Posted : July 12, 1941 at London

Route : BOAC to Lisbon; FAM 18 to New York; USA domestic airlines to San Francisco; FAM 19 to Auckland; domestic transport to South Island.

Notes : Two-ocean airmail cover, with nice solo usage of 10 shilling George VI . Although this is a Registered cover, there are no transit and arrival markings. This is not unusual for British mail, as they seldom backstamped anything, even registered covers.

Rate : 10 shillings - double rate + Registration Fee

Posted : Tuesday July 15, 1941 at Edinburgh

Probable Route : BOAC to Lisbon; FAM 18 American Clipper departed Lisbon Monday July 21, arriving in New York Wednesday July 23; USA domestic airlines to San Francisco; FAM 14 Honolulu Clipper departed San Francisco on Tuesday July 29, arriving in Singapore on Aug 9; BOAC Horseshoe route Flight WS 111 departed Singapore Aug 12, arriving Karachi Aug 13; TATA airlines from Karachi to Colombo; Officially Sealed stamps applied in Colombo Aug 18; forwarded to the Grand Hotel, N. Eliya Aug 19.

Notes : Two-ocean airmail cover, with high franking of 15 shillings; scarce use of Officially Sealed labels of Ceylon.

Rate : 15 shillings - triple rate

Posted : July 29, 1941 at Exmouth

Route : BOAC to Lisbon; FAM 18 Atlantic Clipper to New York; USA domestic airlines to San Francisco; FAM 14 Pacific Clipper to Singapore; BOAC Horseshoe route to Calcutta; India domestic airlines and/or by rail to destination at Kashmir.

Notes : Two-ocean airmail cover, with 5x 1 shilling George VI issues paying the exact airmail rate.

Rate : 5 shillings - two-ocean rate

Posted : Friday Nov 14, 1941

Route : BOAC to Lisbon; FAM 18 Atlantic Clipper departed Lisbon Wednesday Nov 19, arriving New York Thursday Nov 20; USA domestic airlines to San Francisco; FAM 19 Pacific Clipper departed San Francisco Dec 1, arriving in Auckland on Dec 7; TEAL from Auckland to Sydney.

Notes : Based on the date of posting, Nov 14, 1941, and the absence of any Return To Sender or Service Suspended markings, we can conclude that this cover was carried on the Last Outbound Flight of the Pacific Clipper, which departed San Francisco on Dec 1, and arrived in Auckland Dec 7. Because of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, Pan Am decided that the Clipper should return to New York instead of San Francisco. And so, on Dec 14, the Pacific Clipper left Auckland, and began the historic flight to New York, arriving Jan 6, 1942. This was the first commercial flight around the world by a Flying Boat.

Rate : 1 Pound 2sh 6p - 5 times the single rate.

Posted : Nov 16, 1941

Probable Route : BOAC/KLM to Lisbon; FAM 18 Dixie Clipper departed Lisbon Monday Nov 24, arriving New York Tuesday Nov 25; USA domestic airlines to San Francisco; FAM 14 ANZAC clipper to Hawaii; offloaded at Hilo; censored in Hawaii; marked Returned To Writer.

Notes : On Dec 6,1941, the ANZAC Clipper, NC 18611, departed San Francisco on what would be it's Last Pre-war Flight. As the ANZAC approached Hawaii on the morning of Dec 7, it was informed by radio that Hawaii was under attack by the Japanese. The ANZAC was diverted to a River landing at Hilo, where all mail was quickly offloaded, and the ANZAC Clipper returned to San Francisco. This very interesting two-ocean cover was carried on the last flight, confirmed by the date of posting, the destination, and the Hawaii Censor handstamp RELEASED BY I.C.B. 223 on reverse. However, for some reason, the words RELEASED BY I.C.B. have been blacked out by hand, and there are two additional censor numbers on reverse - 3 and 137. The cover was addressed to Hong Kong, and is marked several times RETURN TO WRITER. However, there is no return address on the cover. This Return To Writer handstamp, does not look like one from Hawaii or the USA. This cover poses several questions. Why were the words RELEASED BY I.C.B. blacked out? Did one of the other censors black out the words RELEASED BY I.C.B. ? Where was the Return To Writer handstamp applied? Was there an attempt to deliver the cover to Hong Kong by an alternate route, or was it sent back to England from Hawaii? A very interesting cover.

Rate : 5sh - the two-ocean single rate

Posted : Dec 4, 1941 at London

Route : BOAC to Lisbon; FAM 18 Atlantic Clipper to New York; USA domestic airlines to San Francisco; by ship from San Francisco to Fiji, or by war-time Clipper service to Hawaii, then by ship to Fiji.

Notes : This cover originated from the Secretary of State of the Colonial Department in London, and was intended for Pan Am's two-ocean airmail service to Fiji. Because of the date of posting - Dec 4, 1941, the cover arrived in New York after the US had entered World War II and Pacific Clipper airmail service to Fiji had been suspended. However, airmail service between San Francisco and Hawaii was quickly restored after the Dec 7 attack on Pearl Harbor. On Dec 18, the CHINA Clipper flew the first war time mail flight from the mainland to Hawaii. This cover may have been on that flight to Hawaii, and then put on a ship to Fiji. Or, the cover may have simply been put on a ship to Fiji at San Francisco. There is no Return To Sender marking, so it is safe to assume the cover arrived at it's destination.

Rate : 4sh 6p - the two-ocean single rate