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Airmail cover to India

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 7:00 pm
by petrod
I recently purchased an Airmail cover to India from London dated 9 May 1929 franked with stamps to the value of 7 1/2d (sevenpence halfpenny). On the reverse, there are some pencilled notes stating that the route followed was - air from London to Basle via Paris, rail to Genoa, air to Alexandria, thence air to Karachi, and that this service was inaugurated 30 March 1929. Can anyone confirm the information about the service?

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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 7:00 pm
by Mike Jackson
Hi Peter -- I've created a PH category and moved your post here. Can't answer your question, but found the following:

Johnson and Peet (whose book starts at 1937) mention "To Karachi only up to December 1934".

Furfie states "Indian airmail, London to Karachi" but only for 8 May, 28 Aug. and 4 Nov. 1929. The date you give, 30 March 1929, is a "rate date" in Michael Furfie's table, but no details are given of routes.

Michael gives the rate as 6d.

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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 6:00 pm
by Harvey
Hello, Peter,
In "The Postal History of British Airmails" by EB Proud, p. 320, the timetable is given as:
London(Croydon) 29/3/29 to Alexandria and Gaza arr 3/4/29; thence Baghdad and Basra arr 4/4/29; then Bushire and Jask arr 4/4/29; then Karachi arr 6/4/29.
No details are given about the earlier stages of the journey between London and Alexandria!

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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:00 pm
by petrod
Well, thanks to everybody for their input. It would seem that so far we have certainly not found confirmation of the information pencilled on the back of my cover, neither have we found an alternative agreed by the "experts". Could anyone perhaps point me in the direction of further research? Living in NZ as I do, any physical delving would be quite difficult, but maybe there are resources on the Internet that I have overlooked?

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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:05 pm
by petrod
An afterthought. Mike, I do have Johnson and Peet's book and was aware of the limited information therein. As far as Michael Furfie's information about the rate is concerned, could it be that he means that the 6d. was in addition to the normal Commonwealth surface rate of threehalfpence?