AAIIRRPPOOSSTT JJOOUURRNNAALL

The Official Publication of the American Air Mail Society

August 2015 Volume 86, No. 8 Whole No. 1022

August’s Featured Article — The Crash at Jeshwang in 1937: Additional Indicia and Labels Page 314 Zeppelins & Aerophilately Ask for our Free Price List of Worldwide Flight covers and stamps. The following is a small sampling – full list on Website!

United States 1912 Milwaukee, WI Pioneer 28 Rare! ...... $1,500.00 1930 C13 - C15 Pan Am flight round trip S.64D II ...... $2,950.00 Germany 1933 (August 25) balloon postcard from Hamburg Air Show for Ger - man Airmail. 30pf red balloon label. There is a small plate error on "D" in the red overprint ...... $900.00 Estonia 1933 Chicago flight to Recife, Brazil S238E ...... $875.00 Ethiopia 1936 8th North America Flight with German franking on reverse with certificate...... $2,250.00 Finland / Liechtenstein 1931 dual franking on Vaduz flight. S.110A unlisted variety ...... $3,250.00 French Indochina 1934 1st South America Flight Saigon to Paris, then sent to Brazil S.247Aa ...... $1,875.00 Gibraltar 1933 Chicago flight to Argentina S.238E ...... $675.00 Great Britain 1917 (October 11) to British officer in Cairo - damaged through enemy action...... $750.00 Guatemala 1936 Hindenburg S.409P ...... $875.00 Hungary Henry Gitner Philatelists, Inc. PO Box 3077T, Middletown NY 10940 Email: [email protected] — http://www.hgitner.com

AUGUST 2015 PAGE 309 In This Issue of the Airpost Journal Letter to — ARTICLES — The Crash at Jeshwang in 1937: Additional Indicia and Labels ...... 314 Gary Wayne Loew the Editor CAM 6 and 7 First Day Covers ...... 320 Jamie O’Bannon Misinformation Corrected A Tale of Two Covers ...... 325 Bob Baltzell There is a significant “oops” in the July APJ article by David Ball Dole Air Race Winnings Came at High Cost ...... 329 on American Around-the-World flights. The 1924 flight was not made by More than Just a Cover ...... 332 the “U. S. Navy” but rather by the U. S. Army Air Service. Needless to John Wilson say this is a monumental error! Two Oklahomans Who Contributed to Aerophilately After World War II ... 334 The caption for Figure 1, page 270, is also incorrect. The postal Bob Dille card was flown, but only between Santa Monica and Seattle, the case for A Casualty of War ...... 338 most of the cards/covers from the flight. John C. Symons Robert E. Mattingly (Ed Note: Bob Quintero also wrote concerning these errors.) — COLUMNS and FEATURES — Letter to the Editor ...... 311 Rudy Roy Wins Walter J. President’s Message ...... 312 Conrath Memorial Award APJ Book Review ...... 342 This award is presented Treasure Hunting for CAM Covers ...... 345 in honor of Walter J. Conrath, — NEWS — who contributed unselfishly to Rudy Roy Wins Conrath Award ...... 311 the growth and welfare of the News of the Shows ...... 348 American Air Mail Society. The Walter J. Conrath — DEPARTMENTS – Memorial Award is for out - APJ Ads ...... 352 standing service to the society. It Membership Report ...... 349 recognizes distinguished and Editor and Advertising extended service to the Society. Vickie Canfield Peters 11911 E Connor Road Valleyford WA 99036 Rudy served as mem - vcanfi[email protected] bership secretary for many Staff Writers and Columnists years. The award was presented Joe Kirker Alan Warren Chris Hargreaves Bob Wilcsek Lee Downer Copyright 2015 The American Air Mail Society . The Airpost Journal (ISSN 0739-0939) is pub - lished monthly by the American Air Mail Society, 11911 E. Connor Road, Valleyford WA 99036. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Periodical postage paid at Spokane WA 99201 and additional post offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to American Air Mail Society, 7 First St., Westfield NY 14787. Domestic sub - For AAMS copyright information or permission to reprint scription rate $30 per year; $5 per copy. items copyrighted by the AAMS, contact Jim Graue, 11911 E. Opinions expressed in features and columns in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the society. Running an ad does not endorse the advertiser. Connor Road, Valleyford WA 99036 or email [email protected]

PAGE 310 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 311 The AAMS Board of Directors meeting on Saturday, June 6, President’s failed to draw the necessary five for a quorum, so no official action was taken. Nevertheless, the meeting was open and 15 members attended, Jim Graue Message which was excellent. The general membership meeting drew only 19. Most of the board meeting time was used in discussing the sta - tus of the next American Air Mail Catalogue volumes. The following sec - tions are being actively worked on or are ready for inclusion in an upcoming volume: AM Routes 1-64, Pioneers, U.S. Government Flights, Lindbergh, Glider Flight, and Polar Aerophilately. The two sections requiring immediate attention are: • Trans-Ocean Flights (text is essentially complete; more scans are needed for illustrations and thanks to Bob Mattingly for his submis - sions); • Crash Mail, two volumes incorporating Nierinck worldwide crash mail plus U.S. and Canada crashes updated; again, scans are needed for illustrations). The sooner these scans become available, the sooner these sec - tions will be printed. Both are popular and widely collected, so we know the pieces to be scanned are only awaiting the attention of their present custodians!

