20th ANNIVERSARY OF CENTRAL AFRICAN AIRWAYS (CAA) Issued 1st June 1966

The following is extracted from R. C. Smith’s book “ - A Postal History” (pages 432 to 434)

“To commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the formation of Central African Airways, the Ministry of Posts issued a set of four postage stamps on 1st June, 1966.

The issue was printed by Mardon Printers (Pvt.) Ltd., by the offset litho process. The four values depicted three aircraft used by the Corporation during its service in Central Africa and one was a pure jet aircraft which was to be introduced in the future. In fact this aircraft should have been in service at the time the stamps were issued, but the British Government, in pursuance of its policy of retribution against Rhodesia, refused to allow the aircraft to be supplied. At the time the stamps were being printed negotiations with the British Government had reached a critical stage, and in order to avoid any embarrassment it was decided that the jet to be depicted on the 5s value be called 'Jet of the future' and not specifically named BAC1-11, which was the aircraft ordered.

The other stamps were as follows:

De Havilland Dragon Rapide (value 6d.). The first De Havilland Rapide was acquired by Rhodesia and Airways (the forerunner of Central African Airways) in 1935 and two years later three more were brought into service. The Rapide was an improved version of the earlier Dragon, and was a biplane powered by two 200 h.p. Gipsy VI engines. It had a cruising speed of 120 miles per hour, with a still range of 475 miles and could accommodate five passengers.

Douglas DC3 (value is. 1s3d.). One of the most successful transport aircraft ever produced was the Douglas DCs, which is generally known as the 'Dakota'. There are over 1,000 DC3s in service around the world, and Central African Airways purchased its first DC3 in 1953, and the current fleet of seven aircraft continues to provide indispensable service to the Central African Airways Group, comprising of the three partner airlines, namely , Airways, and Airways.

Vickers Viscount (value 2s6d). When Central African Airways took delivery of its first Viscount on 25th April, 1956, the airline entered a new era. Powered by four Rolls-Royce Dart jet-prop engines and fitted to carry 57 passengers at 300 miles per hour, the Viscount set new standards of reliability, speed and comfort on the Central African Airways route system.

Jets of the Future (value 5s). Although the jet depicted does not necessarily indicate the type of aircraft which will be used by Central African Airways in the future, the illustration does in fact show the original aircraft ordered (B.A.C. One Eleven). At the time of writing the whole future of the airline is in doubt as the Zambian Government has indicated that it wishes the present arrangements to be terminated. This would mean that each of the former territories would operate its own individual airline, but this is unlikely to prevent the successor airline in Rhodesia from obtaining its jet aircraft when circumstances permit.”

Quite why this set was issued is difficult to understand. On 1st March 1964, CAA formed three subsidiary companies – Air Rhodesia, and . However, CAA were to open other routes after this date:

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• 18th April 1964 – service inaugurated between and Salima • 9th February, 1966 – Air Malawi in conjunction with East Africa Airways and CAA started a service between and Ndola. This replaced the CAA service from Salisbury to , which now terminated at Ndola • October 1966 – CAA open service between Salisbury and Beira • December 1966 – CAA took over Rhodesian Air Services routes for – Fort Victoria; Salisbury – Buffalo Range; and the service to Vilanculous, .

CAA was eventually dissolved on 1st August 1967, after, no doubt, agreement had been reached to split the assets between the three airlines.7

THE ISSUED STAMPS

Catalogue Listings

SG2 RSC3 Value Description Print colours 393 C72 6d De Havilland “Rapide” Blue, black, orange & yellow a. Double propeller flaw 394 C73 1s3d Douglas “D.C.3” Blue, black, orange & yellow 395 C74 2s6d Vickers “Viscount Blue, black, orange & yellow 396 C75 5s “Modern Jet”- RSC Blue & black B.A.C. One Eleven - SG

Notes: SG – The 6d, 2s6d and 5s values exist imperforate from sheets prepared for presentation purposes RSC - These sheets have frequent gum creases due to the type of paper used and through bad handling

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Technical details

Stamp size: 42 x 28 mm

Sheet Size: 60 stamps (6 rows of 10 stamps), two panes within printed sheet

Artist: All stamps prepared by Mardon

Paper: Toned JH3 paper, clear white gum

Print colours: As described above

Perforations: Comb perf: SG 14½, RSC 14¼ Top margin: imperforate Side margins: two perf holes Bottom margin: Perforated through

Printer’s Imprint: Type 6, bottom margin, below columns 5 & 6

Cylinder numbers: Cylinder numbers 1A (type CN 4 within bottom margin below R6/1

3d Black, Blue, Orange and yellow 1s3d Black, Blue, Orange and yellow 2s6d Black, Blue, Orange and yellow 5s Blue and black

