The Road to the Isles By Richard Beith The carrying of mail to, from and within Scotland makes a fascinating story. From 1934 onwards a network of airmail services was developed linking Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles with the mainland. In addition, mail links were opened with many of the main cities of England and in later years mail was flown direct to Europe and the Americas. A feature of the Scottish air mail story is that the majority of aerophilatelic events were for the official carriage of mail under long-term Post Office contract. The early services of Highland Airways and Aberdeen Airways had a strong social aspect in, bringing far flung communities closer together; indeed, the plane, which carried the mail might also carry urgent medical cases to the mainland hospital. Colourful personalities like Captain Fresson helped to mould services which often started when the airline was asked to carry mails when the more traditional routes by sea had failed due to weather conditions. This article describes the air mail services and emergency mail flights s operated from 1934 to 1947 by Scottish Airways and its two precursors, Highland Airways and Northern and Scottish Airways, It is hoped to cover the air mail activities of other airlines in Scotland in future articles. Firstly, a word about the airlines involved. Highland Airways was registered on 3rd April 1933 in Edinburgh, with the intention of operating' air services in Northern Scotland based on Inverness. Local road transport! and shipping interests were financially involved, and the Managing Director and Chief Pilot was Captain E. E. Fresson. Northern and Scottish Airways was founded on 21st November 1934 in order to operate air services in Western Scotland based on Renfrew Airport near Glasgow. In June 1935 Highland Airways merged with United Airways. but kept its own separate operating identity. Later in that year United Airways itself joined with other lines to form the new British Airways. On 1st July 1936 Northern and 'Scottish also became a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways and it was logical therefore that the two airlines were fully amalgamated on 12th August 1937 to form Scottish Airways. The 'new company continued its separate existence until 1st February 1947 when BEA took over all the airlines which had formed the war time Associated Airways Joint Committee in which it had been included. H1 HIGHLAND AIRWAYS. 29th May 1934 Inverness - Kirkwall Highland Airways had inaugurated a passenger service between Orkney and Inverness on 8th May 1933, but mail was not carried until' the Postmaster General placed a contract for the conveyance of all first class mails by air from the above date. No extra fee was charged but the operating company issued special vignettes at 2 shillings each, 1250 copies being printed. The post office paid 4d per lb for the carriage of mail. The first northbound plane (Dragon G-ACCE) left Inverness at 10,55 piloted Fresson and reached Kirkwall at 12.25. The south-bound plane, piloted by F/O Coleman left Kirkwall at 14,20, reaching Inverness 15.45. Specially printed souvenir covers were provided company and by a local newspaper. Over 2000 letters were carried on the first day of the new service. H2 First mail to and from Wick 1st December 1934 The above service from Inverness to Kirkwall had always included a passenger stop at Wick, but mail to and from Wick was first carried on this date. Special vignettes were issued at 1/- each 1OOO being printed in sheets of six. Capt. Fresson again piloted the north-bound plane which left Inverness at 10.18, called at Wick from 11.03 to 11.08 and landed at Kirkwall at 11.28. J.G. Hay took off with the south-bound plane at 13.00. called at Wick from 13.33 to 13.38 and arrived at Inverness at 14.35. Again, various company and newspaper souvenir covers were December 10th 1934 H3 10th Dec 1934. First acceptance for Thurso. From this date, the Post Office, utilized the Inverness-Wick-Kirkwall service to accelerate the delivery of mail either delivered to or addressed to Thurso in Caithness. On the first day Captain Fresson piloting the monospar G-ACEW left Inverness at 10.39 and reaching Wick at 11.19. Mail was 'then forwarded to Thurso by train. The southbound mail for Thurso left Orkney in the dragon G-ACIT but a landing 'could not be made at Wick due to poor weather. Mail was carried on to Inverness and in