2015 Election Calendar August 1 Final election slate published September September 2015 Airpost Journal : Election issue with ballot October 20 Deadline for receipt of election ballots November 1 Final election results due from Board of Elections December Election results published in December 2015 Airpost Journal AAMS 2015 Convention Nominations for AAMS Officers and Directors for The 2015 AAMS annual convention is history. Although held in 2016 – 2017 by the Nominations Committee conjunction with NAPEX, which is generally regarded, with merit, as President James W. Graue one of the top five stamp shows in the country, AAMS participation was Vice-President Samuel J. Pezzillo minimal. Relatively few members attended and, of course, fewer still Secretary William Fort III (only seven) exhibited. Although disappointed in the turnout by AAMS Treasurer Stephen Reinhard members, those who did attend had a great time. Directors (four to be elected) David S. Ball David E. Crotty PAGE 312 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 313 Steve Tucker The Crash at Jeshwang in 1937: Patrick A. Walters It is unfortunate, and in fact a red flag warning, when an organi - Additional Indicia and Labels zation’s election slate is non-competitive for every position. At this point, only an intense write-in effort can alter a final outcome different from the Gary Wayne Loew above and there has been no hint of that in the wind. Many, if not most, members will look at the ballot and discard it, seeing the result as fore - Beginning in 1933, Deutsche Lufthansa initiated a series of gone. This is not good for us going forward. We need more members to take an active role in AAMS affairs. Every organization needs new players who bring fresh perspectives, new ideas and action alternatives that break the molds of tradition with new and creative challenges and directions that will inspire and excite the membership. Whether you have an “official” role or not, I would love to hear from you as to what you would like us to consider for AAMS going forward.

FISA Reborn The 47th FISA (International Federation of Aerophilatelic Soci - eties) Congress was held at the Royal Philatelic Society in London on May 12, 2015. The British Air Mail Society, asserting that “FISA has . . . fulfilled its original aims and objectives,” moved to dissolve the federation. After Figure 2 discussion and debate, this motion was rejected. Wolfgang Porges (Berlin, Germany) was elected as the new FISA experimental flights between Bathurst and Brazil with the intent of estab - president. Wolfgang will form a task force to draft a new FISA mission lishing regular trans-Atlantic mail service between Europe and South statement. Stefan Bruylants is the new secretary-general. America. The objective was postal expedience: neither passengers nor This is a great step forward. Preparation of a revised mission freight were carried, only mail. The ensuing DLH service ran from Feb - statement will allow for recognition of current challenges and creation of ruary 1934 until hostilities in Europe closed the service in August 1939. a framework and action plan for meeting them going forward. I believe Bathurst, on the western limb of West Africa, was central to the feasibili - FISA can be a positive force for aerophilately given strong support and ty of the DLH routes. By all reasonable metrics, the DLH mail service active participation. was a significant success 1. But aviation in the 1930s was a risky undertak - ing and DLH experienced several crashes. One of those DLH crashes took place at Jeshwang in Gambia in 1937. The Jeshwang disaster has been thoroughly documented in sev - eral sources. Jim Graue 2 identified this flight as L225, departing Frank - furt on March 11, 1937. The plane, a Heinkel-111, the D-ALIX Rostock , crashed during its approach at Bathurst on March 12 at 0345 hours (all 3 Figure 1 times used herein are local time). Barbara Priddy cited Gambian PO

PAGE 314 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 315 Figure 5

ered to the intended destinations via standard DLH routing. Over the years I've seen or managed to acquire several examples of these water-damaged crash covers. Some of them bear further examination. Nierinck identified eight different labels, hand - stamps and handwritten Figure 3 notes applied by the receiv - ing (primarily South Amer - records as stating that 50 ican) countries, denoted as bags of mail were recov - 370312a, b, f, g, h, i, m and ered. Priddy also dis - q. Figure 1 from Nierinck cussed the substantial dif - illustrates an example of ferences in the accounts of 370312b from Argentina, a the crash and the losses in straight-line, black cachet its aftermath. Henri Nier - “ACCIDENT DE AVIA - inck 4 labeled the crash as CION.” (It should be noted 370312 but stated that that by no means did all only 20 bags of mail were recovered mail receive an recovered. Whatever the accident indicium on the actual count, it appears receiving end. Chile and that much mail was recov - Figure 6 Paraguay, for example, ered. All of it was very apparently did not do so. Until now, there does not appear to have been quickly processed in Figure 4 any discussion of indicia or labels having been applied in Gambia.) Gambia and then deliv - PAGE 316 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 317 It is clear, however, that additional indicia were employed at various locations. For example, Figure 2 illustrates a cover from Frank - furt to Rio. In contrast to most of the recovered mail, which used stamps, this envelope was posted the day before the DLH departure date with an (indelible) meter that remained undamaged by immersion in the Gambia River. It bears a black, straight-line cachet “ACCIDENT DE AVIATION” using the French spelling. Given that the cover was hand-stamped in Brazil, one certainly would not expect to see a Spanish spelling (370312b), but one might have expected the Portuguese “aviação.” Nier - inck’s 370312a shows an example of a Brazilian two-line, red cachet, “ACCIDENTE / DE AVIAO” which is commonly seen. I have not seen this black straight line previously. Figure 3 illustrates both sides of a rather more intriguing cover. It originated in Upper Edmonton destined for Buenos Aires and the obverse bears a very blurred example of the Nierinck 370312b straight- line cachet applied in Argentina. But on the reverse we see two examples of a British Empire P480 Official Seal Label (enlarged for clarity in Figure 4). The only place the official British seals could have been applied was Bathurst. Drummond 5 identifies this label in Great Britain under the sec - tion “Seals Primarily Designed for Use in All of the British Isles.” I am aware of no other examples of these labels having been utilized at Gam - bia, either for this crash or on any other mail. Finally, a cover from an uncertain city in Germany bearing a severely washed-out meter stamp is shown in Figure 5. Destined for Montevideo, the cover arrived there on March 15 and an official seal 6 was applied to the reverse. This is not a seal intended for use on crash mail, but rather a more standard official sealing device. The seal is a ser - rated, oval, bright green label with "Correos de la República Oriental del Uruguay / Cierre Oficial" (Post of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay / Official Seal) surrounding the image of a caduceus flanked by two fleu - rons (enlarged in Figure 6). Frequently mistaken for the Staff of Ascle - pius (a symbol of healthcare organizations and medical practices), the

SHARE AEROPHILATELY . . . Write about it in your APJ!

