Posted : Oct 26, 1940 at Field Post Office 171

Route : BOAC to Singapore; surface to Hong Kong; FAM 14 to San Francisco; USA domestic airlines to New York; Atlantic Clipper to Lisbon; BOAC to England.

Notes : Rare two-ocean airmail cover from British Field Post Office 171, which was in Egypt from 1940 to April of 1941, sent by a Pilot Officer in the RAF Volunteer Reserve. The route is written on the cover. I have one other two-ocean cover with this exact rate of 150 mil. (from Palestine to England), and I have seen one other (also from Palestine to England) in an exhibit. All 3 covers are from British military soldiers, so I believe this was a known / published rate. Note that this cover travelled almost completely around the world to get to it's destination. There is an RAF boxed censor handstamp upper left.

Rate : 150 millimes two-ocean rate

Posted : Feb 21, 1941 at Cairo

Route : BOAC Horseshoe route from Cairo through India, to Rangoon, Burma; CNAC connecting route from Rangoon through Chungking, China to Hong Kong; The FAM 14 HONOLULU Clipper departed Hong Kong on March 25, 1941, arrived in Honolulu March 30 and remained there until April 3, arriving in San Francisco the next day, April 4; USA domestic airlines to New York. Backstamped Honolulu Apr 3 and New York Apr 6.

Notes : This cover may look familiar, as it is pictured in the Boyle book on page 524.

Rate : 635 millimes includes the scarce use of 50 piastre (1/2 pound) high value.

Posted : Oct 24, 1941

Probable Route : BOAC to Singapore; FAM 14 to San Francisco; USA domestic airlines to Miami; FAM 6-10 to Rio De Janeiro.

Notes : An interesting item. The cover is endorsed VIA PANAIR. Upon arrival in Brazil, the cover must have been damaged, because a large blue and yellow Officially Sealed stamp of Brazil was applied and tied to the cover with Dec 9, 1941 datestamps. There is square British Unit Censor handstamp upper left, and a Base Censor tape at left, tied to the back of the cover by a Nov 9, 1941 date stamp. Based on the arrival markings in Brazil, this cover was very likely carried on one of the last Clipper Flights. There is a 58 in a large circle on the back, possibly some type of transit or Postal Handler identifier marking, but I don't know for certain.

Rate : 335 millimes

Posted : Nov 20, 1941 at Cairo

Route : BOAC to Sydney; TEAL to Auckland; At this point in the route service was interrupted by the advent of WWII. From either Sydney, Australia or Auckland , NZ by ship to San Francisco; USA domestic airlines to New York; Atlantic Clipper to Lisbon; European transport to Marseilles and Lyon, France.

Notes : Triple censored cover intended for Pan Am's two-ocean airmail service to France. The cover was originally posted on Nov 20, and was sent to the Office of Censorship, but did not return from there until Nov 26, (backstamped Cairo Nov 26). The cover was then carried on the BOAC Horseshoe route to Sydney, Australia, arriving there on either Dec 4 or Dec 8, depending on which flight it was on. Because of the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, the PACIFIC Clipper was sitting in Auckland awaiting instructions from Pan Am's headquarters, on how to return to the USA. This cover was probably sent by TEAL to Auckland to wait there with the Clipper. It was finally determined that due to hostile conditions over the Pacific and the US entry into WWII, that the clipper would not return via the Pacific route, but instead, would take an alternate route back to the USA, ending in New York City, where the Atlantic Clippers were based. And so on Dec 14 the PACIFIC Clipper left Auckland, on it's historic return flight to the USA, but no mail was carried on the flight because of the need for extra fuel, and weight restrictions. This cover was then put on a ship, either at Auckland, or at Sydney, and was sent to San Francisco by surface transport. There is a San Francisco censor tape - 1490 applied to the cover. From San Francisco the cover went by US domestic airlines to New York, and then by Atlantic Clipper to Lisbon, and by European transport to Marseilles. The third censor tape - WK3, was applied at Marseille. And finally from Marseilles by rail to Lyon, France.

Rate : 152 millimes two-ocean rate