles Ajaccio Bracciano Brindisi Athens Suda Bay Basra 7 June 7 June 7 June 7-8 Jun 8 Jun 8 Jun 8-9 Jun 9 Jun 9-10 Jun Jun 11 Jun The cover in Figure 1.2 is postmarked in London on 5th June and is addressed to the North West Frontier of India where it has a Peshawar transit on 12th June. It was likely flown on SE 253 which ived in on 10th June and then completed its journey by rail. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 4

5 Figure 1.2 Postmarked London on 5th June and addressed to India. Likely flown on SE 253. b) Arrivals at Poole As well as the scheduled flying boat flights from Durban (DN), Sydney (SW) and (CW), there was an extra flight XW 244. According to CAIS 52 on 12th June, Ajaccio was substituted for Marseilles as a night stop on 6th June [Win]. However, the last service from to use Marseilles as a night stop was SW 243 on the night of 1st / 2nd June. On occasions, St Nazaire or Biscarosse was used as a night stop instead of Ajaccio on services from. SW 243 Sydney Townsville Darwin Sourabaya Singapore Singapore Bangkok Calcutta Basra Suda Bay Athens Marseilles Biscarosse Poole 22 May May May May 25 May 26 May May May May May 30 May 31 May 31 May 31/5-1/6 1-2 June 2 Jun 2 June Champion Champion Champion Champion Champion Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia CW 222 Basra Athens Brindisi Bracciano Ajaccio Marseilles Biscarosse Poole 30 May May 31/5-1/6 1-2 Jun 2 Jun 2 Jun 2-3 Jun 3 Jun 3 Jun 3 June Corinthian Corinthian Corinthian Corinthian Corinthian Corinthian Corinthian Corinthian Corinthian Corinthian Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 5

6 The Auckland Sydney service was due to be flown on Monday 20th May and connect with SW 243. However, due to a cyclone over the Tasman Sea, the flight was postponed until Wednesday 22nd May [EP]. The cover in Figure 1.3 would likely be on that flight and would therefore miss the connection with SW 243 and connect instead with SW 244. Figure 1.3: Cover postmarked Wellington on Saturday at 11 am on 18th May where the trans-tasman mail closed at 12 noon. Flown Auckland Sydney (two days late) on Wednesday 22 nd May and then on second last through flight SW 244 from Sydney on 25th May, iving in Poole on 5th June. DN 274 Durban Mozambique Kisumu Malakal Suda Bay Athens Brindisi Bracciano Marseilles Biscarosse St Nazaire Poole XW 244 Suda Bay Malta Bizerta Marseilles 29 May May May 31/5-1/6 1 June 2 June 2 June 2-3 June 3 Jun 3 Jun 3 June 3 June 3-4 June 4 June 4 Jun 4 Jun 4-5 June 5 June 5 June Cordelia Cordelia Cordelia Cordelia Cordelia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Champion Champion Champion Champion Champion SW 244 Sydney Townsville Darwin Sourabaya Singapore Singapore Bangkok Calcutta Basra Suda Bay Athens Brindisi Marseilles Biscarosse Poole DN 275 Durban Mozambique Kisumu Khartoum 25 May May May May 28 May 29 May May May 31/5-1/6 1-2 Jun 2 Jun 3 Jun 3 Jun 3-4 Jun 4 June 4 June 4-5 Jun 5 June Clio Clio Clio Clio Clio Champion Champion Champion Champion Champion Champion Cordelia Cordelia Cordelia Cordelia Cordelia Cordelia Cordelia 1 June 1-2 Jun 2-3 Jun 3-4 Jun 4-5 June Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 6

7 Biscarosse Poole SW 245 Sydney Townsville Darwin Sourabaya Singapore Singapore Bangkok Calcutta Basra Suda Bay Athens Brindisi Bracciano Ajaccio Marseilles Poole 5-6 Jun 6 June 29 May May May 31/5-1/6 1 June 2 June 2-3 Jun 3-4 Jun 4-5 Jun 5-6 Jun 6-7 Jun 7 Jun 7-8 Jun 8 Jun 8 Jun 8-9 Jun 9 June 9 June Champion Champion Coolangatta Coolangatta Coolangatta Coolangatta Coolangatta Clio Clio Clio Clio Clio Clio Clio Clio Clio Clio Clio Clio Clio Suda Bay Athens Brindisi Bracciano Ajaccio Marseilles Biscarosse Poole CW 224 Basra Suda Bay Athens Brindisi Bracciano Marseilles Biscarosse St Nazaire Poole 5 June 5-6 June 6 Jun 6 Jun 6-7 Jun 7 June 7 June 7 June 6 June 6-7 June 7 June 8 June 8 June 8-9 Jun 9 June 9 June 9 June 9 June 9-10 Jun 10 June Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Cassiopeia Cathay Cathay Cathay Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee Cooee This was the last BOAC flight to land in Italy. Mail flown Auckland Sydney on 27th May would connect with SW 245. An example is in Figure 1.4. The cover in Figure 1.5 is postmarked in Sydney on 28th May and redirected in Aldershot on 10th June and so was also flown on SW 245. Figure 1.4: Cover postmarked Te Aro on 23rd May and censored in Wellington. Likely flown Auckland Sydney on 28th May and then Sydney - Poole on last through flight SW 245 on 29th May - 9th June. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 7

8 Figure 1.5: Postmarked Sydney 28th May, redirected in England on 10th June. Flown on SW 245. Figure 1.6: India USA, postmarked Bombay 1st June Flown on SW 245 or CW 224 Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 8

9 The cover in Figure 1.6 is postmarked on 1st June 1940 in Bombay where it was passed by the censor (C 16). It is addressed to New York and is franked with 1 Rupee 5½ Annas which, according to Boyle [Boy], was the rate for BOAC to Athens, air by Ala Littoria to Lisbon and then by Pan American on FAM 18 from Lisbon to New York. If that routing was followed then it would likely be flown from on either SW 245 or CW 224 and offloaded at Athens. However, the two red parallel Jusqu a bars cancelling the air mail etiquette were applied in London [McQ] which indicates that it was flown on to Poole and went from the UK to New York by surface. A registered airmail cover postmarked in Singapore on 30th May and addressed to Davos Platz in eastern Switzerland has a Brindisi transit mark on 8th June and a Milan transit on 12th June. Unfortunately, the Switzerland transit mark is incomplete. SW 245 left Singapore on 2nd June ived in Brindisi on 8th June. The cover was therefore travelling through Italy when Italy entered the war. Another air mail cover to Switzerland, this time to Montreux near the French border and postmarked in New Zealand on 20th May, has a Marseilles jusqu a handstamp and so was offloaded there before continuing to Switzerland by surface. Was it the case that mail to Switzerland was offloaded at different points ending on its destination within Switzerland? 1.3 Flights in the Mediterranean on 10th June. DS 278 was flown from Athens to on 10th June and so was out of the danger area. According to CAIS 52 on 12th June, a new route avoiding Italy was introduced on 10th June [Win] and was reported in The Straits Times of 10th June [SN]. The new route was Poole Biscarosse Marseilles Ajaccio (night stop) Bizerta (Tunisia) Malta Corfu (night stop) Athens Suda Bay. On the morning of the 10th, SE 254 (Caledonia) was at Ajaccio while DN 276 (Cathay) was at Corfu and they both followed this new route. a) Departures from Poole DS 278 Poole Biscarosse Ajaccio Bracciano Brindisi Athens Khartoum Kisumu Mozambique Durban 8 June 8 June 8-9 Jun 9 Jun 9 Jun 9-10 Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun 14 June Ceres Ceres Ceres Ceres Ceres Ceres Ceres Ceres Ceres Ceres Ceres SE 254 Poole Ajaccio Bizerta Malta Corfu Athens Tiberias Basra Calcutta Bangkok Singapore Sourabaya Darwin Townsville Sydney 9 June 9-10 Jun 10 Jun 10 Jun Jun 11 Jun 11 Jun Jun Jun 13 Jun 14 June Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun 20 June Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Caledonia Both DS 278 and SE 254 continued to their destinations. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser on 17th June reported that the last British and Dutch (KLM) air mail planes from Europe had ived on the previous day, that KLM had suspended their services and that it was likely that no British plane would ive in Singapore for several weeks [SN]. A cover postmarked in Bombay on Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 9

