International Airlines
International Airlines (Western Air Express)
International Airlines Ltd operated a service known as ‘The Western Air Express’ between Croydon, Portsmouth, Southampton and Plymouth for a few days. 3d air vignettes for use on mail were issued and a small quantity of mail was flown. The company flew a number of proving flights fkying press and company officials. The first of these flights took place on the 10th August.
Copyright
© 2022 Robert Farquharson All Rights Reserved
Finally, a letter from International Airlines explaining that they were currently not operating but reorganising and planning to come back better facilities
and a bigger aircraft. This would be in the form of the newly formed Provincial Airways which was inaugurated on the 12th October and first flew on the
25th November.
British Internal Airmails of the 1930’s
Label Sheet
Last flights
The first flight was fixed for 20
th
August 1933 and then postponed until Aug 25
th
. On Aug 24
th
some of the directors made the flight from Plymouth to
London and mail was flown, originally prepared for the 20
th
and had no first flight cachet. The inauguration flight was on the 25
th
and mail was posted
after flight. Many of the envelopes were sent internally and were not onward posted by Royal Mail. Redgrove states that covers were carried on the 24
th
,
25
th
, 26
th
of August and the 1
st
September, whereas they were carried up until 11th September. The serrvice was sporadic, but exact flying days are not
know. Covers with a first flight cachet were flown on the 25
th
and 26
th
. The airline ceased operations for lack of publicity and trade rather than being shut
down by the Postmaster General for infringing his monopoly. Apparently, flights continued until the middle of September, but no mail is known after 11th
September 1933. Because of the sporadic nature of the flights there is no certainty that because it is stamped with a an International Airlines date stamp
that is the date it flew. The only verification is the date of the GPO postmark.
The first flight was for the directors only and was due to take place on the 20
th
August but didn’t actually take place until the 24
th
. There is no first flight
cachet, and the airline stamp is dated the 25
th
. Note the original date of the 20th has been changed to 25th, by replacing the 0 with a 5. Not all covers sent
on the 24th have this replacement. The Croydon postmark confirms that it was sent on the 24th. The first flight from Croydon took place on the 25th but
bad visibility prevented the plane from landing at Plymouth and it returned with Plymouth mail to Southampton, from where the mail was returned to
Croydon and flown to Plymouth the next day. It is not known when International Airlines ceased operations, the best estimate being Mid-September. The
last mail noted has been on the 11th September, which was posted in Croydon on the 13th. The actual date of that flight is unknown, it may have been
the 11th the 12th or the 13th. It is possible it was the 13th as both recorded 11th datestamps have 13th GPO postmarks. The first stamps for the 25th that
actually flew on the 24th are Plymouth only. Croydon stamps didn’t appear until the 25th.
The photo on the left is from the Western
Morning News on the 11th August 1933. The
Western Morning news covered news in the
West of the Country and was based in
Plymouth. The pilot standing up in the plane is
S. W. A. Scott one of two International pilots.
He later joined Provincial Airways and flew
their mail flights of the 25th and 26th
November. He became cheif pilot when
Provincial started its scheduled service in 1934.
The pilot shaking hands with the passenger is
Tressillian Bullmore the Plymouth Manager
who also worked for Provincial Airways for a
while.
This photo was published in the Sphere on the 19th
August 1933, a few days before the service started.
Pictured are the two International pilots, S. W. A.
Scott and Flight Lieutenant Pudney talking to the
ground engineer Mr C. S. Humphries
First Flights
The service was originally meant to start on the 20th
August and a number of envelopes were stamped with
this date. The flight eventually took place on the 24th
August for the Directors. As can be seen below left most
of the yellow stamps that were cancelled with the 20th
date had the 0 changed to a 5, when posted on the 24th.
Interestingly this envelope not only has the original 20th
date, it is also lacking a stamp so got a postage due stamp
when posted. Most unusual.
International Airlines
International Airlines (Western Air Express)
International Airlines Ltd operated a service known as ‘The Western Air Express’ between Croydon, Portsmouth, Southampton and Plymouth for a few days. 3d air vignettes for use on mail were issued and a small quantity of mail was flown. The company flew a number of proving flights fkying press and company officials. The first of these flights took place on the 10th August.
Copyright
© 2020 Robert Farquharson All Rights Reserved
Finally, a letter from International Airlines explaining that they were currently not operating but reorganising and planning to come back better facilities
and a bigger aircraft. This would be in the form of the newly formed Provincial Airways which was inaugurated on the 12th October and first flew on the
25th November.
British Internal Airmails of the 1930’s
Label Sheet
Croydon - Plymouth 26th August
Directors Flight 24th August
Directors Flight 24th August. 5 replaces 0.
London to Portsmouth 25th August
London to Portsmouth 25th August
Plymouth to London 1st September
Plymouth to London 1st September
Last flights
Plymouth to Faversham 11th September
Plymouth to Faversham 11th September
Croydon - Plymouth 1st September
Plymouth 4th September
Croydon - Plymouth 1st September
Plymouth 4th September