fact, did not reach Thurso until the 12th. Outgoing mail is even scarcer than incoming mail. H4 8th January 1935. Moray Firth crash. On this date the North bound plane on the regular Inverness to Kirkwall service the Dragon G-ACGK crashed into the Moray Firth shortly after take-off. A signed statement by the pilot F/O Coleman is in the authors collection and it tells the whole story: ‘During the morning of the 8th January, dense fog covered Inverness and the surrounding country until 11.00 hours when the fog lifted and left a clear horizon with blue sky overhead. For this reason, the mail carrying aircraft was delayed and at 11.15 hrs the aeroplane took off with two passengers and 110 lbs of mail on board for Wick and Kirkwall. The take-off was in a North Easterly direction and out to sea. When at approximately 80ft above the boundary of the aerodrome and over the edge of the water trouble was experienced with the aircraft which began to lose height. The aircraft struck the water which was shallow, and the wheels came to rest on the bottom at a depth of about five feet. The tail was slightly raised, and water flooded the pilot’s cockpit and the fore end of the cabin. The mail bound for Wick was immersed in sea water being in the fore end of the cabin, where also were the two passengers who were up to their waists in water but unhurt. The Kirkwall mail was in the after end of the cabin and was intact owing to the tail being raised. All mail was salvaged and dried at Inverness Post Office”. When some of the mail was eventually delivered in Wick it was still somewhat wet. H5 25th March 1935. Accelerated service to the Shetlands. On this date an accelerated mail service between Lerwick (Shetland) and Glasgow and the South came into operation making use of the Kirkwall- Inverness air mail service. The service operated on Mondays and Wednesdays, the latest posting time at Lerwick being 16.15. The Monday mail went by sea from Lerwick to Kirkwall, on Wednesday the route was from Scalloway to Kirkwall. In both cases the mail was flown onto Inverness in time to connect with the 15.45 train to Glasgow. The service terminated on the 17th November 1937, the day before the inauguration of the direct Aberdeen- Shetland air mail service. This was the first official British air mail making use of steamer, rail and air services. H6 23rd December 1936. Sanday Emergency flight. Letters and parcels from North Ronaldshay were stranded on the Isle of Sanday and hence the post office chartered Highland Airways to fly the mail from Sanday to Kirkwall. Mail from this flight is very scarce. H7 27th January 1937 – Stronsay Emergency flight . On this day the Rapide G-ADAJ conveyed mail to and from Kirkwall and Stronsay in appalling weather conditions. Mail for Sanday was also carried but no landing could be made, and the mail was returned to Kirkwall. Covers are slightly less scarce than H6. Outward mail bears the Stronsay postmark of the 22-27 January. H8 28th January 1937. Second Sanday Emergency flight. The bad weather continuing and it still being impossible to carry mail by sea, Capt. Fresson flew from Kirkwall to Sanday and back, calling at Westray and Rousay. 200 lbs of letters and parcels were flown to Rousay, 66 lb of letters only being flown to Rousay and Sanday. Mail from North Ronaldshay was included with that lifted from Sanday and a small mail from Eglishay was included with the Rousay mail. A total of 140 lbs of mail was returned to Kirkwall. For all the quantities carried, mail is only slightly more common tha H6 and H7. H9 13th May 1937. Unofficial Fair Isle flight. Piloting the monospar G-ACEW Capt. Fresson, made the first ever landing on Fair Isle carrying coronation editions of various daily papers. An unofficial mail of two letters was carried on the return flight to Kirkwall. H10 24th December 1937. Fair Isle Christmas flight. On Christmas eve, Capt. Hankins, dressed as Santa Claus, flew to Fair Isle with presents for all the Islands 17 children. An unofficial mail was carried in both directions and round-trip covers are known. H11 4th March 1938. Inverness-Stornoway Emergency flight. The mail for the Isle of Lewis was held up at Kyle of Lochaish on the Ross and Cromarty coast, by high seas. It was recalled to Inverness by rail and then flown to the Island by Capt. Fresson. Although 40lbs of mail were carried on the outer flight and a smaller mail brought back to Inverness, covers are rare.