10 10th June and addressed to the Philippines has a Hong Kong transit on 17th June. It would have been flown on SE 254 iving in Bangkok on 15th June from where it was flown to Hong Kong on BH 245 on 17th June. It was dealt with by the Hong Kong censors and missed the Pan Am flight on 18th June as it has a Manila backstamp on 27th June which is the date of the next Pan Am flight. The double rated registered cover in Figure 1.7 postmarked in London on 7th June is addressed to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. It would have been flown from Poole on 9th June on the last through flight SE 254, iving in Sydney on 20th June. SE 254 connected with the Sydney Auckland TEAL service on 25th June. Figure 1.7: Postmarked 7th June, flown UK New Zealand on last through service SE 254. An air mail cover postmarked in Hungary on 10th June is shown in [LK]. It was backstamped in Sydney on 20th June and so it must have joined SE 254 at Athens on 11th June. It would then be flown Sydney Auckland on 25th June and has a receiving mark in New Zealand on 28th June. b) Arrivals at Poole DN 276 Durban Mozambique Kisumu Khartoum Athens Corfu Malta Bizerta Ajaccio Biscarosse Poole 5 June 5-6 Jun 6-7 Jun 7-8 Jun 8 June 9 June 9 June 9-10 Jun 10 Jun 10 June Jun 11 June 11 June Castor Castor Castor Castor Castor Cathay Cathay Cathay Cathay Cathay Cathay Cathay Cathay XN 276 Suda Bay Malta Biscarosse Poole 10 Jun 10 Jun Jun 11 June 11 Jun Clyde Clyde Clyde Clyde Clyde Cied RAF Officers including Air Chief Marshall, Sir Robert Brooke Popham. Took off from Malta on 11th June with one of the four engines on half power and an Italian air raid expected [HM]. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 10

11 The registered cover in Figure 1.8 is postmarked in Bulawayo in Southern Rhodesia on Monday 3rd June and is addressed to London. The Southern Rhodesia Air Services 1940 timetable [ATT] shows a flight from Bulawayo to Salisbury on Tuesday 4th June and from Salisbury to Beira at am on Wednesday 5th June which connected there with DN 276 on 5th June. That service ived in Poole on 11th June and was the last through flight from Africa. The cover is franked with the British South Africa Company s Golden Jubilee commemoration set whose first day of issue was 3rd June. Figure 1.8: Registered cover from Southern Rhodesia to UK, flown on DN 276. The registered cover to Wellington in Figure 1.9 is postmarked in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia on 3rd June and is also franked with Golden Jubilee stamps. Although it has no air mail etiquette and insufficient postage, the transit datestamps indicate that it must have been flown. After being flown from Salisbury to Beira by Southern Rhodesian Air Services to connect with DN 276 on 5th June, it was offloaded in on 8th June and flown on SE 253 that left on 9th June. That flight ived in Darwin on 15th June (there is a faint Darwin transit mark on that date) and in Sydney on 17th June and there is a Sydney registered (RS) transit marks on 17th June and a Sydney Air transit mark on 18th June. It would then be flown Sydney Auckland on 20th June and has Out 21/6/40 in manuscript on the front that presumably denotes when it was dealt with by the receiving firm. A cover postmarked in Khartoum on 5th June 1940 and addressed to Zurich has a Zurich receiving mark on 8th July. If it had been posted a couple of days earlier, it would have been sent on DN 275 and offloaded in Italy on 6th June iving in Switzerland a few days later. However, as the route of DN 276 avoided Italy, the cover was presumably flown all the way to London and then took almost a month to get to Switzerland via Lisbon. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 11

12 Figure 1.9: Registered cover from Southern Rhodesia to New Zealand, flown on DN 276 and SE 253. A third registered cover with the complete Golden Jubilee set and postmarked in Southern Rhodesia on 3rd June is shown in Figure It is addressed to USA and has a New York transit mark dated 20th June. Its likely route was the same as the above to the UK and then on the last Heston Bordeaux Lisbon service by BOAC on 15th June by a DH 91 Albatross. That flight connected with the Lisbon New York FAM 18 service by Pan American on 19th 20th June. The landplane service to Lisbon was replaced by a Poole Lisbon flying boat service with the first flight on 19th June [BA]. Two similar registered surface covers to New York have very different New York transits, one on 8th July and the other on 21st July so one took 35 and the other 48 days by surface instead of 17 by air. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 12

13 Figure 1.10: Registered cover from Southern Rhodesia to USA, flown on DN 276 to UK, UK Portugal by BOAC and Portugal USA by Pan Am. 1.4 Landplane services in June 1940 As well as the flying boat service, there had been a landplane service between Heston and Calcutta with the Heston section being by Lockheed 14, the section by Handley Page HP 42 and the Calcutta section by Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta aircraft. After accidents, the HP 42 aircraft were withdrawn in March 1940 and an extra weekly Poole Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 13

14 flying boat service introduced although the Heston and Calcutta landplane services continued. Heston landplane service The Lockheed 14 service between Heston and was twice a week and the route was Heston Bordeaux Marseilles Tunis (night stop) Malta Sollum (Egypt). AE 227 Heston Tunis 4 Jun 4-5 Jun 5 Jun Lothair Lothair Lothair AW 223 Tunis Heston 3 June 3-4 Jun 4 Jun Leander Leander Leander AE 228 Heston Tunis 7 Jun 7-8 Jun 8 Jun Lafayette Lafayette Lafayette AW 224 Tunis Heston 8 June 8-9 Jun 9 Jun Lothair Lothair Lothair The last flight from Heston was AE 228 on 7th June iving in on 8th June. The last landplane service AW 224 left on 8th June and ived in Heston on 9th June. AW 225 was cancelled although it is listed in [AH]. Calcutta landplane service The Atalanta service between and Calcutta connected with the flying boat services between Poole and and had the same flight number. CE 226 Poole Allahabad Calcutta 31 May 4 Jun 5 Jun 5-6 Jun 6 Jun Corio Corio Atalanta Atalanta Atalanta CE 228 Poole Allahabad Calcutta 7 Jun 11 Jun 12 Jun Jun 13 Jun Aurora & Astrea Aurora & Astrea Aurora & Astrea CW 224 Calcutta Delhi Poole 4 Jun 4-5 Jun 5 Jun 6 Jun 10 Jun Aurora Aurora Aurora Cathay Cooee CW 226 Calcutta Cawnpore Sharjah Baghdad Cairo 11 Jun Jun Jun Jun Jun 17 Jun Atalanta Atalanta Atalanta Atalanta Atalanta Atalanta W Atalanta ived in on CW 226 on 12th June, but the connecting flying boat service from was cancelled. After a delay of a few days, Atalanta continued the service from to Cairo. There were two later repositioning flights from Calcutta to, Aurora on 15th 16th June and Astrea on 16th 17th. The cover in Figure 1.9 is postmarked in London at 2.45 pm on 6th June and addressed to Calcutta where it was redirected at 2 pm on 14th June and has an ival mark in Panposh on 16th June. It was too late to be sent from Poole on SE 253 on 6th June. CE 228 left Poole for on 7th June and ived on 11th June. However, the cover has a Bombay Not Opened by Censor C 17 handstamp which suggests that it went from to Calcutta by surface via Bombay. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 14

15 Figure 1.9: Cover postmarked in London on 6th June and addressed to Calcutta. The cover in Figure 1.10 is postmarked in Napier on 21st May and is addressed to the 1st Australian Army Hospital which was in Gaza, Palestine. It was flown Auckland Sydney by TEAL on 27th May and on SW 245 that left Sydney on 29th May and ived in Calcutta on 3rd June. The cover was unloaded in Calcutta as it has a Calcutta transit mark on 4th June together with a Calcutta Not Opened By Censor A 16 handstamp. It appears that censoring such mail in Calcutta was standard practice as two similarly censored covers sent to the same addressee in August are discussed in Chapter 2. The cover was possibly then flown on the land plane service CW 224 on 4th June from Calcutta to and then on the connecting CW 224 flying boat service from on 6th June or on SW 246 on 8th June. Cairo landplane service According to [Wil]: From 15th June to 21st July, occasional flights were made between Cairo and. Atalanta aircraft were used and the service was anged by the Indian Government and operated by BOAC. The first flight was the continuation of CW 226 to Cairo on 15th 17th June. Later flights are shown in the tables. Cairo Bahrein 20 Jun Jun 21 Jun Atalanta Atalanta Atalanta Baghdad Cairo 23 Jun Jun 24 Jun Aurora Aurora Aurora Cairo H3 Bahrein 30 Jun 30/6-1/7 1-2 Jul 2 Jul Aurora Aurora Aurora Aurora Sharjah Baghdad Cairo 30 Jun 30/6-1/7 1-2 Jul 2 Jul Atalanta Atalanta Atalanta Atalanta Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 15