PAGE 318 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 319 caduceus is often held by Mercury, the messenger of the gods and an icon of postal services around the world. Appearing in a seal applied to damaged mail, it is not so surprising that the caduceus and the staff might be conflated. Uruguay apparently had sufficient occasion to employ such seals that it invested notable effort in both design and production. Observe both the artful, asymmetric serration and the raised embossing. Used on a crash cover, this seal is a powerful semiotic device having a clear effect of commu - nicating comfort to the envelope’s Figure 1 recipient, as though saying, “Yes, your mail was damaged in an accident, but your post office is here to protect it!” The contrast between the tattered and dull cover and the bright, Figure 3 (6E2) secure Uruguayan seal is quite profound. While this seal is not rare, this Author’s Note: is the only use I have seen on a Jeshwang crash cover. Thanks are due to Brian Moorhouse, Dr. Arthur Groten, Jim The cover left Gambia after only a one-day delay on March 13 at Drummond and Chris Rainey for their assistance. I am grateful, as well, 0102 hours, carried aboard the seaplane Mistral. At 1745 hours Mistral to Dr. Doris Benardete and John W. Bristow. arrived in Natal, Brazil. In all likelihood, there are many other variations of crash mark - References ings to be found on these Jeshwang covers. I would appreciate learning 1 Loew, Gary Wayne, “The Bathurst Connection: The Centrality of Gam - about any such marks or labels that readers might have seen. bia to the Development of Transatlantic Air Mail,” Cameo , West Africa

Figure 4 Figure 2 (6E1)

PAGE 320 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 321 Figure 5 (6W3d) Figure 7 5 Drummond, James N., Official Seals of the World . Porter Ranch, CA: J.N. Drummond, 2007. Pgs 220-221. Identified as Great Britain seal OS13b. 6 Drummond 2007. Pg 525. Identified as Uruguayan seal OS3 CAM 6 and 7 First Day Covers

Jamie O'Bannon

Figure 6 (6W3e) Study Circle, June 2015. 2 Graue, James W. & Duggan, John, Deutsche Lufthansa - South Atlantic Airmail Service 1934-1939. Middx [England]: Zeppelin Study Group. 2000. Pg. 168. 3 Priddy, Barbara, “The 1937 D.L.H. Crash at Bathurst,” Cameo, West Africa Study Circle, Vol. 4 No. 2, July, 1990. Pg 31. 4 Nierinck, Henri L., Courrier Recupere – Accidents et incidents d’avions 1937-1988, Roeselare, Belgium: Henri Nierinck. 1995. Pgs 15-17. Figure 8 (7E3) PAGE 322 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 323 The initial rate for Contract Air Mail (CAM) routes was set at 10 D.C. cents for one-ounce letters sent over one contract route of not more than The first CAM routes, CAM 6 and CAM 7, were inaugurated 1,000 miles. With the anticipation of the new rate, a new airmail stamp simultaneously on February 15, 1926, just two days after the new stamp was designed and approved (Scott C7). It shows a centered map of the was issued. The contractor for both routes was the Ford Motor Compa - ny. This article presents examples of CAM 6 and 7 covers receiving the first day of issue cancellations and held for a first flight.

CAM 6 The CAM 6 route flew between Detroit (Dearborn) and Cleveland. Covers are seen post - marked from all three cities. No flights occurred between Detroit and Dearborn since Dearborn was also used for Detroit dispatches. Cachets were prepared for the inaugural flights. A double circu - lar wheel cachet in black, dated Feb - Figure 9 (6W3a) ruary 15, 1926, was applied to Detroit and Dearborn covers, both United States with two biplanes heading towards each other on the far with 10 AM timestamps. Some col - left and right sides (Figure 1) It was printed in blue (various shades). The lectors requested that covers be post - first day of issue was approved for February 13, 1926, in Dearborn and marked on the first day of issue, held Detroit, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; and Washington, for two days and then sent on the inaugural flight. Figure 2 shows an example from Detroit (6E1) and Fig - To volunteer for the ure 3 from Dearborn (6E2) American Air Mail Catalog Cleveland covers used a dif - Production Team! ferent type of cancel/cachet. It was a Numerous challenging single circle, dated February 15, 1926, with a 10 AM, 12 M or 2 PM time - positions are available stamp in black (6W3) or magenta immediately. Enrich your (6W3a). Cleveland also prepared a airmail experience cachet for items canceled on the first and knowledge. day of issue. These cachets, issued in black and magenta (6W3b, c), were dated February 13, 1926. They were Contact AAMS president Jim Graue at held and placed on the first flight Figure 1 [email protected] for information without additional markings (Figure PAGE 324 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 325 4). Some covers also received both the February 13 and February 15 and held two days for the westbound flight. Chicago applied a single cir - dated postmarks either in black (6W3d) (Figure 5) or magenta (6W3e) cular postmark similar to the one used in Cleveland. It was used in black, magenta, green or blue. No examples of this Chicago cachet with a Feb - ruary 13, 1926, date have been reported. An example of a Detroit-Chica - go first day of issue cover that was held for the inaugural flight (7E3) is shown in Figure 8. Washington First Day Cover

