Extensions to Calcutta, Rangoon and Singapore After the introduction of Imperial Airways London – Karachi airmail in 1929, the Eastern Route was gradually extended, first to Delhi in December 1929 and then to Calcutta, Rangoon and Singapore (1933) and Australia (1934) together with a feeder service to Hong Kong (1936). The extension to New Zealand […]
Early World War II: September 1939 – April 1940 With the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Empire Air Mail Scheme was immediately suspended and postage rates returned to their earlier levels of 1s 6d from New Zealand and Australia to the UK and 1s 3d from the UK. The frequency of flights from
Entry of Italy to World War II: June 1940 Less than six weeks after the inauguration of the complete airmail route between New Zealand and the UK on 30 April 1940, the route was broken. After Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940, mail could no longer be flown between Egypt and the
Empire Airmail Scheme, 1938-39 The aim of the Empire Air Mail Scheme (EAMS) was to provide regular connections between the countries of the British Empire at the very low postal rate of 1½d per half oz. As this was an all-up service, an air mail label was not needed. The first stage of the EAMS,
Crash of the Calpurnia, 1938 On the 23 and 24 November 1938, Short S23 Empire flying boats left the UK for Alexandria where Australian and New Zealand mail from both flights was loaded on the Empire flying boat Calpurnia. The flight from Alexandria was to Tiberias on the sea of Galilee and from there to
Trans-Atlantic to NZ via UK, 1939 Pan American Airways started the southern route of their trans-Atlantic service FAM 18 on 20 May 1939 and their northern trans-Atlantic route on 24 June 1939. The first flight of the regular Imperial Airways trans-Atlantic service left Southampton on 5 August, 1939. Mail was accepted on all three services
To UK, Christmas 1931 and return In 1931, Kingsford Smith and Australian National Airways planned a special Christmas flight to the UK. The pilot was to be G.U. Scotty Allan. Mail from New Zealand could be sent by sea and join the flight at Sydney. NZ Internal flight and Australia-UK In conjunction with this first
Christmas Flight 12 November 1931 The company Air Travel organised a series of flights in 1931 and 1932 in which official airmails were carried. The most interesting were the Christmas flights on 12 November and 24 December 1931 to publicise the advantages of air mail. The Route The flight of November 12 was the first
Christmas Eve Flights, 1931 To publicise the advantages of air mail, the New Zealand Air League organised a network of airmail services on Christmas Eve 1931. Mail was delivered to Palmerston North on December 24 including airmail from Wellington and from Gisborne. There were then airmail flights from Palmerston North to Auckland, Gisborne and Invercargill
New Zealand to Africa, 1932 From June 1932, air mail was accepted from New Zealand for Africa. It was carried to Karachi by surface mail and flown from there. A special purple cachet was applied on the first acceptance from Auckland on 30 June and a green cachet on the first acceptance from Wellington on
Start of Regular Air Service, (NZ -) Australia – UK, Dec 1934 The Singapore – Brisbane stage of the Empire Air Service was opened in December 1934 providing the first regular airmail service between Australia and the UK. Qantas Empire Airways (QEA) was formed by Qantas and Imperial Airways to fly the route between Singapore
Imperial Airways: the East The aim of the Imperial Airways Eastern Route, along with the parallel development of the Imperial Airways African Route, was to link the countries of the British Empire. Imperial Airways was formed on 31 March 1924 by amalgamating British Marine Air Navigation, Daimler Airways, Handley Page Transport and Instone Air Line.