NORTHEN AND SCOTTISH AIRWAYS FLIGHTS

NS1 4th September 1936. Glasgow – Islay Emergency flight. The mail for Jura missed the mail boat on this day and the post office arranged for the mail to be flown form Renfrew to Islay. Flown covers are very rare indeed. NS2 12th March 1937. Renfrew-Islay-Campbeltown emergency flight. The post office again chartered the company to fly mail to Islay and Kintyre the boat Pioneer being disabled in the sound of Islay. The mail was carried in the Spartan cruiser G-ACSM piloted by Captain Barclay. The full details were Arrive Depart weight of mail Renfrew 09.00 571 lbs Islay 09.30 09.45 13 lbs Campbeltown 10.10 10.15 293 lbs Islay 10.30 11.15 66 lbs Renfrew 12.25

SCOTTISH AIRWAYS FLIGHTS

S1 – 17th December 1938 North Ronaldsay Emergency Flight Mail for North Ronaldshay had accumulated for many days, both at Kirkwall and Sanday. The company were chartered to deliver the mail, the Dagon G-ACIT being used, piloted by Capt. Hankins. Nearly 600lb mail was conveyed and a further 560 lbs of mail was taken to Kirkwall on the return flight. Flown covers are very rare. S2 – 15th May 1939. Renfrew-Kirkwall. A daily Renfrew-Kirkwall-Renfrew return flight was inaugurated on this date. No mail contract was held, but on the first day of this service an unofficial souvenir mail of twelve covers was carried on the round trip. S3 – 31st July 1939. First regular North Ronaldshay Air Mail. A Plebiscite in January 1939 of all the islanders between the ages of 14 and 80 showed a Vote of 127 to 24 in favour of an air mail service. On the above date a thrice weekly service commenced between Kirkwall and North Ronaldshay, all mail being carried not just first class items.57lb was flown on the outward flight and 82lb was returned to Kirkwall. The company issued vignette showing a map of the Islands, but the service was withdrawn on the outbreak of WW2, was resumed on the 29th November and finally finished in May 1940. The islanders of North Ronaldshay had to wait 20 years before Loganair gave them a regular air mail service again, in 1970. S4 – 2nd October 1939. Renfrew – Campbeltown From this date first class mail was flown under post office contract from Glasgow, Renfrew to Kintyre Airport Campbeltown and back. The first flight was piloted by Capt. Barclay using the Spartan Cruiser G-ACYL.521bs was carried on the outward leg, 67lbs on the return. A limited number of special covers were dispatched by the Company with special adhesive labels. A few round cover flights exist. S5 – 23rd November 1939. Inverness - Shetlands Various interruptions to the regular Inverness Orkney service occurred during the first weeks of the war, but from the above date mail was regularly flown on Thursdays and Saturdays on the route Inverness- Wick- Kirkwall – Shetlands. On 1st May 1940 the letter rate rose to 2 1/2d. S6 – June 1941 – Western Isle Services The Air Ministry made a contract with Scottish Airways to fly mail both private and official to and from the isolated units in the Western Isles. No civilian mail was carried. Two services were operated. Renfrew – Port Ellen (Islay) and Renfrew-Tiree, Benbecula and Stornaway both being operated for six days a week. Later in the War Raf post offices were opened at Tiree, Benbecula and Stornaway. Port Ellen was served by an RAF Post Room where mail was sorted on receipt from the civil postal service. Northbound mail had to addressed to a GPO Box Number in Glasgow. Port Ellen GPO Box No. 200 Benbecula GPO Box No 202 Isle of Tiree GPO Box No, 203 Stornaway GPO Box No. 204 Allied Airways was founded in 1934 as Aberdeen Airways and 'readers are referred to Captain Eric Starling's 'Reminiscences' in the Winter 1973 issue of AMN for a description of the development of this airline, which was always in keen competition with Highland Airways. This company also flew from England to Norway 'in 1937 and 1938 and details of those flights are included for the sake of completeness if Indeed the Winter 1937 timetable of this company carried the proud legend: ROYAL AND NORWEGIAN AIR MAIL PLANES. The company continued its separate existence until 12th April 1947 when BEA took over its activities. A1 - 29th January 1937 Shetland Emergency Flight By the end of January, mails for Shetland had lain stormbound at Aberdeen for a fortnight. Aberdeen Airways were chartered to fly 989 lbs of mail to Sumburgh in Shetland via Thurso. The mail was flown to Thurso in the Dragon G-HDFI, and onto Sumburgh in another Dragon„ G-ACAN. A much lighter mail was flown southwards to Orkney, where 'it was put on board the steamer St Magnus at Kirkwall, Mail can only be identified by the date of the postmark. though covers have been seen bearing the Airway's publicity labels These were no doubt added after the flight A2 -12th July 1937 Newcastle to Stavanger Aberdeen Airways became Allied Airways 13th February 1937 In July they began a five times weekly service from Newcastle to Stavanger in Norway, using the DH 86B G-AETM The Norseman Connection was made at Newcastle with the passenger services of North Eastern Airways. The route closed on 30th September and reopened the next summer on 18th April 1938. For some reason 'the British Post Office did not utilise the flights to send mail to Norway, but the. Nonvegian Post Office sent mail on the flights to Newcastle. First flight covers are known, and a special cachet was applied by the Norwegian authorities inscribed: Luftpostruton Stavanger Newcastle / 12 Juli 1937 / Iste fur. A3 - 23rd November 1937 - Regular Shetland Air Mail The company was awarded a contract by the Post Office for the regular thrice Weekly conveyance of first class mail between Aberdeen and Sumburgh Airport Shetland. On the first day of the mail service the DH Dragon' G.ACJN, Sir Rowland. piloted by Capt. Starling carried 488 1b of mail northwards and 625 lbs southwards. The plane left Dyce Airport at 09.30. called at Thurso and Howe (Orkney) and reached Sumburgh at 12.10. The return flight left at 12.30 and Dyce Airport, Aberdeen was reached at 14.50. The stops at Thurso and Howe were not utilized for mail carrying as this would have clashed with Highland Airways. This present article aims to list most activities of Railway Air Services, Hillman Airways, North Eastern Airways and British Cadedonian Airways between Scotland and the rest of the Kingdom. It Is hoped to write a sixth article listing all the direct international mall flights to and from Scotland.

