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Lot No. 436

Auction No. 25
Category Airmails - Australia
    Airmails
Est. $1500
Status SOLD $1500

 

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1937 (24th Mar) London to Perth typed addressed env with 3d & 6d x 2 KGV tied by London FS Air Mail machine cancel dated 23 MCH 1937 & neighbouring Air Mail vignette. Carried by Imperial Airways flight IE534 on "Capricornus" which on its inaugural flight to Egypt was caught in a violent snowstorm in the Rhone Valley. The pilot lost all visibility & circled whilst attempting to determine his position by radio however the aircraft wing hit a tree & crashed into a mountain at 2,200 feet altitude. Five of the six occupants were killed. The mail was recovered the following day & sent to Macon for onward carriage by "Cygnus". Perth 7 APR 1937 b/s. One of the rarest crash covers to Aust with very few recorded & under-priced in AAMC at $600. AAMC 710a (plate 4)

 

Image represents the entire lot.