Figure 2

(Figure 6). Figure 3 CAM 7 The CAM 7 route ran between Detroit (Dearborn) and Chicago. As mentioned, Washington, D.C. was also approved as a “First The same double circular wheel cachet used on CAM 6 covers, in black, Day”city for the newly issued (C7) 10-cent airmail stamp. Figure 9 is an dated February 15, 1926, was applied to Detroit and Dearborn covers. example of a Washington, D.C. first day of issue cover that was flown on Detroit received a 3 PM timestamp in the cachet, Dearborn a 2 PM time - the flight from Cleveland to Detroit (6W3a). stamp. Figure 7 shows a Detroit cover canceled on the first day of issue PAGE 326 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 327 A Tale of Two Covers The covers were recovered, it appeared, from an airmail plane that crashed into the Missouri River shortly after taking off from the Kansas City Municipal Airport on July 28, 1933. It is listed in the AAMC Bob Baltzell 5th Edition, Volume 1 as “Interrupted Flight Cover 33.7.” A newspaper article (Figure 1) gave the details about the crash that took the life of the Last year I prepared a nine-page exhibit for my local stamp pilot, E. J. Noe. club’s annual exhibition. Our club exhibits are strictly for the enjoyment The faces of the two covers are shown in Figure 2 and I will refer of assembling nine pages into a single frame that contain philatelic mate - to the top cover as A and the bottom cover as B. They look almost identi - rial of our choosing. It does not comply with APS rules but nevertheless cal and were sent by the same person to the same addressee. Both are it usually includes material that has won awards at national shows. I registered and franked to pay the airmail rate of eight cents plus registra - have found that exhibiting has rekindled the fun of stamp collecting by tion fee with return receipt of 18 cents. Although cover A is missing the connecting it with my passion of historical research. 15-cent stamp, it is clear that one was attached and must have soaked off My exhibit was on the airmail history of Kansas City, covering when dunked in the river. The stamps have a heavy, blind double-oval the five CAM routes that included the city. Buoyed by the success of this cancel applied in almost the same spots. exhibit, I decided to expand it into a 16-page single frame exhibit and Besides the missing stamp, the other differences on the front are enter it in an APS-sanctioned show later this year. I was missing one I that cover B is missing both the green “crash” advisory marking and the wished to include in the expanded exhibit, a crash cover. In response to a notice that I placed in the APJ Ads seeking crash covers with a Kansas City connection, I received a reply from Ken Sanford for two covers that he was offering only as a pair since one of them was missing the crash stamp.

YOU are the American Air Mail Society’s most important asset. This could be the only surviving cover from the Dole Air Race. Take an active role in the AAMS. circular “Henry F. George AMF K.C. MO” postmark of July 29, 1933. Without looking at the back of the covers it would be easy to assume this pair was carried together on the same aircraft. Reports of the day state that 124 pounds of mail were recovered from the river and taken back to the airfield where it was dried out before receiving the green “crash” marking and the AMF postmark. Strength in Growth . . . Recruit new AAMS members

PAGE 328 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 329 PAGE 330 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 331 There are a couple of clues that suggest these covers were not Whatever was originally inside must have been important to have anoth - mailed at the same time. The registration numbers are not consecutive er sent the following day. and it is very apparent they were not prepared on the same typewriter. It If you care to see some of the club exhibits from the last few is the backstamps (Figure 3) however, that tell the rest of the story. years they are available for viewing at the Midwest Philatelic Society’s At first glance they look almost identical except cover A has website: http://www.midwestphilatelicsociety.com. some water stains on the upper left. Both have three registered-mail backstamps applied almost uniformly in a similar pattern. References But the dates in the backstamps reveal that they were not mailed 1. Weekly Philatelic Gossip, July 17, 1937 – Rex O. Copp, Air History of on the same day. Cover A was mailed on July 28 and Cover B was Kansas City and Vicinity mailed on July 29. Evidently upon hearing the news of the airplane 2. Kansas City Star , July 29, 1933 crash, the sender hastily prepared another letter and took it to the post office in time to be included on the airmail airplane that also was carry - Dole Air Race Winnings ing the mail recovered from the crash the day before. The covers arrived Came at High Cost The Dole Air Race, also known as the Dole Derby, was a tragic air race across the Pacific Ocean from northern California to the Territory of Hawaii in August 1927. Inspired by Charles A. Lindbergh's successful trans-Atlantic flight, James D. Dole, the Hawaii pineapple magnate, put up a prize of $25,000 for the first fixed-wing aircraft to fly the 2,400 miles from Oakland, California to Honolulu, Hawaii. Of the 15 airplanes that entered, 11 were certified to compete. Three crashed before the race even started, resulting in three deaths. Eight eventually participated in the race, with two crashing on takeoff and two going missing during the race. A third, forced to return for repairs, took off again to search for the missing and was itself never seen again. In all, before, during, and after the race, 10 lives and six airplanes Looking for something? Check out the classified ads!

For more than half a century . . . Since 1939, first day cover hobbyists have been building collections with Artcraft covers, the world’s most honored cachet. It’s no wonder as every Artcraft cachet is a distinc - together at their destination tively designed work of art that is engraved by master of Fresno, California on July craftsmen on quality envelopes. Artcraft Engravings are r 30, 1933. available for all U.S. and U.N. new issues; they are sold at o n e f o stamp shops throughout the country or can be ordered it ti es The back flap on Cover B is open and there are no contents. r a ic W rm pr direct. fo d Cover A is sealed with what feels like a stiffener card inside and under in an close examination it is apparent from the non-alignment of the circular THE WASHINGTON PRESS backstamps that the flap was resealed at some point in its tragic journey. Publishers FLORHAM PARK, NJ 07932 PAGE 332 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 333 were lost. Two of the eight planes successfully landed in Hawaii. Winner of the race was Army Reserve Lt. Arthur Goebel piloting Woolaroc with Navy Lt. William David as navigator. The pair made the trip in 26 hours and 19 minutes. Aloha , piloted by Martin Jensen with navigator Navy Captain Paul Schlater, came in almost exactly two hours later. Although they were technically the losers, since only two planes finished, they claimed the $10,000 second prize. Thanks to Terry Kurzinski for the cover and information. More than Just a Cover