Colour register: Type TL 2 – square unboxed - left margin opposite R1/1 Reading down 3d Blue, black, orange & yellow 9d Blue, black, orange & yellow 1s3d Blue, black, orange & yellow 2s6d Blue & black

Sheet Value: Top margin, above R1/10, black printing

Sheet Number: Type SN 2, reading down (No prefix, large lettering)

Print numbers: 200,000 of each value

Issue date: 1st June, 1966 (notice No 6 of 1966)

Withdrawal from sale: 30th July, 1966

Demonetarisation: 1st August, 1969

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Varieties

Below are varieties documented or seen for each of the values, starting with the listed varieties within the Mashonaland Guide4, and the one listed in the RSC3, shown in yellow shaded tables. The varieties listed in bold are considered by the authors of the Guide to be more important. Where possible, illustrations of the main varieties are shown.

Unlisted varieties are shown in the blue shaded tables.

6d – de Havilland “Rapide”

Row Col

• Mash Guide: Misalignment of the blue and black colouring of the aircraft • RSC: Double propeller flaw )C72a) Multipositive

R3/4, 3/9, 6/4 & 6/9 (note RSC states R3/3 and 6/3 which are incorrect)

• White patch on the forward fuselage to the right of the propeller blade. Th E4 1 1 • Blue mark on the right edge of the design opposite the value. Th G12

1 2 Blue spot in sky below ‘W’ of Airways. Th B5

1 3 Blue dot in border of stamp above 4 of 1946

1 4 Round black spot above ‘G’ of Postage. Th H12

1 7 Blue spot on tail. Th E9 2 2 Black spot on fuselage below control cabin. Th E3 Blue spot in right border of stamp opposite and just above 2 5 the skyline. Th E13

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2 6 Same as 2/5 but on left side of stamp

2 8 Blue spot in sky between and below Rapide and ‘1946’. Th B3

3 2 Blue flaw in sky at 11 o'clock from Oval. Th A10

3 7 Short coloured line opposite the huts projects into the border of the stamp. Th E13 3 8 Blue dot on forward fuselage immediately forward of control cabin. Th D2

Blue dot in runway at 1 o'clock from ‘A’ of Rhodesia. 3 10 Th G8

4 1 Small yellow mark in ‘D’ of value

4 6 Like 4/1

5 1 Black dot above the Queen's left eyebrow. Th B11

Short thick blue horizontal line in the right border of the 5 5 stamp above the skyline. Th E13

Semi-circular flaw on the runway below the right-hand 6 5 hut. Th F12

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6 8 Blue dot in the white border below ‘PO’ of Postage

Note: The blue spots between ‘H’ and Rapide appear on all sixty stamps on all sheets

Unlisted varieties

Early strike of the comb perforator, such that it appears that there is a missing perforation above the second row of stamps.

This occurs on many sheets, may be typical of this printing

Movement of blue plate down, see blue line at base of image. Also results in there being an Offset of blue on the back of the stamp orange area above the huts to the right

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1s3d Douglas “DC 3”.

Row Col Multipostive White spot on Queen's forehead above her right eye. Th B11 R2/4, 2/9, 5/4 & 5.9

Blue spot at the right corner of the Queen’s mouth. Th C11 1 3 Blue mark in sky below the starboard engine, Th F3

Blue mark on the Queen's forehead above her left eyebrow. 1 5 Th B11

1 7 Small white cloud above ‘A’ of Airways. Th A4

Blue (green as stated in Guide) dot above ‘1’ of 1953. 2 5 Th A4

Coloured dot in sky between port wing and ‘1’ of value. 2 7 Th F10 3 4 White mark in sky to right of 1966. ThA8 3 7 Black spot under the port tail plane. Th E10 3 8 Coloured spot at 2 o'clock from ‘E’ of Rhodesia. Th G6 4 3 Blue mark on top of port wing

Black mark under the aircraft immediately behind starboard 4 4 engine

4 9 Coloured spot at 1 o'clock from ‘I’ of Rhodesia. Th G7

5 5 Blue spot opposite Queen's right eye. Th C10

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Blue dot above ‘T’ of Central and another below ‘A’ of 6 1 African