16 Cairo Baghdad Sharjah 4 Jul 4-5 Jul 5-6 Jul 6 Jul Atalanta Atalanta Atalanta Atalanta Sharjah Baghdad Cairo 6 Jul 6-7 Jul 7-8 Jul 8 Jul Astrea Astrea Astrea Astrea Cairo Baghdad Sharjah 11 Jul Jul Jul 13 Jul Astrea Astrea Astrea Astrea Sharjah Bahrein Lydda Cairo 13 Jul Jul Jul Jul 16 Jul Aurora Aurora Aurora Aurora Aurora Cairo Baghdad Sharjah 19 Jul Jul Jul 21 Jul Aurora Aurora Aurora Aurora Figure 1.10: Cover postmarked in Napier on 21st May and addressed Palestine. 1.5 Flights still to cross the Mediterranean Two services from Durban and four from Sydney still had to cross the Mediterranean after 10th June and these services were interrupted. According to the Overseas Mail Branch Report no 40 on 15th June [OMB40]: the air mails which were already en route will have been dumped, as necessary, at certain points for onward conveyance by surface route. The two services from Durban were DN 277 which left Durban on 8th June and terminated in Luxor (Egypt) on 11th June and DN 278 which left Durban on 12th June and terminated in Kisumu (Kenya) on 13th June. The four services from Sydney that were affected were SW 246 which had left on 1st June, SW 247 which had left on 5th June, SW 248 which had left on 8th June and SW 249 which had left on 12th June. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 16

17 a) Flights from Australia On 15th June, Australian newspapers reported that: The Empire air mail service between Australia and the United Kingdom has been temporarily suspended west of Singapore. The position of the mail was described as: Despatched from Sydney June 1, mails held in Egypt; June 5, mails held in India; June 8, mails held in Singapore. These mails will be forwarded by surface transport at the first opportunity, but will be delayed in delivery. Mails for the United Kingdom despatched on June 12 were returned from Darwin to the south for shipment by the first available vessel. The remaining mails went on The positions tally with those shown below for SW 246, SW 247, 248 and SW 249. The West Australian reported that air mail from Perth connecting with SW 249 was returned to Perth from Darwin to be sent by surface. The Mercury of Hobart reported that mail posted in Tasmania on 14th June would be sent by surface. SW 246 Sydney Townsville Darwin Sourabaya Singapore Penang Rangoon Calcutta Basra 1 June 1-2 Jun 2-3 Jun 3-4 Jun 4-5 Jun 5-6 Jun 6-7 Jun 7-8 Jun 8-9 Jun 9-10 Jun 10 Jun Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria SW 247 Sydney Townsville Darwin Batavia Singapore Bangkok Calcutta 5 June 5-6 Jun 6-8 Jun 8-9 Jun 9-10 Jun Jun Jun 12 Jun Canopus Canopus Canopus Canopus Canopus Canopus Canopus Canopus SW 248 Sydney Townsville Darwin Sourabaya Singapore 8 June 8-9 Jun 9-10 Jun Jun 11 Jun Coriolanus Coriolanus Coriolanus Coriolanus Coriolanus SW 249 Sydney 12 June Coorong Townsville Jun Coorong Darwin Jun Coorong Sourabaya Jun Coorong Singapore 15 Jun Coorong Singapore 16 Jun Coriolanus Bangkok Jun Coriolanus Calcutta Jun Coriolanus Jun Coriolanus Basra Jun Coriolanus Tiberias Jun Coriolanus Cairo 21 Jun Coriolanus Coriolanus flew Cairo Durban as a repositioning flight on 21st 24th June SW 246 (1st June from Sydney) The mail from SW 246 was dumped in Egypt on 10th June. What happened to it is demonstrated by the following covers: A cover on ebay was postmarked in Newcastle, New South Wales on 30th May 1940 and addressed to Jerusalem from where it was redirected on 13th June. It was would be offloaded at Tiberias on 10th June. Legg [AMN2] shows a cover postmarked on 31st May at 4.30 am in Adelaide and addressed to B. E. Forces who had been in France. It was redirected in the UK with a Cornwall datestamp of 22nd July which is before the delivery in London of the first Horseshoe mail on 24th July. On ival in Britain, it would have been delayed by being sent to an army clearing office to determine where the unit was stationed. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 17

18 Crewe describes a cover postmarked in Hong Kong on 4th June that was redirected in London on 17th July [Cre]. It would have been flown to Bangkok on 5th June and connect there with SW 246 on 6th June. He describes another cover postmarked in Hong Kong on 4th June that was redirected in Birmingham on 18th June (18 JU) [Cre4]. I cannot see how this date is possible and can only surmise that it is an error by the postal clerk who thought that 18 JU referred to 18th July while the correct date stamp would have been set to 18 JY. The cover in Figure 1.12 is postmarked at Belgaum Camp, south of Bombay, on 4th June and would have joined SW 246 in on 8th June. (The 2nd June in manuscript refers to when it was written.) It has a Belgaum censor mark (G) and is addressed to Suffolk with a manuscript on the front stating it was received on 16th July. Figure 1.12: India UK, 4th June 16th July. Sent on SW 246. A cover postmarked in China on 27th May with a Hong Kong transit on 1st June that was redirected in Bristol on 17th July. It has a Hong Kong censor mark and so would have been delayed and not sent to Bangkok on HB 242 on 2nd June as otherwise it would have ived in the UK on 9th June. It was therefore sent on HB 243, connecting with SW 246. A registered cover from Western Australia to Switzerland postmarked on 29th May and with a Perth transit on 30th May has an ival backstamp in Campo Cologno on 18th July. It was opened by the censors in both Perth and Egypt. As the SW 246 mail was not delivered in the UK until 16th July, the cover must have been held Egypt for some time and then sent to Athens via Turkey. According to CAIS 56 on 10th July [Win], a weekly service between Brindisi and Rhodes via Athens had been restarted and so gives a possible route. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 18

19 The above dates suggest that the mail dumped in Egypt on 10th June was flown to South Africa and that mail for Europe was then cied on the weekly Cape Town UK mail service on 29th June 12th July to Liverpool by the Capetown Castle. It therefore ived in Britain a week before the first Horseshoe service and three weeks earlier than the mail dumped from SW 247, 248 and 249. That leaves the question of how the mail got to Cape Town by 29th June. That is discussed later along with the air mail that was dispatched from Durban on DN 277. SW 247 (5th June from Sydney) The mail on SW 247 was dumped in on 12th June. Several covers likely flown on SW 247 and addressed to the UK have been reported. They were unloaded in on 12th June and sent on by surface mail. The cover in Figure 1.13 is postmarked in New Zealand on 1st June. It was flown Auckland Sydney by TEAL on 3rd June and redirected in Glasgow on 10th August and so was 71 days in transit [Cla1]. Crewe shows a cover postmarked in Hong Kong on 8th June that would have been flown from Hong Kong to Bangkok on HB 244 on 9th June [Cre, Cre3] to connect with SW 247 that was overnight in Bangkok on 10th 11th June. It has a London transit mark on 9th August. Halewood shows a cover postmarked in Hong Kong on 8th June and addressed to Zurich that was opened by the censors in Egypt [Hal]. After being off-loaded from SW 247 in, it must have been flown from there to Cairo, perhaps on the Atalanta service from to Cairo described in Section 1.4. The cover has a purple hand stamp 22 Juli 1940 which could be when it ived in Switzerland. That supports the notion that it went by surface via Turkey. In [AMN1], there is a reference to two covers sent from New Zealand on 28th May and 1st June that were redirected in Scotland on 10th August. I have seen a cover in an auction in 2011 that was sent from New Zealand on 1st June and redirected in London on 9th August. Cover postmarked in Sydney on 4th June and redirected in Sussex on 10th August [Kim]. Figure 1.13: New Zealand UK, 1st June 10th August. Offloaded in. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 19

20 The following covers were sent from India and were likely intended for SW 247: The cover in Figure 1.14 is postmarked in India on 9th June with a Bombay Not Opened by Censor C 2 handstamp. It was likely flown to by Tata Air Lines to connect with SW 247 before being returned to Bombay with the mail dumped from SW 247. It was then sent to the UK by surface and redirected in Guthrie, Angus, Scotland on 10th August. I have two further covers from India. One is postmarked in Bombay on 10th June and redirected in Galway on 15th August while the other was postmarked in Belgaum Camp, south of Bombay, on 9th June and censored in Belgaum (G). It is addressed to Suffolk with a manuscript on the front stating it was received on 9th August. The offloaded mail was likely sent to Bombay for dispatch by sea. The Burdwan left Bombay on 23rd June and ived in the Clyde on 5th August and so is a possible candidate [CW]. I have a cover postmarked in Nelson, New Zealand on 1st June and addressed to Muree in the Punjab and another postmarked in Singapore on 8th June and addressed to Bombay. They were both offloaded and censored in Calcutta where they were backstamped on 12th June showing that mail on SW 247 was handled normally for that part of the route. The Muree ival backstamp is on 15th June while the Bombay backstamp is on 14th June. Figure 1.14: India UK, 9th June 10th August. Intended for SW 247. SW 248 (8th June from Sydney) The mail was dumped in Singapore on 11th June. The mail for India, and perhaps the Middle East, was subsequently sent on SW 249. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 20