John Wilson

The cover shown here attracted my attention because of my interest in trans-Atlantic air mail, particularly mail to and from South America. The cover is unusual in that it originated in Dakar, French Senegal and at first the postage rate did not seem correct. However, thanks to Picirilli [1], I was able to check that the 18.25 Francs paid was correct (2.25 Fr. basic + 16 Fr. airmail surcharge). Dispatched on October 25, 1939, the letter missed the Air France flight leaving on the 24th but was probably carried on the next flight, A222A Ville de Montevideo, which

Figures 2 and 3 left Dakar on October 31, arriving in Buenos Aires on November 1 [2]. So far, so good, but why is it more than just a cover? That is explained by the sender’s address written on the back of the cover as Figure 1 shown here:

PAGE 334 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 335 had to assume that there was a family connection. Further investigation revealed that Kalwil is a Jewish surname originating in the border area between Austria and Czechoslovakia. This led me to a trawl of Argentin - ian immigration records where the story became clear. Hermanos (Hermann) Kalwil was shown arriving in Buenos Aires with his wife Eugenie and his daughters on August 27, 1939, trav - eling from Marseilles on the Alsina but not held at Dakar. The family originated in Vienna. Another branch of the family, Max Kalwil, his wife Isabella and daughters Marietta and Sofie, also from Vienna, arrived in

Figure 4

“Interné Civil?” Who was D. Kalwil and why was he interned? Since the letter was addressed to Hermanos Kalwil in Buenos Aires, I

Figure 6

Buenos Aires on May 3, 1939, traveling from Cherbourg on the Asturias. The families fled Austria after the Anschluss and escaped to South America. David Kalwil, his wife Stefanie and their daughters are shown as arriving on November 28, 1939, traveling from Dakar on the

Aerophilatelic Writers Wanted. No experience necessary. (It’s just the job for YOU!) Write an article today and send it to the editor:

Figure 5 vcanfi[email protected]

PAGE 336 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 337 Campana, so they did, in the end, get out of Dakar and joined the family in Argentina. There is more. Aerophilately After World War II From the records held at Yad Vashem, the World Center for Holocaust Research in Jerusalem, we see that not all the Kalwil family Bob Dille escaped. At the end of the war, Max’s daughter, Marietta, testified that her cousin Alexander, just six years old, was taken from Vienna to Bill Odom was mentioned in my article about RTW flights that Buchenwald while her married cousin, Sophie, went to Auschwitz. Nei - appeared in the January 2012 issue of the Airpost Journal . As Paul Har - ther survived. vey often said, here’s "the rest of the story." And that is why this is more than just a cover. William P. (Bill) Odom was an Oklahoma teenager who wanted to become a pilot. He met Oklahoma's RTW dual and solo flight record References holder, Wiley Post, and was given both an autograph and encourage - [1] Picirilli Robert E., Postal and Airmail Rates in France & Colonies ment. 1920 – 1945 , (France & Colonies Philatelic Society, 2011, ISBN 0 9519601 6 4) [2] Aitink, Hans E. and Hovenkamp, Egbert. Bridging the Conti - nents in Wartime , (Enschede, The Netherlands. 2005). Now reprinted and available from Ken Sanford, List # 733 http://aerophilately.net/ Two Oklahomans Who Contributed to

Figure 2

Odom became a pilot and went to work for the China National Aviation Corporation transporting supplies over the Himalayas to Chi - nese forces in southwest China. Odom flew 102 of these missions and had plenty of time to consider trying to beat Post's times. He dreamed of piloting faster aircraft that could make that possible and, possibly, even carrying covers. Douglas A-26 Invaders, being built in Tulsa, might do the job. With war funds dwindling and in no position to take on another enemy, Great Britain quietly gave in and closed the Burma Road, the only available land route to south - west China, on July 18, 1940. It was reopened October 18 that same year and remained open until the Japanese closed it again in April 1942. This second closure marked one of the bloodiest chapters in the war. The Figure 3 Figure 1 Japanese fought for three years to keep this

PAGE 338 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 339 vital artery closed. The supply route was opened partially in January Canadian forces under the command of General Montgomery advanced 1945. inland from the beaches of Normandy. These advances across France The U. S. Army began flights to Kunming carrying supplies and Luxembourg into Belgium were both rapid and highly demoralizing (Figure 1). The Army also sent personnel, including Delmer Cox of Okla - for the German forces and a total collapse of German resistance appeared homa City, to supervise the improvement of taxiways and runways at likely. However, much to the surprise of the U.S. commanders, on airports to meet the needs of increased flights and heavier aircraft. Mr. December 16 the Germans launched a major offensive in the Ardennes Cox gave me his photos from this effort. Figures 2 and 3 show local forest that forced the Allies onto the defensive. workers clearing rocks for a runway. The German forces advanced rapidly towards Antwerp and Brussels, penetrating approximately 60 miles into Allied territory in two days in an attempt to reach the coast and isolate British and Canadian forces to the north. But with a lack of logistical support, particularly fuel, the attack ground to a halt and for the best part of two months stalemate reigned. Then U.S. forces, supported by British units attacking from the north, forced the Germans to retreat, enabling the Allied advance into Germany to resume in February 1945. This German offensive was offi - cially known by the Allies as the Ardennes Offensive, but more com - monly as the “Battle of the Bulge.” It is in this context the following two covers are examined. Future AAMS Meeting Sites