6 2 Black marks below starboard engine. Th E3 6 10 White spot at top of design between ‘1966’ and Oval. Th A9 The accent on ‘E’ of Central appears on all sixty stamps on Notes i all sheets. ii An error which the Printers have not been able to explain has been found on a sheet of these stamps purchased from the Philatelic Bureau of the General Post Office, Salisbury. It is an impression of the wording 'Central African Airways, 1946-1966. D.H. Rapide 1948" on the 6d value of this Issue, yellow in colour, upside down and centrally placed on the gummed side of the l/3d stamp. In addition, the orange colour from the 6d stamp also appears. For want of a better word we call this an 'impression' but it is actually like an offset from an offset (a true offset being a mirror image). Not all the stamps on the sheet are affected. (see below)

This variety from the top left sheet corner is shown above on the left. The image on the right is computer generated where the white paper has been changed to light grey, which helps to illustrate what is printed there. Below is the wording which is somewhat hazy but “CENTRAL AFRICA AIRWAYS 1946 – 1966/ G.H RAPIDE 1948” can be made out. The Mashonaland Guide has an interesting possible explanation. Alternatively, the explanation could simply be that the gummed side of the sheet was used in a test trial for the orange plate, and somehow this sheet ended up being used for the final print run of the 1s3d stamp. Note the larger printed images above, from the top left sheet corner, are inverted and are definitely positive. Interesting

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Unlisted varieties

Movement of the blue plate to left and slightly down. (this example from R4/4)

Movement of blue plate upwards

(Source – eBay download)

2s6d Vickers “Viscount”.

Row Col

Vertical blue line at the top of the stamp, above ‘4’ of 1946 Multipostive R1/3 & 1/8

Small nick at the top of the design, to the right of 1966. Th A8 – R3/4, 3/9, 6/4 & 6/9 1 5 Black dot to the left of ‘2’ of value. Th G10 2 3 Coloured dot under ‘E’ of Postage 2 5 Blue spot above ‘D’ of Rhodesia. Th G5 Short blue horizontal line in the right border. Th E13 2 6 Short blue horizontal line and vertical stroke in the left border of the stamp (opposite 2/5) 3 7 Black 'New Moon' flaw in the left border of the stamp 4 8 Blue spot on the Queen's neck. Th C12

R of Rhodesia broken at top and no left serif at the top of 4 10 the left upright of ‘H’ of Rhodesia Black dot above TA of Postage

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5 5 Small blue dot at 12 o'clock above the Oval

5 10 Small white mark in sky at 9 o'clock from Oval. Th B8

6 5 Flaw on the neck of ‘2’ of value

6 9 White spot under ‘6’ of 1956. Th B5

Unlisted varieties

Movement of the blue plate downwards, such that the lines on the aircraft appear double, one black and one blue.

5s B.A.C. “One Eleven” – “Modern Jet”

Row Col Multipositive Serif of centre bar of ‘E’ of Postage joined to top bar - R2/3, 3/3, 5/3 & 6/3 Vertical line between serif of centre bar of ‘E’ of Postage and top bar - R4/2, 4/7 & 5/8

1 2 Serif of centre bar of ‘E’ of Postage extends upwards

1 3 Vertical blue line above ‘4’ of 1946 Black dot between ‘5’ and ‘O’ of Postage 2 9 Blue dot in top border of stamp above ‘W’ of Airways 3 5 Blue dot on the left side of the right leg of ‘A’ of Rhodesia 3 6 Black dot in right border of stamp at 1 o'clock from ‘E’ of Postage. Th H13 4 3 Black mark in white border above ‘6’ of 1946 4 4 Blue spot at 10 o'clock from ‘P’ of Postage. Th H10

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4 5 Blue spot above ‘E’ of Postage. Th H13

4 6 Blue dot in the clouds halfway between the aircraft and left upright of ‘H’ of Rhodesia. Th F2 4 10 Blue spot between the Oval and the Queen's hair at ten o'clock. Th B10

6 2 Blue spot between value and right side of stamp. Th G13

6 6 Black dot to the right of ‘A’ of Rhodesia. Th H9

6 7 Blue dot just above ‘E’ of Postage

Unlisted varieties

Upward shift of the perforations into the image of the stamp above. The sheet has been cut along the margins of the stamps

Strong offset.

(Courtesy Dave Cooper)

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Essays, proofs and imperforates

The following information has been provided by the Rhodesian Philatelist.

Issue No 2, November 19938

1966 C.A.A. Set. Sotherby Parke Bernet, , auction 20th August, 1980 Lot 615 offered the 6d, 2/6 and 5/- values in top left corner marginal 'traffic light' blocks of four. The 5/- block was again auctioned by S. Welz of on 7th November, 1990, as Lot 468 and once more in their 13th November, 1991 sale as lot 212.

The 5s block is shown here

Issue No 12, October 19669

Probably because it was Mardons first multi-value issue design, they took an unusual step by preparing enlarged photographic essays of all four values which are 346% larger than the issued design.