IA Route via Italy, 1931 – 1932 The northerly route was replaced in May 1931 by the Athens – Corfu – Naples – Genoa route flown by the new Short Kent class flying boats. From October 1931, Brindisi – Paris was by rail and the planes flew from Athens to Haifa, no longer flying via
Coronation Aerial Post to New Zealand, 1911 As part of the celebrations for the Coronation of King George V in 1911 an aerial postal service was operated between Hendon Airport and Windsor Castle (distance of 21 miles). This was the first scheduled air mail service in the world with a total of 16 flights from
Bega – Sydney – NZ, 1934 On Monday 5 February 1934, Adastra Airways started an airmail service between Bega and Sydney. Mail was carried in both directions on the first day. The plane was a DH Fox Moth and the pilot was F W Follett. Only 260 letters were flown on the 428 km north
Basra – Cairo Air Mail Imperial Airways took over the RAF Baghdad – Cairo service in January 1927 and extended it to Basra. This was the first step in the route that would, by 1940, extend from the UK to New Zealand. Imperial Airways used DH 66 Hercules aircraft. The first flight from Basra was
Baghdad – Cairo Air Mail In 1921, the RAF began the fortnightly Desert Airmail Service between Cairo and Baghdad. From October 1921, it carried private as well as official mail. According to Newall [1], mail from Australia and New Zealand was accepted from 9 November. This can be regarded as the first step in the
Imperial Airways Eastern Route (- NZ), February 1937 – July 1938 This page deals with the gradual introduction of Short S23 flying boats on the Imperial Airways Eastern Route. Until February 1937, the Paris – Brindisi stage of the Eastern Route was by rail. In February 1937, Short S23 flying boats were introduced on the
Imperial Airways Eastern Route (- NZ), 1935 – February 1937 The Singapore – Brisbane stage of the Empire Air Service was opened in December 1934 providing the first regular airmail service between Australia and the UK. This page deals with flights from January 1935 up until flying boats were introduced on the Southampton – Alexandria
Airmail to Papua New Guinea, 1933, 1934 and 1938 The first acceptance of mail from New Zealand to be flown in Papua New Guinea was in March 1933. The fourth official trans-Tasman airmail flight of 1934 was made by Charles Ulm and G.U. Allan in the Faith in Australia on 2 July. Again it was
MacRobertson Air Race To celebrate the centenary of Melbourne in October 1934, an air race was organised between England and Australia. The sponsor was Sir MacPherson Robertson and 20 planes left Mildenhall near London on 20 October. There were 5 checkpoints: Baghdad, Allahabad, Singapore, Darwin, Charleville. Nine finished the race which was won by C.W.A.
First Trans-Tasman Airmail The first official airmail between New Zealand and Australia took place on 17 February, 1934. The Avro 10, Faith in Australia, left Muriwai Beach, Auckland at 6 am and arrived in Sydney 14 hours 10 minutes later. Charles Ulm was the pilot, Scotty Allan the navigator/co-pilot and R.T. Boulton was the engineer.
One penny dies and plates The initial issue on 1 May 1935 was on paper with a single watermark and vertical mesh. The plates of 480 each had two panes (A and B) and the stamps printed from each pane were in 10 horizontal rows of 24. The printed sheets of 480 were divided in
One Shilling The 1/- was first issued on 1 May 1935. The first issue was on single watermarked fine paper while stamps on multiple watermark fine paper were issued in April 1936. Both issues were perforated 14×13½. Perf 14×13½ fine paper The only plate was numbered A1 and had 240 impressions. Stamps overprinted Official were
Ninepence The ninepence value is the only stamp in the set that was not recess printed by De La Rue. The first plates were produced by Waterlow for litho offset printing. Single watermark Smaller design Multi wmk, slate grey Single wmk The 9d was first issued on 1 May 1935 on single watermarked paper and
1935 Second Pictorials The New Zealand second pictorials were issued on 1 May 1935. They were recess printed by De La Rue except the 9d which was surface printed by Waterlow. Click on any of the following images to display information on plates etc. Although issued during the reign of George V, they also covered