2016 World Exhibition* Figure 4 New York, New York May 28 - June 4, 2016 Delmer became a leading stamp and cover dealer in Oklahoma City for CHICAGOPEX nearly 50 years. I visited his shop almost Figure 5 Itasca, Illinois November 19-21, 2016 weekly for about 40 years. Figures 4 and 5 are early flight covers from India he obtained from a London dealer. After reading my January 2012 article about Odom beating Post's Philatelic Show dual- and single-pilot RTW flight times in an A-26 purchased for $2,000, Boxborough, Massachusetts May 5-7, 2017 Major Steven J. Turechek at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City sent me an autographed cover carried on the solo flight (Figure 6). WESTPEX A Casualty of War San Francisco, California April 27-29, 2018 St. Louis Stamp Expo John C. Symons St. Louis, Missouri March 30 - April 1, 2019 In July 1944, General Bradley’s U.S. forces and the British and

PAGE 340 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 341 Brooke General Hospital, Fort Sam Houston (Figure 5). Note that he was advised to inform his wife of his correct military address. The cachet on the back of the cover indicates that once again efforts had to be made to APJ Book Review determine his location. This cachet overlies an incomplete one similar to the directory cachet illustrated in Figure 3, and is dated APR 19. On January 16, 1945, Mrs B. H. Brawley of Manistique, Michigan, The covers were probably flown across the North Atlantic from ℅ wrote to her husband (Figure 1) 1st Sgt Bernard H Brawley at APO 35, New York to England: the first by air to a USAAF base in France or Bel - Post Master ,New York City. Brawley was serving with the US Army in gium (the carrier being USAAF ATC in both cases) and returned by the Europe, E Company, 320th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division. At this time, APO 35 was located at Arlon, Belgium, approximately 20 miles south of Bastogne. The 320th Infantry was approximately five miles Airpost Journal Procedures northeast of Bastogne in the vicinity of the village of Ourbacy, right in the thick of the Ardennes Offensive. and Deadlines On the morning of January 15, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd battalions, Deadline 350th Infantry Regiment, attacked and captured Ourbacy. It was proba - Deadline for the receipt of articles, letters, advertising and bly during this engagement Sgt. Brawley was injured and evacuated to a news is the first of the month preceding the month of publication. clearing station of the 110th Medical Battalion attached to the 350th Regi - For example, we need everything for the November issue by Octo - ment. The Admissions and Disposition Report for January 15 (Figure 2) records his admission where his injuries are shown to be subleathal dam - ber 1, everything for the December issue by November 1, every - age (SDL–L), the “L” possibly indicating the injury was to one of his thing for the January issue by December 1 and so on. limbs. The preferred method of receiving copy is via an email Exactly when or where Brawley was injured remains uncertain attachment. Please send as an MS Word document. We also wel - other than it was near Bastogne. On January 15, he was transferred to the come compact disks (CDs). Hard copy is acceptable but must be 101st Evacuation Hospital at Arlon, the same location as APO 35. rekeyed so electronic submission is preferred. He never received his wife’s letter. By the time it arrived in All submissions are subject to editing for length, clarity Europe, Brawley had been transferred once again to Great Britain and it and content. Every effort is made to retain the facts without chang - was redirected to 4165 US (the rest is indecipherable, see Figure 1). This ing the meaning or thrust of the article. is the 4165 Hospital Plant, which was located in Tyntsfield House, some five miles west of Bristol. By the time the letter arrived, he had once Illustrations again been transferred, this time to the Brooke General Hospital, Fort The most effective way to transmit illustrations is electron - Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. The cover carries instructional mark - ically. They should be TIF or JPEG, preferably scanned at 300 dpi ings in confirmation of this. The letter arrived back in New York on April but no less than 150 dpi. They can be sent on CD and we can 11, 1945 (Figure 3) and was forwarded to Fort Sam Houston, Texas. retrieve copy and illustrations from electronic copy if provided the Clearly Sgt Brawley’s wife was informed of his condition, for her correct routing. letter to him dated February 21 is addressed to 4165 Hospital Plant, APO ℅ Questions can be directed to editor Vickie Canfield Peters 508, Postmaster, New York, NY (Figure 4). by emailing vcanfi[email protected] or by writing to her at 11911 E. Unfortunately, this letter also failed to reach him for once again Connor Road, Valleyford WA 99036. The telephone number is 509- he had been transferred, this time to the U.S., evidence for which are the 991-5376. two cachets that also appeared on the first cover (Figure 1). The cover Your attention to, and compliance with, these procedures arrived back in New York on April 21, 1945, and was forwarded to PAGE 342 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 343 American Air Mail Catalogue, Treasure Hunting for 7th Edition, Volume One, now available! CAM Covers

Totally new look! Full color for the illustrated covers. Lee Downer Volume One is 690 pages and weighs same route. The second cover would have been forwarded overland by 5 pounds. rail to APO 508. On their return to New York, the covers would have Contents: been forwarded by domestic carrier to San Antonio, Texas. •CAM 1 through Sgt. Bernard H. Brawley was one of the 89,500 casualties, of CAM 34 which 19,000 died in action, of the 610,000 Americans involved in the battle. The Germans' initial attack included 200,000 men. Their losses •Philippine Islands were between 67,200 and 100,000 killed, missing or wounded. It was the •Foreign Flag largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States during World Flights War II.