The Enlarged 5/- Essay: This was the least complicated stamp printed in black and blue only. Design and colour approved.

The 6d, 1/3 and 2/6 Values: The issued stamps are all printed in four colours: black, blue, orange and yellow. The 6d and 1/3 essays are in these four colours. The 2/6 essays are only in three colours as indicated.

The enlarged 6d essay: Design approved. On the essay 'RHODESIA-6D-POSTAGE' is printed in blue. On the issued stamp it was changed to black.

The enlarged 1/3 essay: White letters cased in blue were used for 'RHODESIA' and '1/3'. 'POSTAGE’ and the 'D' after '1/3' was printed in solid blue. The design was changed and the wording 'RHODESIA-1/3D-POSTAGE' on the issued stamp is printed in solid black.

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The enlarged 2/6 essays: Two versions exist, both have 'RHODESIA’ and '2/6' in white lettering cased in blue. 'POSTAGE’ and the 'D' after '2/6' are printed in solid blue. On the issued stamp, the design was altered, the 'D' after '2/6' was omitted. In keeping with the other three values, 'RHODESIA-2/6-POSTAGE' was printed solid black lettering.

First essay

First Essay: (above) In black, blue and orange. The hills and land were printed in blue and orange which created a brown barren landscape. This colour was rejected.

Second Essay: (Left) In black, blue and yellow. The land was now printed in blue and yellow which created a pleasant green landscape. On the issued stamp the added orange gave more contrast to this area.

Second essay

Besides the set of five large essays in Smith's collection, another set is known which was sold by Sotheby's South Africa (now S. Welz) in their 20 August 1980 Sale as Lot 614.

The following is a complete set of printer’s proofs of the essays discussed above. Each card shows printer’s marks on all four side of each design. All but the 6d have handwritten words of colours. All these words appear as mirrored images.

Four of the proofs come in single sheets, split up in this report for illustration purposes. They are: 6d & 5s; and 1s3d & 1s6d (brown background).

(Courtesy Rod Kantor)

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Single imperforate progressive proofs for each value stuck on Mardon presentation cards. The four presentation cards with progressive proofs below are from the Smith/Ashworth.

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Complete set of presentation cards with imperforate stamps. (Courtesy Rod Kantor)

The complete set in imperforate imprint blocks of twelve (4x3). Each block was stuck down on the top corner stamp on either side. These multiples have been reduced to imprint blocks of eight (4x2), a set in horizontal pairs and two sets of singles. In order to salvage the stuck down singles their gum was removed.

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Imperforate set of singles on gummed paper have appeared on the market. The Rhodesian Philatelist Nov 1993 notes the existence of 3 blocks of 4 first auctioned by Sotheby’s South Africa on 20-08-1980, lot #615. The source of the stamps below is unknown but of interest as they appear to emanate from a source other than the blocks of 12. (Courtesy Dave Cooper)

Below are the imprint blocks of 8 imperforate stamps printed on the gummed side from the Smith/Ashworth collection.

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First Day Covers

The cover numbering comes from the catalogue produced by Geoff Brakspear.

Cover 33.1.1 Cover 33.1.2

Post Office Cover 215 x 140 mm Post Office Cover 227 x 154 mm Cover 33.2.1 Cover 33.2.2

Picture printed in blue Picture printed in black 228 x 102 mm 228 x 102 mm Cover 33.3 Cover 33.4

228 x 102 mm

241 x 164 mm

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Cover 33.5

227 x 102 mm

Related Material

Cover signed by the Chief Executive of Central African Airways, P A Travers (Courtesy Narendhra Morar)

Bibliography

1. “Rhodesia a Postal History – Its Stamps Posts and Telegraphs” R. C. Smith, printed by Mardon Printers (Pvt) Ltd, 1967, pages 432 - 434 2. Stanley Gibbons Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue, Southern & Central Africa, 2nd Edition, 2014 3. The Rhodesia Stamp Catalogue, 1983/84 (last edition), published by Salisbury Stamp Company. 4. “A Guide to the Postage Stamps of Rhodesia, No 2” - 1st January, 1964 to 31st July 1966, published by the Mashonaland Philatelic Study Group, 1966 5. “The Rhodesian Philatelist” No 2 November 1993 6. “The Rhodesian Philatelist” No 12 October 1996 7. Memoir 25 – “Airmails and First Flight Covers of The and Nyasaland 1911 – 2000”, Arthur Pratt and Keith Harrop, pages 118 to123. Published by the Rhodesian Study Circle 8. “The Rhodesian Philatelist” No 2 November 1993 9. “The Rhodesian Philatelist” No 12 October 1996

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