Halfpenny The ½d was first issued on 1 May 1935 perforated 14×13½. There were a double plate with two panes numbered 1A and 1B each with 240 stamps. Stamps on multiple watermarked paper from the same plate was issued on 20 March 1936. The sheets were in 10 rows of 24 and the printed sheets
Second pictorials: fourpence The fourpence was issued on 1 May 1935, printed by De La Rue. The issued sheets contained 80 stamps in 8 rows of 10. There were three frame plates: 1, 2A and 2B and several centre plates. Frame plate 1 is in the bottom margin under the second stamp while 2A and
Second pictorials: fivepence There were three plates of the fivepence second pictorial: numbered 1, 2 and 3 with the issued sheets having 120 stamps in 10 rows of 12. Stamps printed from plate 2 appeared in 1942. The first printing was by De La Rue, but due to Blitz damage to De La Rue’s works,
Blitz perforations: the plates After bomb damage to their works in September 1940, De La Rue handed several plates over to Waterlow & Sons. In addition, some sheets printed by De La Rue were perforated by Harrison or Waterlow. Twopence Perf 14 Harrison Perf 14×15 Plate 2, containing 480 impressions, was in use at this
Three pence The 3d was first issued on 1 May 1935. All issues were perforated 14×13½. The first issue was on single watermarked paper while stamps with multiple watermark were issued in August 1936. The only plate was numbered 2 and had 240 impressions. The position of the number is very low and is usually
Three shillings The 3/- was first issued with single watermarked paper on 1 May 1935 with perf 14-13×13½. and then appeared perf 13½x14 in November 1935. In August 1936, it appeared on multiple watermarked paper, perf 14-13×13½. The direction of the perforation in each of these was from left to right. There was only one
Auckland to Invercargill After flying the Avro Ten, the Faith in Australia, from Sydney to New Plymouth on 3 – 4 December 1933, Charles Ulm and G.U. Allan made a “barnstorming” tour of New Zealand to raise funds and to publicise their case with the New Zealand Post Department for an official airmail on the
Goodwill Airmail, May 1934 Ulm tried (and failed) to get approval for a second official airmail from Australia to New Zealand and so announced instead that he would make a Goodwill Flight. He had approval from the New Zealand Post Office for an official airmail on the return flight which would then connect with the
2nd Official Trans-Tasman Airmail After the first official airmail on 17 February, there were three further official New Zealand – Australia airmails and one official Australia-New Zealand airmail in 1934. The second official trans-Tasman airmail was on 29 March 1934 by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. The flight was from Ninety Mile Beach, Kaitaia in the
Ulm Flight to New Zealand The Faith in Australia was flown from Richmond, Sydney to New Plymouth on 3 – 4 December 1933. An unofficial mail was carried. Flown postcards show the crew: Charles Ulm (pilot), G U (“Scotty”) Allan (co-pilot/navigator) and R T Boulton (radio-operator) and have the inscription: This Souvenir Postcard was carried
Australia-NZ Airmail The first official airmail from Australia to New Zealand left Sydney on the evening of 11 April 1934 and arrived at New Plymouth in New Zealand at noon the next day having taken 16 hours 46 mins. The plane was the Faith in Australia as in the first New Zealand to Australia airmail
Two shillings Three plates were produced by De La Rue with the stamps in 10 rows of 12. During 1940/41, printing and/or perforating was by Waterlow. The design shows Captain Cook landing in New Zealand at what is now the town of Gisborne. Plate 1 The initial issue on 1 May 1935 was on paper
Two pence The 2d was first issued on 1 May 1935. It first appeared on single watermarked paper with vertical mesh and then in March 1936 on multiple watermarked paper with horizontal mesh. Apart from the Blitz perfs issued in June 1941, all issues were perforated 14×13½. In November 1941, stamps were issued on coarse
Twopence halfpenny All issues were recess printed and perforated by De La Rue. The stamp shows Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. There are three frame plates: 1, 3 and 4 and two unnumbered centre plates. Sheets had 60 stamps in 10 rows of 6. Frame plate 1 Perf 14-13×13½ The initial issue