21 In [AMN2], Legg shows a cover from Perth postmarked on 6th June and redirected in London on 9th August. It would be flown to Darwin by MacRobertson Miller Airlines on 8th June to connect with SW 248 that left Darwin on 10th June. The redirection date of 9th August fits with the report in The Straits Times of 10th August that three sea mails dated 6th, 13th and 20th June had ived in London in the week ending 9th August [SN]. I have not been able to trace a Singapore UK sailing to fit the dates, but the Bennevis left Singapore on 20th June and ived in Durban on 10th July and so the mail could have been transferred to the Arundel Castle which left Durban on July 13th and ived in the Clyde on 5th August with the third Horseshoe mail [CW]. The cover in Figure 1.15 is postmarked in Adelaide on 7th June. There was an Adelaide Darwin service by Guinea Airways on Wednesday and Saturday to connect at Darwin with the service to UK. This cover would therefore be flown on Saturday 8th June and connect with SW 248 which left Darwin on 10th June. Although it was redirected, it unfortunately has no redirection datestamp. Figure 1.15: Adelaide UK, postmarked 7th June, flown on SW 248 and offloaded in Singapore. SW 249 (12th June from Sydney) The mail for the United Kingdom and Western Europe was unloaded at Darwin on 13th June and returned south even though the service continued with the remaining mails and combined with SW 248 at Singapore iving in Cairo on 21st June. There is no mention in the Mail Lists in the Singapore Press of air mail for Egypt, India or Great Britain closing on 14th or 15th June to be sent on SW 249 that left Singapore on 16th June. The last mention of such air mail was on 11th June for SW 248 before it was known the service would not continue. It seems that mail from Singapore for Britain or Western Europe intended for SW 249 was sent by sea along with mail dumped from SW 248. It is less clear what happened to mail addressed to intermediate destinations. Figure 1.16 shows a cover to Bombay postmarked in Singapore on 11th June Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 21

22 with a Calcutta transit mark on 18th June and so was likely flown Singapore Calcutta on SW 249 on 16th 17th June. It was then sent to Bombay by rail iving on 21st June. Lee [Lee] describes a registered cover postmarked at Rose Bay on 10th June and backstamped Sydney Air on 11th June. It would therefore have gone by SW 249. It has a further backstamp at Melbourne at 5.30 pm on 18th June which indicates that the mail was returned south to Melbourne before being sent on by sea. Lee suggests that the cover was flown from Melbourne to Darwin by Guinea Airways and flown on the first Horseshoe service from Darwin on 21st June. However, the cover from New Zealand shown in Figure 1.17 is also likely to have been flown on SW 249 and was redirected in London on 8th August and so was sent by surface. The Strathmore left Melbourne on 23rd June (Fremantle on 29th June) and ived in Liverpool on 29th July which is rather early, but quite possible, for the redirection by the Admiralty on 8th August. A registered cover postmarked in Sydney on 8th June and addressed to Zurich is shown in [Wat3]. It has several Sydney backstamps on 8th June plus one on 10th June and was censored in the UK and in Italy. It would have been flown on SW 249 and offloaded in Darwin with the UK mail. The ival datestamp in Zurich is 12th September which suggests that there was a major delay between the UK and Switzerland. The likely route from the UK is to Lisbon, then by surface or air to Italy. Figure 1.16: Singapore to Bombay, postmarked 11th June Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 22

23 A cover addressed to Budapest and postmarked in South Ya, Victoria on 10th June was also presumably flown on SW 249. It was opened by the censors in both Australia and Egypt. After being unloaded in Darwin, it was likely sent by sea to Egypt rather than to UK. The next surface mail for Australian troops ived in Gaza on 11th August and so it was likely included in that sailing. Then from Egypt to connect with the Taurus Express to Istanbul and from there to Budapest. A cover from Bangkok to Switzerland is shown in Airmails of Siam [RE]. It was postmarked in Bangkok on 14th June and so may have been sent on SW 249. It was opened by the censors in the UK and then has a Madrid censor mark on 15th August and a Geneva datestamp on 20th August, the same date as the manuscript on the Mozambique cover in Figure Another cover to Switzerland, postmarked in Batavia, Dutch East Indies on 10th June seems to have had a very different journey. It has a Passed for Transmission Singapore mark and a Basra transit on 25th June, the day before the 1st Horseshoe mail ived there. It would be flown from Batavia to Singapore either on the last KLM flight of 10th June or on SW 248 on 11th June. It was likely then sent on SW 249 to Basra iving on 19th June which is significantly before the Basra backstamp. Not sure what then happened. One possibility is that it went from Baghdad via the Taurus Express to Istanbul and the Orient Express to Switzerland. The other is that the Basra datestamp is prior to it being put on the first Horseshoe service to the UK that was overnight in Basra on 26th 27th June. Figure 1.17: Postmarked Auckland 7th June. Flown Auckland Sydney on 10th June and then from Sydney on SW 249 on 12th June and unloaded at Darwin. Completed its journey to UK by sea and redirected in London on 8th August. 63 days in transit. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 23

24 Mail from New Zealand connected with SW 245, SW 247 and SW 249, but not with SW 246 or SW 248 as the Auckland Sydney service was weekly. To summarise: Mail on SW 246 unloaded at 10th June and was in Birmingham by 18th July. The first Horseshoe service left Sydney on 19th June and the mail was in London by 24th July. Mail on SW 247 unloaded in 12th June and was in London by 9th August. Mail for UK on SW 248 unloaded in Singapore 11th June and was in London by 9th August. Mail for UK on SW 249 unloaded in Darwin 13th June (even though flight continued) and was in London by 8th August. b) Flights from Africa that did not complete We have already seen that mail from SW 246 ived in the UK in the middle of July and before the first Horseshoe mail. That was also the case with mail from DN 277 and DN 278. Figure 1.18 shows a cover to the UK postmarked in Durban on 7th June that would have been flown on DN 277. It was redirected in Kent with a postmark on 17th July. Figure 1.18: Durban to Kent, sent on interrupted flight DN 277 Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 24

25 Figure 1.19: Egypt UK, 8th June 18th July. Sent to UK along with mail from SW 246 and DN277. Hence the mail from DN 277 dumped in Luxor on 11th June and the mail from SW 246 dumped in on 10th June both ived in the UK on the same mail boat from Cape Town. That would be the Capetown Castle which sailed from Cape Town to Liverpool on 29th June 12th July [Cla10]. Further evidence is mail that was posted in Egypt in early June. The cover in Figure 1.19 is postmarked in Heliopolis on 8th June 1940 and was redirected in Birmingham on 18th July [Cla6]. As it was opened and passed by the Egyptian censors, it would have missed the last flight through the Mediterranean. That mail was significantly delayed by Egyptian censors is shown by an airmail cover postmarked in on 5th June and addressed to the USA that was opened by the censors in South Africa. It would be intended to be flown via Lisbon, but was delayed. It is likely that these covers were dealt with in the same way as mail dumped from SW 246. That leaves the question of how this mail got from Egypt to South Africa. It certainly was not sent south from Egypt by sea as Eritrea and Italian Somaliland were under Italian control and the Italians had 7 destroyers, 5 motor torpedo boats and 8 submarines, mostly based at the port of Massawa in Eritrea, posing a major threat to allied shipping in the Red Sea which was closed to shipping on 24th May. The first convoy BS 1 did not leave Suez until 7th July [CW]. Contemporary newspapers had announced on 2nd May that the British Government was diverting all merchant shipping from the Mediterranean. The mail must therefore have been flown south [Cla10]. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 25