RAILWAY AIR SERVICES

R1 August 20th and 21st 1934. Railway Air Services was a joint company set up by Imperial Airways and the then four main line railway companies, As is well known, in August 1934 they inaugurated a complicated network of services for both passengers and mail, Scotland was served by a feeder service from Glasgow to Belfast and return, which received mail from the main London to Belfast service. This main service called at Birmingham and Manchester, at Birmingham connections were made with feeder services from Cowes-Southampton- Bristol and from Plymouth-Cardiff. A further shuttle service from Manchester to Belfast called at Douglas, Isle of Man. August 20th was the day chosen to start the mail service under post office contract but gale force winds caused chaos and many stages were not flown until -the next day. Full details are given in Redgrove's book; the following stages have been recorded for mail flown to and from Glasgow : a) postmarked 20th August and flown that day Glasgow to Belfast, to Manchester. b) pöstmarked 20th August, but held over and flown on the 21st: to Glasgow from Cowes, from Southampton, from Douglas. c) postmarked 21st August and flown that day Glasgow to Birmingham, to 'Bristol, to Douglas, to London to Birmingham, to Bristol to Glasgow from Belfast, ' from Birmingham, from Bristol. Cardiff, from London and from Manchester. Not all the possible mail connections with Glasgow are found in the above list. Other flown stages may exist, but the postal authorities stated that air transport would only be used where an appreciable saving in time over surface transport could be gained. Indeed, an 'Inland Air Mail leaflet issued In Glasgow at the time lists only Belfast, Douglas, Manchester; Birmingham, Bristol and London as the towns served by air from Glasgow. It was stated that blue air mail labels should be used and that the last time for posting was 8 a.m. at the Glasgow Head Office. Glasgow was one of the five places where mail was accepted for transmission by air under the railway letter regulations. Under this service for a 3d fee mail was dispatched by air and put into the postal system at the airport of arrival. A handstamp reading RAS 3d paid was applied to such mails. This vas essentially the same service as that offered by British Airways with Airway letter service although the fee is now £1 plus vat rather than 3d.The Railex or railway express service was also available via RAS flights from Glasgow, readers are again referred to Redgrove for full details. R 2 November 1st 1934 On this the London-Belfast-G!asgow service was rerouted via Liverpool instead of Birmingham and Manchester. This was the only mail service left out of the ambitious network started in August. This was the first occasion on which mail was flown from Liverpool Glasgow and return. As before the mail changed planes at Belfast. Railway letter type mail is also known from these services. On November 30th the RAS contract with the post office came to an end and the next twelve months the north- south service ,was operated by Hillman's Airways. (qv) During the September-November period/ the daily weight of mails flown from London to Glasgow was quite Small; approx 1/4kg northwards and l ½ kg southwards. The Belfast-Glasgow mail bags were no doubt much heavier, R 3 December 2nd 1935. From this, date. the London-Belfast-Glasgow mail contract reverted to RAS using the same route as before. On the first day the northbound mail had to terminate at Belfast due to bad weather. Mail for Glasgow completed the journey by sea. It was not the intention of the postal authorities to reintroduce the Railway Letter and Railex type of facility. but a few covers are known from the period December 2nd 1935 to February 5th 1936, Apart from the period of the direct Glasgow-London service, see R 4 below, mail was regularly flown on this route until the declaration of war in September 1939. The author would be indebted to any reader who can say whether or not RAS again carried mail on this route in the immediate post war era prior to nationalization on 1st February 1947. R 4 May 2nd 1938, To facilitate London-Glasgow communication during the 1938 Empire Exhibition bn Glasgow, RAS operated an accelerated service until September 3rd. Mail and passengers were flown direct to Liverpool where connection was made with the main Belfast- London flight, All services were utilized by the Post Office for the carriage of mail. DH 86 planes used on the first day were : Croydon-Liverpool G — ACVY Liverpool-Glasgow G - AEWR Glasgow-Liverpool G - AEWR Liverpool-Croydon G – AEFH Only 20 or so first flight covers are known from the first southbound flight. The flights are cancelled by the 6 a.m. machine cancel1ation with the EMPIRE EXHIBITION GLASGOW slogan. Covers are decorated with red and white exhibition which have been overprinted ‘First direct London to Glasgow Air mail. No mail has survived from the first Northern flight.

