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| First Ai-mail 1911 indiatoday.in |
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| .Humber Bi-plane and airmail service, Allahabad,India facebook.com |
Above images:The world's first official mail flown by an airplane was sent from Allahabad polo field to, a distance of just five miles Naini on February 18, 1911 carrying the mail (about 6000 letters) from people across the region gathered at the Holy Trinity Church. It was a 13 minute journey and the flight was flown by a Frenchman Henri Pequet.The letters bore an official frank "First Aerial Post, U.P. Exhibition, Allahabad. 1911"...............
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| 1911 First Air-mail service thefederal.com |
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| First Air mail service India thefederal.com |
On February 18, 1911, a historic milestone in global aviation and postal history was achieved not in the industrial hubs of Europe or America, but in the United Provinces of colonial India. While the airplane industry was still in its infancy, Allahabad became the site of the world’s first official airmail flight, an event that forever changed the pace of human communication.
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| Fir air-mailflight, Allahabad, India dakbabu.blogspot.com |
The Genesis of the Flight
The initiative was spearheaded by an Englishman, Walter Windham, who had been invited to the United Provinces Exhibition to demonstrate the "art of flying." During the exposition, a local chaplain, Rev. W.E.S. Holland, approached Windham for help in raising funds for a new youth hostel. Recognizing an opportunity to revolutionize the slow overland postal system, Windham proposed an "aerial post." With the approval of Geoffrey Clarke, the Postmaster General of the United Provinces, the project was sanctioned as an official government venture.
The Historic Journey
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| Tndia. 1911First aerial post, postalmuseum.si.edu |
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First aerial post, postalmuseum.si.edu |
The task of piloting this inaugural flight fell to the experienced French aviator Henri Pequet. On the morning of February 18, amid the spiritual fervor of the Maha Kumbh Mela, thousands of spectators gathered at a polo field in Allahabad. Pequet took off in a Humber biplane, carrying a sack containing approximately 6,500 letters and postcards. The aircraft crossed the Yamuna River, covering a distance of five miles to Naini in just thirteen minutes. Upon landing, the mail was handed to postal officials for surface transport to destinations across the globe.
Philatelic Significance and Design
A crucial element of this event was the special postal mark created for the occasion. Designed by Windham and manufactured at the postal workshop in Aligarh, the magenta (and occasionally black) cancellation featured the silhouette of an airplane flying over mountains with the inscription: "First Aerial Post, 1911, U. P. Exhibition Allahabad." To support the Chaplain’s project, a surcharge was added to the regular postage as a donation.
A Global Legacy
The success of the Allahabad flight served as a catalyst for aviation history. It predated the United Kingdom's first scheduled airmail service between Hendon and Windsor by seven months. Today, this short thirteen-minute hop remains a crowning achievement in India’s colonial history, marking the transition from the era of the horse-drawn post to the age of global aerial connectivity.
http://www.istampgallery.com/first-aerial-post
https://dakbabu.blogspot.com/2021/02/first-airmail-service-in-world-was.html