References 1. Carter R. (2001), Numbered Army & Air Force Post Office Locations, Vol. Price: Non-Members = $75; AAMS Members = $60 1, Military Postal History Society, Cypress, Texas plus $8 postage and shipping (U.S. address only) 2. Interview with Col. Bernard A. Byrne, CO 320th Infantry Regiment For foreign shipping rates, contact Judy Johnson (May 21, 1945), action between Nov. 12, 1944 and Jan 17, 1945. at the APS (814-933-3803.) 3. http://www.coulthart.com/134/320th%20inf%20reg%20%2011%2012%2044% Send orders with check or money order to: Stephen Reinhard, Box 110, Mineola NY 11501 20%20to%201%2017%2045.pdf

Figure 1

PAGE 344 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 345 4. Third U.S. Army, After Action Report, Office of Medical History, duced to house a proper Zeppelin stamp collection other than taking http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwii/bulge/3rdUSArmy/ individual sections of various countries’ albums and cobbling them TUSASurgDec44.htm together in a binder. The special albums produced have been more for 5. Battle of the Bulge, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge, the collector of modern Zeppelin stamps that have been printed in honor April 6, 2015 of anniversaries and special events, more for the topical than traditional The Art Philately Zeppelin Stamp Album. Pages measure 10-3/4" x 11- Zeppelin stamp collectors. 3/4" (270x297mm). Color illustrations. See http://www.artphilately.com This project took over a year to complete. Any such undertaking for ordering information. as the Art Philately project that attempts to encompass the complexities and nuances of the stamps themselves is difficult. All the stamps seem to Review by Gary Doyle have their own unique histories with regard to design, printing and how long they remained valid. Many stories remain controversial. Klearchos A recently published collection of Zeppelin stamp album pages Sarikakis, stamp collector and designer of the individual pages, has done comprises a philatelic event of some note. For the first time all the spe - a remarkable job presenting most of the variations possible with the cially produced stamps used to frank mail on the various flights of the stamps and exploring their history. Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg can be displayed in beautiful and informa - The pages are designed to be more than simply a place to put the tive hingeless album pages published by Art Philately. The pages are designed to work with the basic 13-ring Light - house binder and are flexible enough to allow just the use of the Zep - pelin stamps or any number of collection options in combination with the Lighthouse page system. The pages are in luxurious cream color heavy bond stock. Each page is illustrated in color with the stamps of the Zeppelin flight and country they pertain to, in a hingeless mounting sys - tem. As far as I know, until now, there has never been an album pro -

Figure 3

stamps as each tells a thoroughly researched, illustrated story that pro - vides a history of the Zeppelin flight, printing of the stamp and the unique circumstances surrounding each. The pages can be purchased at Art Philately, a private philatelic club, so access is restricted to Art Philately members. For readers wish - ing to visit the website, the invitation code is ZEP and is valid for 60 days. Just enter this code to proceed to registration to be granted access Figure 2 to the site's content. You will have to register to get access. Look for the PAGE 346 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 347 News of the Shows AAMS Membership Report Figure 1 illustrates an April 1, eastbound dispatch from Iowa Zeppelin pack. You can also send an email to [email protected] for City, backstamped in Chicago. As a bonus, this cover bears a contempo - any questions. rary BAT baggage label, affixed many years after the flight by Louis Fis - I am an entry level collector of the stamps and am thrilled to chbach. The consummate innovator, Louis produced a number of these have an album that I can put them in for storage and display. These follies, taking heat from his more traditional contemporaries who felt pages are a major contribution to Zeppelin stamp collecting. that he was defiling classic covers. Louie told me once he had a large col - lection of baggage labels that exceeded demand, so he decided to dress CAM 18 Nuggets up appropriate philatelic covers with labels that were contemporaneous with the flight. I personally love them and think they are worthy trea - If you are hoping to have a complete collection of CAM 18 cov - sures for the CAM prospector. The result is dramatic and puts a bit of ers, you need to start prospecting for the following three showstoppers. zing into otherwise fairly dull-looking covers. CAM 18 was intended to serve the western portion of the Of course, mail posted at western points intended for the first transcontinental air mail route previously flown by the U.S. Air Mail Ser - eastbound flight into Iowa City are also listed in the AAMC as received vice. Inaugurated as a Contract Air Mail Route on July 1, 1927, Boeing mail. Figure 2 shows an example that originated in Omaha destined for Air Transport provided rapid mail service between Chicago and San Iowa City. This one is properly backstamped in Iowa City. As shown in Francisco. To make the many connections work over the long route tran - the AAMC, received covers also exist on this added service posted from siting through three time zones, it was broken up into segments that Des Moines, North Platte and Elko. were carefully knitted together by complex scheduling. There is also an unlisted example posted in Salt Lake City. In the Most of the points of the U.S. Mail Service’s transcontinental late 1970s when I first started hunting classic CAMs I managed to find route were incorporated, but due to that knitting process, there was no one in a dealer’s dollar box at NAPEX. Since it was posted in Salt Lake provision for eastbound service from Iowa City, North Platte or Rock City, not listed in the AAMC , I sent a photo copy to Fischbach to get it Springs. Eastbound mail from those points was trucked or trained to the authenticated. He called me the day he got my letter and offered me a next point on the route and put on mail planes. Likewise, for the west - wonderful array of expensive CAM covers in exchange for it. He had an bound service, the only point on the route not getting full service was exhibit, 20 Golden Keys of CAM Collecting, and he wanted to include my Sacramento. Westbound mail from California’s capital city was trained cover. I wish now I still had it, although the great material I got in the or trucked to San Francisco. deal still resides in my collection. Without cachets or other identifying These minor vagaries in CAM 18 service continued until 1931 markings, these are pretty sneaky, fooling the not so knowledgeable or and 1932, respectively, when the problems were finally solved. For the diligent. Treasure Hunters: be on the lookout, there may be more of treasure hunter, this created a handful of very elusive CAM covers. those gems out there. In late March 1931, the POD announced (on very short notice) that eastbound service from some of the overlooked points on CAM 18 would begin on April 1. I think a number of collector/ preparers Want to buy, trade or sell? attempted to get their covers on these flights, but due to mishandling of mail, some going the wrong direction and some put on wrong trips, very Take advantage of the classifieds few covers have surfaced. Victor Repetti and Howard Haun, two avid aerophilatelists, managed to do it; producing some surviving artifacts of ads featured monthly in the APJ those important flights.