26 Although there was no scheduled air mail service between Egypt and Durban during this period, the BOAC Aircraft Movement Charts [BA] show a series of repositioning flights. Let us first consider the two flights that left Durban and terminated early: DN 277 in Luxor and DN 278 in Kisumu. DN 277 Durban Mozambique Kisumu Khartoum Luxor Camilla returns south Luxor Khartoum Kisumu 8 June 8-9 Jun 9-10 Jun Jun 11 June Camilla Camilla Camilla Camilla Camilla 12 Jun Jun 13 Jun Camilla Camilla Camilla DN 278 Durban Mozambique Kisumu 12 June Jun 13 Jun Corsair Corsair Corsair Corsair returns south Kisumu 14 Jun Mozambique Jun Durban 15 June Corsair Corsair Corsair After iving in Luxor on 11th June with the DN 277 mail, Camilla returned south to Khartoum on 12th June and flew on to Kisumu on 13th June. (Camilla then remained in Kisumu until 21st August when it flew to on XNE 9.) Corsair, which had ived in Kisumu on 13th June with the DN 278 mail, flew south from Kisumu to Durban on 14th 15th June. If the DN 277 mail for the UK was returned south on Camilla to join with the DN 278 mail at Kisumu on 13th June, it would have been returned to Durban by 15th June to connect with the Windsor Castle that left Cape Town on 22nd June and ived in Liverpool on 8th July on the weekly Union Castle mail run [CW]. However, the ival of the DN 277 mail in the UK at the same time as the SW 246 mail means that did not happen. We will return to the DN 278 mail later. Let us now consider the flights of aircraft that were in Egypt at this time. Repositioning 1 Cairo Luxor Cairo Tiberias Cairo Khartoum Kisumu Mozambique Durban 11 Jun 11 Jun Jun 12 Jun Jun 18 Jun Jun Jun Jun 21 June Castor Castor Castor Castor Castor Castor Castor Castor Castor Castor Repositioning 2 Cairo Luxor Cairo Khartoum Kisumu Mozambique Laurenco Marques Durban 11 Jun Jun Jun 19 Jun Jun Jun Jun June 23 June Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Cambria Castor flew from to Luxor on 11th June, returned to Cairo on 12th June and then flew on to Tiberias. That would allow the DN 277 mail that had ived in Luxor on 11th June to be flown to Egypt on 12th June and the mail for Palestine to be flown on to Tiberias. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 26

27 Figure 1.20: Rhodesia to Bombay flown on DN 277 and on first Horseshoe flight. This is supported by a cover (of which I have a scan) that was postmarked in Beira on 8th June 1940 and addressed to Bombay. It has an Egyptian censor mark and a Cairo transit at 2 pm on 12th June and a Bombay datestamp on 25th June. A similar registered airmail cover to Bombay, but without the Cairo transit mark, is shown in Figure It is postmarked Mashaba, Rhodesia on 3rd June and has transit marks at Fort Victoria on 4th June, Salisbury on 5th June and a Registration Dept backstamp at 10.45a.m in Bombay on 26th June. It would have missed the flight to Beira that left Salisbury at 6.30am on 5th June and so would have missed the connection with DN 276. They would both have been flown from Beira to Luxor on DN 277 on 8th 11th June and then flown from Luxor to Cairo by Castor on 12th June and from Cairo to on the first Horseshoe flight on 23rd 24th June. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 27

28 Figure 1.20a: South Africa to Yugoslavia flown on DN 277. An airmail postcard to Yugoslavia postmarked in South Africa on 4th June with PBC (Passed by censor) in red pencil, an Egyptian censor mark, an Athens transit on 9th July and a Zagreb receiver on 10th July is shown in Figure 1.20a. There was a thrice weekly service from Johannesburg to Lourenco Marques by Divisao Exploracao Transportes Aeraeos (DETA) until August 1940 [Wil, Win] to enable Johannesburg mail to connect with the BOAC service from Durban, but due to being sent to the South African censors, it may have missed DN 276 on 5th June and be flown on DN 277. It is likely to have ived in Cairo on 12th June where it remained for some time before being sent by road / rail to Turkey and then on to Athens before being flown by DLH to Belgrade and then by surface to Zagreb. It seems likely that all the DN 277 mail was flown to Cairo on 12th June rather than the mail for the UK and Europe remaining in Luxor. After iving in on 10th June on SW 246, Cambria flew south to Luxor via Cairo on 11th 12th June and so could have cied the SW 246 mail, but Camilla left Luxor too early on 12th June to connect with Cambria. Cambria remained in Luxor until 19th June when it returned to Cairo on and then flew from there to Durban on 19th 23rd June. Castor had earlier flown from Cairo to Durban on 18th 21st June. Hence the SW 246 and DN 277 mail was likely held in Cairo or Luxor and flown south from there on 18th or 19th June. Mail from these flights would have connected with the Capetown Castle. Another repositioning flight was by Coriolanus. After iving in Cairo on 21st June on SW 249, it immediately flew on to Durban on 21st 24th June as shown below. Repositioning 3 Cairo Khartoum Kisumu Mozambique 21 Jun Jun Jun Jun Coriolanus Coriolanus Coriolanus Coriolanus Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 28

29 Durban 24 June Coriolanus This was therefore the first flight on the route of the Horseshoe Service. Although it was a repositioning flight, it would be interesting to know whether it cied SW 248 or SW 249 mail from Cairo to Durban. Service DN 278 After Corsair flew the DN 278 mail from Durban to Kisumu on 12th 13th June, it returned south to Durban on 14th 15th June. That would allow DN 278 mail for the UK to be returned to Durban in time to connect with the Windsor Castle that left Cape Town on 22nd June and ived in Liverpool on 8th July [Cla10]. Supporting evidence is an internal GPO memo dated July 1940 held in the Royal Mail Archive [Win3] which states: Air mails despatched from Mombasa on the 14th June and from Tanga and Dar es Salaam on the 13th were received on the 9th July by a boat which is thought to have left South Africa on the 21st June. The boat would be the Windsor Castle. The mail from Dar es Salaam of 13th June referred to in the memo may have been flown from there on DN 278 and dumped later that day at Kisumu. It would have been returned south to join with the Mombasa mail of 14th June which had missed DN 278. Indirect evidence that the DN 278 mail was delivered in Britain a week before the DN 277 mail is provided by the cover in Figure It is postmarked in Durban on 11th June and would have been sent on DN 278. It is addressed to the same person as the cover in Figure 1.19, but whereas that cover has been redirected, this cover has not, suggesting that it ived a week earlier when the recipient was still at the address. The cover to Switzerland in Figure 1.22 is postmarked in Moma, Mozambique on 8th June. It was intended to be flown by BOAC to Brindisi and from there to Switzerland by surface to Rome and then by Swissair to Locarno [SL]. It has a Lumbo transit on 13th June and may have been flown on 13th June from there to Kisumu on DN 278 before being flown south on Corsair. It was opened and passed by the censors on ival in South Africa. According to the manuscript on the front, it was received in Switzerland on 20th August. That leaves the mail on DN 278 that was addressed to Egypt and points east. It may either have been flown back to Durban or held at Kisumu. In either case, it would have flown on the first Horseshoe flight. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 29

30 Figure 1.21: Durban to Kent, sent on interrupted flight DN 278 Figure 1.22: Mozambique to Switzerland, postmarked 8th June Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 30

31 Air mail from Rhodesia The internal July 1940 GPO memo also gives information on air mail from the Rhodesias: The last air mails received from the Rhodesias were despatched on the 11th and 12th of June and received on the 29th, by a boat which is thought to have left South Africa on the 14th. There is a note in the margin of the memo referring to the: absence of air mail ival on 9/7 The Athlone Castle left Cape Town on 14th June and ived in Southampton on 29th June which corresponds to the dates given in the memo. (A registered surface mail cover postmarked in Rhodesia on 5th June has a Scottish backstamp on 1st July and so would have been sent on the Athlone Castle.) But how did air mail from Rhodesia on 12th June manage to connect in Cape Town with the Union Castle boat on 14th June? A possible answer is that the Rhodesian authorities realised by 12th June that mail to Great Britain could not be flown through the Mediterranean and had to be sent south to Cape Town. So they sent it by Southern Rhodesian Air Services on Wednesday 12th June from Salisbury ( 9 am) via Bulawayo ( am) to Johannesburg ( 3 pm) [ATT]. Johannesburg to Cape Town was then by train. After 12th June, as the Empire Service was suspended, the Southern Rhodesian authorities no longer accepted air mail for UK which is why air mail from there did not ive in the UK on 9th July [Cla10]. From the above, it would seem that the UK air mail from Rhodesia on 11th / 12th June left Cape Town on the mail boat of 14th June 1940; mail from DN 278 on the mail boat of 22nd June 1940; mail from DN 277 and SW 246 on the mail boat of 29th June and the first Horseshoe mail on the mail boat of 5th July. More evidence is required from covers with transit marks to confirm or refute this conclusion. Air Mail from West Africa There were two routes for air mail between the Gold Coast and Britain. The shorter route was Accra Abidjan Conakry Dakar Casablanca by the French cier Aeromaritime, connecting with the Casablanca Paris and the Paris London service. The alternative was by the weekly BOAC service from Takoradi to Khartoum where it connected with the service from Durban to Poole. The last through service left Takoradi on 31st May and was via Accra, Lagos, Kano, El Geneina to Khartoum where it ived on 3rd June and would connect with DN 275 that was overnight in Khartoum on 3rd 4th June and ived in Poole on 7th June. The next service left Takoradi on 7th June and ived in Khartoum on 10th June. It would connect with DN 277 that was overnight in Khartoum on 10th 11th June with the mail being dumped later on the 11th in Luxor. The mail would then follow the same progress as described for DN 277. In the opposite direction, the last connecting BOAC mail left Poole on DS 278 on 8th June and ived in Khartoum on 11th June. It was then flown from Khartoum to Takoradi on 12th 14th June. Surface Mail It is interesting to note what happened to surface mail from Egypt around this time. I have a cover postmarked in Egypt on 30th May 1940 that was sent to the UK by surface and was redirected and postmarked in Dawlish, Devon on 5th September. (Another surface cover postmarked in Cairo on 31st May was redirected in Coventry also on 5th September.) They were likely cied on the first sea mail from Egypt, perhaps on the Cliftonhall, which left Suez in Convoy BS 1 on 7th July and dispersed 200 miles east of Aden on 15th July. The Cliftonhall ived in Cape Town on 5th August. The mail may then have been transferred to the Windsor Castle that ived in the UK on 1st September with the 7th Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 31