HILLMAN'S AIRWAYS LTD.

The first RAS contract on November 30th -1934, the now contract being given to Hillman's Airways who flew from Essex Airport (Stapleford) instead of Croydon. For the first flights between London-Liverpool-Belfast-Glasgow, souvenir envelopes were issued by a stamp dealer with the airlines approval. 961 of the special envelopes were flown over five various stages. The first London to Glasgow flight on December 1st, 1934+ was carried out using the DH Rapide G-ACPN piloted by Capt. Anderson. Of the 48 bags of mail loaded at London and weighing over 300 kg, only two bags were destined for Glasgow. A further 4 kg of mail for Glasgow was added at Liverpool. The Belfast-Glasgow mail was probably much heavier. The first south-bound flight Was made on the same day, Capt, Pelly piloting the DH Dragon G-AECUV From February 2nd 1935 onwards the Postmaster-Surveyor at Glasgow, Lte-Col. F. N. Westbury, introduced the idea of applying a special cachet to incoming air mail at Glasgow in order to popularize the internal air mail service, The scheme was short lived, but four distinct cachets are known, the design being adapted from the current air mail label. All four cachets are approximately 47mm 19mm and contain the following inscriptions Type I—AIR and MAIL on either Side of a solid emblem Type 2—AlR and MAIL on either side of a hollow Wings emblem Type 3-—solid 'Wings' emblem above BY AIR MAIL Type 4--—Hollow 'Wings" emblem above BY AIR MAIL. Types 2 and 4 were for bulky packets or registered mail not put through the cancelling machine. Type 3 is most common. The Hillmans contract expired on November 30th and reverted to RAS.

NORTH EASTERN AIRWAYS LTD.

Early in October 1938 the post Office placed a contract with North Eastern Airways for the regular conveyance of first class mail by plane from Perth to Croydon with intermediate stops at Newcastle, Yeadon and Doncaster. The chief reason for the service was to speed up delivery in London of mail from Perth and Dundee and other towns in the North of Scotland. On the first day of the service, October 3rd DH Rapide G-AFEP piloted by Captain Nash left Perth at 0900 to Newcastle in one hour. The journey south was completed by F/O Gill in the Envoy G-ADAZ which arrived at Croydon at 1300 hrs. A total of 133 kg of mail was unloaded at Croydon but some of this was from the intermediate stops. The company provided pale blue adhesive labels for use on first flight produced for the various departure points. The label used at Perth measures 75mm x 32mm and is lettered FIRST AIR MAIL/PERTH-LONDON/ OCTOBER 3rd, 1938/FLOWN BY/NORTH EASTERN AIRWAYS. The service only flew mail in the south-bound direction. and mails were railed from Dundee to Perth and from Edinburgh to Newcastle to connect with the flights. From April 19, 1939, a call was made at Grangemouth, The service ceased on the declaration of war.