PAGE 348 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 349 American American Air Mail Society Membership and Subscriptions Air Mail Society Annual membership dues for new members, which includes a subscrip - Dedicated to the research, study, documentation and tion to the Airpost Journal is $30 domestic, $40 Canada, $50 Mexico and $60 worldwide. preservation of aerophilately worldwide through education, All foreign dues include first-class airmail shipment. study, research and services. Organized in 1923, Incorporated in 1944 as a non-profit corporation of Publication the state of Ohio Monthly Official Publication: Airpost Journal IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit organization APS affiliate #77 Editor and Advertising: Vickie Canfield Peters, 11911 E. Connor Road, Valleyford WA 99036 ([email protected]) PRESIDENT: Jim Graue, 11911 East Connor Road, Valleyford WA 99036 ([email protected]) Publications Committee VICE PRESIDENT: David E. Crotty, Ph.D., PO Box 16115, Ludlow KY Chairman: Jim Graue, 11911 East Connor Road, Valleyford WA 99036 41016-0115 ([email protected] ) ([email protected])

SECRETARY: Dr. Robert Dille, 335 Merkle Drive, Norman OK 73069- Member Services 6429 ([email protected]) TREASURER: Stephen Reinhard, P.O. Box 110, Mineola NY 11501 Auction Manager: Don Lussky, 1332 N. Webster St., Naperville IL 60563 ([email protected]) Publications Sales Manager: Greg Schmidt, 1978 Fox Burrow Court, IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Mark Banchik, P.O. Box 2125, Great Neenah WI 54956 ([email protected]) Neck NY 11022 ([email protected]) DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Merchandise Sales Manager: J.L. Johnson, Jr., 248 Shore Ave., Eastern Kent Kobersteen Steve Tucker Point, Groton CT 06340 ([email protected]) David Ball Pat Walters Historian: Len Lukens. 4601 South Pacific Highway, #2, Phoenix OR ADVISORY EXECUTIVE BOARD (Past Presidents): 97535 Cheryl Ganz Jonathan L. Johnson, Jr. Stephen Reinhard A.D. Jones Kendall C. Sanford Allen Klein Membership Secretary: Judi Washington, 7 First St., Westfield NY 14787 Derrick Pillage Greg Schmidt Mark Banchik ([email protected]) Samuel J. Pezzillo Andrew McFarlane LEGAL COUNSEL: Webmaster: David Crotty ([email protected]) Robert J. Horn, Jackson Lewis LLP, 10701 Parkridge Blvd., Suite 300, Reston VA 20191 Convention Coordinator: Ken Sanford, 613 Championship Drive, Oxford CT 06478-3128 ([email protected]) Application for Membership Applicant to provide two references, philatelic preferred. Advance Bulletin Service

PAGE 350 AIRPOST JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 PAGE 351 A year later, in 1932, Sacramento was finally afforded west - AAMS EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT bound service to San Francisco on CAM 18. Again with almost no prior BUY — SELL — WANT LIST notice, the service was added in a routine POD schedule change bulletin. APJ ADS Thankfully, our man Victor managed to get a few covers on the flight. AAMC All members, including Life Mem - lection? Use the APJ classifieds. Older edition notes indicate that there are only three known Fig - bers, are entitled to two free 25-word AAMS members get two free classi - ure 3 covers in existence . . . that’s hard to believe. No fanfare! No cachet! “Wanted and Exchange” or “For fieds a year. Send yours to the editor Few covers! Perhaps there is another platinum lode out there for the dili - Sale” notices per year in the APJ Ads at the address above or submit via gent Treasure Hunter. section of the Journal. email. You never know who’s look - Good prospecting! ing at the ads right now! RATES TWENTY CENTS PER WORD . WANTED and EXCHANGE PIPEX 2015 May 8 - 10, 2015 Portland, Oregon Minimum $5 per insertion. CYPRUS GEORGE VI airmail cov - Remittance must accompany order ers wanted for use in an exhibit. Silver and copy. The Airpost Journal, 11911 Please send scan and price wanted. Steve B. Davis The 6¢ U.S. Transport Airmail Issue of 1941: Usages E. Connor Road, Valleyford WA Jack Forbes ([email protected]) and Rates 99036. Ads can also be emailed to 8/15 [email protected]. * * * Ads must be received by first HELP! NEED Lindbergh FLOWN of the month preceding publication covers for BALPEX exhibit includ - ROPEX 2015 date. ing both 1926 CAM crash covers May 15-17, 2015 Canandaigua, New York and St Kitts mail. Email davids - FOR SALE Single Frame Vermeil [email protected] for want list. David You Lu The International Aerogrammes of China (1948-1949) LOOKING to sell ? To trade? Want 8/15 to add something special to your col - * * *

NAPEX 2015 AAMS members receive two free June 5-7, 2015 McLean, Virginia American Air Mail Society 2015 Convention classified ads a year. It’s just one of the Gold & AAMS Grand Award benefits of membership! Michael D. Dixon British World War II Prisoner-of-War Airmail Postal All you have to do is write up the ad and Stationery Also: Military Postal History Society Award submit to the editor, either via email or regular mail. Gold David E. Crotty Trans-Atlantic Airmail Services 1939-1945 Why not submit yours today for James W. Graue Germany 1934 Airmail Issue inclusion in the September issue? Steve Tucker Pan American’s Pacific Clippers 1935-1942 Vermeil Thomas P. Myers British Airmail Letter Rates to Asia and Australia PAGE 352 AIRPOST JOURNAL