32 Horseshoe mail. A registered surface mail cover to New York that was postmarked in on 14th June has New York backstamps on 5th and 6th September. It likely was sent to Cape Town on the same convoy and then sent by sea from there directly to USA. The Palestine Post on 2nd September 1940 reported that there had been a question in the Westminster Parliament in late July that no letters had been received from soldiers serving in Palestine for 6 weeks. The reply was that no mail was expected to ive in the UK before the middle of August [PP]. I assume that the reference was to surface mail. Another example of how cut off the Middle East was by surface means at that time was given in the Australian press which reported that the surface mail that ived in Gaza on 11th August was the first for the Australian troops for 2½ months [Tr]. The first inward convoy BN1 had ived in Suez on 12th July while the second BN2 ived on 5th August [CW] presumably cying the Australian troop mail. That is almost exactly 2½ months after the closure of Red Sea to shipping on 24th May. A surface cover postmarked in Britain on 22nd May and addressed to has a Cairo transit on 15th July and so would have been sent on BN Connections with New Zealand The regular air mail service between New Zealand and Australia to connect with the Empire Service began on Tuesday 30th April 1940 when the Short S30 flying boat Aotearoa left Auckland at 6 am iving 9 hours later in Sydney. It connected at Sydney with SW 237 on Wednesday 1st May which ived in Poole on 12th May. The first return flight from Sydney to Auckland was by the Aotearoa on 2nd May. It left Sydney at 4 am and ived in Auckland 8 hours later. Mail on SE 240 which left Poole on 21st April and ived in Sydney on 1st May would connect with this flight. However, no advance publicity was given in the British press (the first report in The Times was on 29th April) and so few covers have been identified. Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) used two S30 flying boats in this service: Aotearoa and Awarua. The second flight was flown by the Awarua, leaving Auckland on Monday 6th May and returning on Thursday 9th May. Initially, the service was once per week, leaving Auckland on a Monday with the return flight from Sydney on a Thursday. Aitink and Hovenkamp [AH] show the return flights leaving Sydney on a Wednesday, but that would be when the mail closed rather than when the flight took place [EP]. The flights from Auckland connected with the Empire Service flights that left on a Wednesday while the Empire Service flights which ived in Sydney on a Monday connected with the flights to Auckland. After the first couple of flights, the mail for the trans-tasman flight leaving on a Monday closed in Wellington at noon and in Auckland at midnight on the Saturday while in Dunedin and Christchurch it closed at midnight on the Friday. The last through flight to Britain was flown from Auckland on Monday 27th May and connected with SW 245 that left Sydney on 29th May and ived in Poole on 9th June. An example is shown in Figure 1.4. The next flight from Auckland was by the Awarua on 3rd June which would connect with SW 247 that left Sydney on 5th June and whose mail was offloaded in on 12th June. An example is shown in Figure Mail on the flight from Auckland on 10th June connected with SW 249 that left Sydney on 12th June and whose mail was unloaded in Darwin. An example is shown in Figure The last through flight from Britain was SE 254 which left Poole on 9th June and ived in Sydney on 20th June. The mail was then flown from Sydney to Auckland on 25th June. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 32

33 Examples of surface mail from New Zealand to France and to Italy in May 1940 that were still been in transit on 10th June have a purple handstamp This article was intercepted / overseas and returned to / New Zealand. One to France has a boxed No Service / Return to Sender while one to Italy has a boxed Not Transmissible. 1.8 Air mail sent by sea after 10th June As has already been described, mail that was in transit and had yet to cross the Mediterranean continued its journey by surface. Alternative angements were also made for air mail that was posted in the UK after 10th June notwithstanding the notification of the suspension of the air mail service. Mail for Nigeria and the Gold Coast was to be sent by the French air service while angements for Australia and New Zealand are given below. According to the GPO Overseas Mail Branch Report (OMB) 40 of 15th June, all other mail was to be sent by surface [OMB 40]. However, the mail for India seems to have been held back and sent by air as shown by the cover in Figure 2.15 postmarked in Falmouth on 10th June with a Lahore backstamp on 16th July. A similar cover postmarked in Peebles, Scotland on 11th June has a Simla backstamp on 17th July. Both were sent on the first Horseshoe service from UK. A seamail cover to India postmarked in Peebles on 12th June has an ival datestamp on 1st August and so was likely cied on the City of Venice that left Liverpool on 15th June and ived in Bombay on 27th July. Figure 1.23: Cover to Singapore postmarked in UK on 11th June. Likely to have been sent by sea rather than being held back for the first Horseshoe dispatch. No censor or transit marks. The cover to Singapore in Figure 1.23 was likely sent by sea. It is postmarked on 11th June 1940 and was likely cied on the Ascanius of the Holt Line which left Liverpool on 15th June and ived in Singapore on 3rd August and Hong Kong on 10th August [CW]. (OMB 40 reported that mail was sent to Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 33

34 Malaya, Hong Kong and China that week by a ship of the Holt Line.) The Singapore press reported on 3rd August that surface mail from the UK was being delivered to boxholders on 4th August and that there would be a general delivery on Monday 5th August [SN]. A cover to Saigon that was postmarked in the UK on 14th June has a Hanoi transit on 26th August. It must therefore have been sent by sea, but its route is not clear although it may have been sent via Hong Kong on the Ascanius which had ived there on 10th August. Another cover from UK to Saigon is shown in Chapter 2. It is postmarked on 18th June and was sent on the first Horseshoe dispatch from UK and has a Hanoi transit on 20th July, more than a month before the earlier cover. According to OMB 41 of 22nd June [OMB40]: on 15th June, air mail for Australia and New Zealand was dispatched to Lisbon and then via air mail to San Francisco, on 17th June, air mail for Australia was dispatched by surface, on 18th June, air mail for New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong and China flown via the USA, on 21st June, air mail for New Zealand and Fiji was dispatched by surface. As the weekly Horseshoe service did not have the capacity to deal with the demand, such alternative angements continued after 19th June and a list is given at the end of Chapter 2. My understanding is that dispatch dates refer to when the mail left London rather than when it left the UK and so the first Horseshoe dispatch was on the Arundel Castle which left Southampton on 20th June [CW]. Several covers sent by Francis Field from Birmingham on 14th June were backstamped at Carterton in New Zealand on 16th July. Such a cover is shown in Figure Both Walker [Wal] and Boyle [Boy] show similar covers with the statement that they were cied on the first Horseshoe service from Britain. Another similar cover is shown by Legg [Leg1], but he demonstrates that it must have been sent via the USA as the first Horseshoe mail from the UK did not ive in Sydney until 24th July. OMB 40 on 15th June [OMB40] gives the details: air mail correspondence for Australia and New Zealand to be forwarded by the North Atlantic air service which is due to leave Lisbon on the 20th of June for onward conveyance from San Francisco by the S.S. Monterey which is due to leave San Francisco on the 25th June and to reach Auckland on the 12th July and Sydney on the 15th of July. However, the Monterey was delayed at San Francisco for 24 hours due to an industrial dispute with radio operators and ived in Auckland on Saturday 13th July where it was further delayed due to an industrial dispute with dockers, not leaving until 11pm that day [EP]. OMB 41 on 22nd June stated: such air mail correspondence on hand for Australia and New Zealand as could be accommodated on the London Lisbon air service, was despatched via the Trans-Atlantic air service to New York and San Francisco, for onward conveyance by surface route across the Pacific. OMB 42 on 29th June reported that mails dispatched by the UK Lisbon flight of 15th June were flown Lisbon New York on 19th 20th June while mails dispatched by the UK Lisbon flight of 19th June were flown Lisbon New York on 21st 22nd June. The flight to Lisbon on 15th June was the fourth and last of the regular Heston Bordeaux Lisbon service by DH 91 Albatross landplanes. The flight to Lisbon on 19th June was Poole Lisbon by flying boat. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 34

35 The postcard in Figure 1.25, addressed to Australia, is postmarked in UK on 11th June 1940 and would have been sent via USA on the same service as the cover to Carterton. The Monterey ived in Sydney on 16th July. The date 17/7/40 is on the front in manuscript and is likely when it was delivered in Sydney. Figure 1.24: Cover postmarked 14th June sent by Francis Field, backstamped Carterton on 16th July. Figure 1.25: Postcard postmarked 11th June sent to Australia via USA. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 35

36 On 17th June, the Australian Press published a report from Gaza that the air mail service to and from Australia had been suspended and how this had disappointed A.I.F. troops. Surface mail remained very poor. As already described in the discussion on SW 246, the Red Sea was closed to shipping on 24th May and this had a major effect on surface mail to the troops. The first inward convoy BN1 did not ive in Suez until 12th July while BN2 ived on 5th August. The Australian press reported that the first sea mail for 2½ months ived in Gaza on 11th August which ties in with it being cied on BN2 and that it was the first sea mail since the closure of Red Sea to shipping on 24th May. The modified air mail service that was now available between UK and Australia/New Zealand was often no better than the service by surface. For example, a cover from Britain franked with 2½d for surface mail, postmarked in London on 11th June and redirected 41 days later in Perth on 22nd July is shown in [Wat3]. It therefore ived in Perth before the first mail from the UK on the Horseshoe service as that did not ive in Darwin until 22nd July. There was a dispatch of surface mail for Australia on 17th June. The Empire Star left Liverpool on 19th June and ived in Fremantle on 22nd July [CW] and so may have cied this mail. The cover in Figure 1.26 is postmarked in New Zealand on 15th June If it had been flown transtasman on the flight of 17th June, it would have been flown on the first Horseshoe flight from Australia on 19th June. However, as New Zealand had decided to send air mail franked with 1s 6d to the UK by surface, it was likely sent by sea probably via the Pacific. Various alternative air mail services between New Zealand and the UK in June / July 1940 are described in [Cla1, Cla2]. Figure 1.26: New Zealand to UK postmarked 15th June 1940, franked 1s 6d. A cover postmarked in Larnaca, Cyprus on 17th June 1940 and addressed to Mombasa in Kenya has both Cyprus and Egyptian censor marks and was likely flown by Misr Airworks S.A.E. on their weekly service from Larnaca (changed to Nicosia in June 1940) to Cairo via Beirut, Lydda and Port Said [Wil]. The airmail etiquette has been crossed out presumably when the air part of the route ended. The question is where. Mombasa was a stop on the Horseshoe service which suggests that the etiquette was Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 36

37 crossed out in Cairo. So, it may have been sent by surface from Suez on convoy BS 1 on 7th July rather than on the first Horseshoe flight from Cairo on 28th June. The cover in Figure 1.26a is postmarked in France on 18th June in the period between the fall of Paris on 14th June and the signing of the Armistice with Germany on 22nd June. It is addressed to Australia. The intention would be for it to be flown by Imperial Airways from Marseilles, but the last through service from there was on 9th June. As it has a Marseilles Jusqu a cancellation, it was sent to Marseilles, but the journey to Australia would then be by surface, likely via Lisbon. Figure 1.26a: France to Australia, postmarked 18th June 1940, likely sent by sea. The air mail cover in Figure 1.27 is postmarked in Bombay on 23rd June 1940 and is addressed to Suffolk. It would be expected to have been sent to to be flown on the first Horseshoe service that left there on 26th June with the mail iving in the UK on 21st July, but it seems that the local post office was unaware that air mail services were being resumed as the Received 26 Aug in manuscript on the front suggests that it was sent to the UK by sea. I have a registered letter postmarked in Calcutta on 19th June that was sent by surface mail to London and which has Received in manuscript on the front. That is consistent with the previous date and so they could have both been sent to the UK on the same ship, likely from Bombay. The Largs Bay left Bombay on 4th July and ived in Cardiff on 21st August and so is a possible candidate. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 37

38 Figure 1.27: Bombay to UK postmarked 23rd June 1940, likely sent by sea. 1.9 Ala Littoria, June 1940 Before 10th June 1940, the Italian airline Ala Littoria Societa Anonima (ALSA) had a service from Rome to Basra via Brindisi, Athens, Rhodes, Haifa and Baghdad and a service from Rome to Italian East Africa via Syracuse, Benghazi, Cairo, Wadi Halfa, Khartoum and Asmara. (According to NACIS 47 on 8th May, Rome Cairo was operated directly from 1st May.) CAIS 51 on 5th June reported that Ala Littoria had suspended the Rhodes Basra service. The Greek P.O. Circular of 9th June 1940 reported [Pap]: the flights of Ala Littoria are now suspended. The air services to Dodecanese Islands and Albania are also suspended. Airmail to Italy is now via Budapest (DLH). Airmail to France and GB is with Imperial Airways. The BOAC (not Imperial Airways) service of course did not last much longer with the last service from Athens to UK on 9th June and from Athens to Egypt on 11th June. The Active Service Honour envelope in Figure 1.28 is postmarked on 10th June at Field Post Office 121 in Palestine and is franked with 25 mils, the air mail rate from Haifa to Rome by Ala Littoria or Lydda to Naples by KLM [Boy]. It has By Air and Surface in manuscript and so the intention would be for it to be flown to Italy and be sent from there to Britain by surface. As all air services were suspended on 10th June, it would be sent to Egypt and then via the Cape. The mail from Imperial Airways SW 246 was unloaded in on 10th June and this cover likely went by the same route. CAIS 54 on 26th June reported that the Ala Littoria Rome Lisbon service via Cagliari (Sardinia) and Barcelona was still in operation. This enabled a connection from Athens and Rome with the Pan Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 38

39 American Transatlantic service from Lisbon. According to CAIS 53 on 19th June there was also a Barcelona Lisbon service operated by Trafico Aero Espanol. Figure 1.28: Cover from Palestine postmarked 10th June and franked with 25 mils. Intended for Ala Littoria or KLM to Italy and then by surface. The cover to Switzerland in Figure 1.29 is postmarked in Detroit at 5pm on 12th June 1940 and has a St Moritz backstamp on 18th June. It therefore made very good progress from USA to Switzerland. There were Pan American flights from New York to Lisbon on 13th 14th June and on 15th 16th June and so it made a very tight connection in either New York or in Lisbon. It would have been flown from Lisbon to Rome by Ala Littoria and then from Rome to St Moritz by rail. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 39

40 Figure 1.29: USA Switzerland by Pan Am and Ala Littoria 12th 18th June The cover on Figure 1.30 is postmarked Thessaloniki (Salonica) on 23rd June 1940 and is addressed to London where it was opened by the censors. It has Jusqu a Lisbonne below the Par Avion etiquette and has transit marks on the back in Athens on 24th June and in Lisbon on 29th June. It is franked with 26 Drachmas which is the same as the rate for Athens Lisbon USA. It therefore took only 5 days to get from Athens to Lisbon which suggests that it went by air. The air mail service from Athens to Italy was now Deutsche Lufthansa (DLH) via Budapest as it seems unlikely that the Ala Littoria service had been resumed in June. Rome Lisbon would then be by Ala Littoria. Therefore, although it seems unlikely that DLH and Ala Littoria would have cied mail for Britain, it seems to have happened. A surface route would also not have avoided passing through axis territory and, given the circumstances, would have been a very tight schedule. The cover would then either complete its journey to the UK by surface or was flown on the new Lisbon UK service. CAIS 56 on 10th July 1940 reported that the Ala Littoria Brindisi Athens Rhodes service had been resumed on a weekly basis [Win], while the Greek P.O. Circular of 19th July 1940 reported: the ALSA services are now resumed. Airmail to the Dodecanese Islands, Italy, France, Switzerland and America by ALSA is now possible. [Pap] These last two covers show that although the air route through the Mediterranean was closed to BOAC and KLM, it was still available to airlines of axis countries. The service was suspended again on 26th October just before the invasion of Greece by Italy on 28th October Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 40

41 Figure 1.30: Greece to Britain, flown Athens Rome Lisbon in late June Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 41

42 Ala Littoria African Service Italy had substantial troop numbers in Italian East Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea and Italian Somaliland). Before Italy entered the war, there had been an Ala Littoria service between Rome and Addis Ababa via Cairo, but that likely ended on 6th June along with the other Italian services. The last mail from Djibouti (French Somaliland) sent on this service to France via Rome was on 3rd June [CC2]. The cover in Figure 1.31 was postmarked in Boston, USA on 20th May and is addressed to in Egypt. It has a transit mark in Cairo on 31st May and an datestamp on 4th June. It was likely flown on the trans-atlantic flight from New York to Lisbon on 22nd 26th May. After ival in Lisbon, it was likely flown to Rome by Ala Littoria. The KLM and BOAC services from Italy to Egypt went to while the Ala Littoria service to Addis Ababa was the only service from Italy to Cairo and so the cover was likely flown on one of the last Rome Cairo flights by Ala Littoria. Figure 1.31: USA Egypt with Lisbon Rome Cairo by Ala Littoria. A cover, postmarked in Rovetta, north of Milan) on 3rd June and addressed to West Africa was opened by the censors in Khartoum where it was backstamped on 7th June. This was likely flown on the last flight from Rome to Cairo on Thursday 6th June and on to Khartoum on the 7th. It then was flown to West Africa, but by the time it ived, Italy had entered the war and it was redirected to The Custodian of Enemy Property, Accra. The cover in Figure 1.32 is postmarked on 6th June and is addressed to Bardera in Italian Somaliland. It is likely to have been sent too late for it to have been sent on the Ala Littoria service to Addis Ababa via Cairo. However, according to Rosselli [Ro], a Savoia Marchetti SM 83 flew from Rome to Asmara (Eritrea) via Benghazi on 15th June with passengers and mail and that there were a further 6 flights in June, 12 in July and 2 in August and that a SM 75 flew that route on 30th June. Hence if the cover was not flown on the route via Cairo, it may well have been flown on this new route on 6th June. It is not Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 42

43 clear what would happen to the cover after it ived in Asmara. There was an aerodrome in Bardera and it was attacked on 18th June by South African Air Force planes [Tr]. Bardera fell to South African troops at the beginning of March A cover postmarked in Eritrea on 8th June with Rome datestamps on 21st and 22nd June that would have been flown on one of the return flights is shown in Figure A cover postmarked in Decamere (near Asmara) in Eritrea on 16th June was redirected in Bologna on 21st June and has a Rome datestamp on 23rd June and may have been on the same flight. Figure 1.32: Italy Italian Somalia, 6th June CAIS 57 on 17th July reported that a replacement service between Italy and Italian East Africa that flew directly between Benghazi and Asmara in Eritrea had started using Savoia Marchetti SM75 aircraft. This service flew across Sudan and the route therefore intersected with the BOAC Durban Cairo route. Addis Ababa fell to allied troops in April I have a cover postmarked Addis Abeba on 12th November 1940 and addressed to Rome where it ived on 29th November KLM/KNILM During the early part of the war, the KLM service to the Dutch East Indies was between Naples and Bandung. The route was: Naples Athens Lydda Baghdad Basra Jask Jodhpur Allahabad Calcutta Rangoon Bangkok Penang Medan Singapore Palembang Batavia Bandung. Mail on KLM flights from the Dutch East Indies was subject to being censored Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 43

44 in Singapore. That meant that it was taken off one flight, censored and then put on the next flight [Dyc]. Not surprisingly, this was extremely unpopular with the Dutch authorities although it is not clear if all items were offloaded or only a selection. The Netherlands was invaded by Germany on 10th May 1940 and the flights from Bandung on the 6th, 9th and 14th May were recalled and the mail returned to the sender. There were through flights from Bandung to Naples on 27th May 2nd June and on 3rd 9th June. The last flights from Naples to Bandung were on 2nd 10th and 9th 17th June [AH]. Figure 1.33: Eritrea Rome, postmarked 8th June Figure 1.34 shows a cover from Java to London postmarked on 22nd May which was opened by the censors in the Dutch East Indies, but has no Singapore censor marks. It is franked with 75c which is the KLM rate to the UK for 10gms (2 x 30c air fee + 15c surface) [Boy]. It was either flown on the second last through flight to Naples on 27th May or, if offloaded in Singapore, on the last flight on 3rd June. An article [Dyc] describes 11 items sent on the last through flight from the Dutch East Indies on 3rd June. However, this mail was offloaded in Singapore to be censored and so did not continue on that flight. All 11 items have the Singapore code L and 30 both enclosed in a circle. As they were returned to the sender by the Dutch authorities, it appears that, after being offloaded and censored in Singapore, they were returned to KLM for their next flight from Singapore on 10th June. That flight was held up in Medan on 10th June for several days before returning to Batavia [AH]. Many of the items were Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 44

45 reposted on dates ranging from 5th to 12th July which suggests that it was some time before the authorities in Batavia decided to return the covers to the senders. Items posted in the Dutch East Indies on 7th June [Leg4] and 8th June [McC] and addressed to the UK have also been reported. They both have the Singapore code A and 30 and have not been returned to sender. If they were offloaded in Singapore from the KLM flight of 10th June then they would not be returned to KLM after being censored as, by this time, it was clear that the service was suspended. They would therefore likely have been sent on from Singapore by sea in the same way as the mail from SW 248 [Cla5]. Figure 1.34: Java London postmarked 22nd May Figure 1.35 shows a registered airmail cover postmarked Switzerland 27th May 1940 and addressed to Perth, Australia. First sent to Chiasso (in manuscript on front) and then Locarno. Flown from Locarno to Rome by Swissair. Then by rail from Rome to Brindisi (Brindisi transit mark on 31st May) presumably with the intention of connecting with the BOAC service SE 251 to Australia that flew from Marseilles to Athens via Bracciano (Rome) and Brindisi on 31st May. SE 251 ived in Darwin on 8th June [Cla11]. However there is a Napoli transit mark on 2nd June and so it was not flown on the BOAC service, but instead sent by train from Brindisi to Naples to connect with a KLM flight from Naples to Batavia and Bandung. There were flights from Naples on 2nd June iving 8th June and on 9th June iving 17th Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 45

46 June. As it has a Darwin transit datestamp on 25th June, the cover likely missed the 2nd June service and was flown on the last KLM service from Naples on 9th June iving in Batavia on17th June. Then flown Batavia to Darwin by KNILM on 23rd 24th June and Darwin to Perth by the twice weekly MacRobertson-Miller Aviation service on Wednesday 26th Thursday 27th June and has a Perth ival datestamp on 27th June. It was opened by the censors in Perth and sealed with a 5 dot (Perth) censor label. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 46

47 Figure 1.35: Switzerland Australia, flown from Naples by KLM. According to the Sydney Morning Herald of 18th June, the KNILM flight that left Sydney on Saturday 15th June cied mail for Darwin, Sourabaya, Batavia and Singapore as the Qantas service had been suspended after SW 249 on 12th June. This was the first time that mail had been flown from Sydney by a foreign airline [Tr]. KLM started a regular service between Lydda and Bandung in late July Lydda Airport is now Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport Air France Air France had flown a weekly service from Marseilles to Hong Kong whose main purpose was to connect France with its colony in Indo China. The route was Marseilles Tunis Tripoli Benghazi Beirut Baghdad Bushire Jask Jodhpur Gwalior Allahabad Calcutta Akyab Rangoon Bangkok Saigon Hanoi Hong Kong. The last services on that route were Marseilles Hong Kong on 30th May 5th June and Hong Kong Marseilles on 25th 30th May. A modified service via the Sahara that avoided the Italian held cities of Tripoli and Benghazi is described in Chapter 2. The cover to France in Figure 1.36 is postmarked in Hanoi on 23rd May and on 24th May. It would have been flown on the last Air France flight from Hanoi via Italian territories on 25th May and ived in Marseilles on 30th May. It was backstamped on ival in St Loup Si Semouse on 1st June. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 47

48 Figure 1.36: Indo China France, flown by Air France. Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 48

49 Figure 1.37: Casablanca Hungary, postmarked 7th June Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 49

50 Air France also had a service to Buenos Aires in Argentina and Santiago in Chile as well as services to their colonies in Africa. The cover in Figure 1.37 is postmarked in Casablanca in Morocco on 7th June 1940 and is addressed to Budapest, Hungary. It is routed via Marseilles and Italy and would have been flown by Air France from Casablanca to Marseilles via Oran, Barcelona and Toulouse. The intention was then Marseilles Rome by Ala Littoria followed from Rome to Budapest by Deutsche Lufthansa. Due to the imminent entry of Italy into the war, Marseilles Rome services were suspended. Ala Littoria suspended most of their services on 6th June [Win] and the last BOAC service was DS 278 on 8th 9th June. The air mail etiquette has been crossed out in Marseilles to indicate the end of the air mail service. The cover was sent to Budapest by surface, but due to the disruption of mail services did not ive until 9th July when it was backstamped. Figure 1.38: Brazil - Scotland 21st June The cover in Figure 1.38 is postmarked on 21st June 1940 in Pernambuco in Brazil and is addressed to Scotland. It has a Lisbon transit mark on 19th July and a Via Air France cachet. Likely flown by Air France from Recife, Brazil and then across the South Atlantic from Natal to Dakar on one of the last two flights on 24th 25th June or 2nd 3rd July. The route from Dakar to Toulouse in France was via Port Etienne, Casablanca and Tangier. The cover would likely be off-loaded in Casablanca and flown Clark, The Horseshoe Route Chapter 1: 50