5 May 27 – Middle East and India Airmails
by Laurence Kimpton
May 5, 2027 @ 13:00 – 17:00
Airmails across the Middle East and India, 1918-1932
by Laurence Kimpton
The Middle East occupied a strategic location in the early development of air transport. The need to carry mail quickly and efficiently was a major incentive in the development of the air services from Europe to the Middle East, India and beyond. At the end of the First World War the British Government was particularly concerned with improving communications to Iraq and India. The display begins with covers carried on the pioneer flights which crossed the Middle East in 1918 and 1919, including those competing in the air race to Australia. It continues with mail, from a variety of countries, flown on the RAF Cairo-Baghdad Air Mail Service from 1921 to 1926 and mail carried on the competing Haifa-Baghdad Overland Mail Service. The development of regular air services by Imperial Airways, at first from Cairo to Baghdad in 1927 and then to India from 1929 is then shown, including covers flown on survey flights. The display also shows a variety of covers flown by rivals to Imperial Airways: by KLM from Amsterdam to the Dutch East Indies from 1924 and by the French airlines, AULO and Air Orient from 1930.
In Persia, the German Junkers company set up an airline, Junkers Luftverkehr Persien, which developed internal services, including connections with Imperial Airways, and an alternative route to Europe, via Moscow. Covers flown on survey flights from 1924 and on regular services from 1928 are shown. Besides mail carried by the airlines, the display includes mail flown by pioneer aviators, mostly British, Australian and French, including Alan Cobham, Bert Hinckler and Charles Kingsford Smith. Some pioneer pilots were involved in developing air routes, but most were aiming to set distance and time records or were just seeking adventure. Besides showing covers, the display also includes ephemera: postcards, post office notices and documents, press photographs and photographs printed from original negatives dating from 1919 and 1920. The display ends in late 1932 by which time regular air services by the United Kingdom, Netherlands and France to Asia had been established and experimental airline flights had been made to Australia.Long Title
Presidents Programme 2026-2027
| 10 Sep 26 | 1 pm | Royal Collection | Material from the Collection of His Majesty the King |
| 24 Sep 26 | 1 pm | Sam Chiu | Exhibiting and Collecting Chinese Postal History, Specializing in Cities |
| 8 Oct 26 | 1 pm | Bill Hedley | The Republic of Venice, 1200-1797 |
| 29 Oct 26 | 1 pm | The Postal History Society | Display to celebrate 90 years of the Postal History Society |
| 5 Nov 26 | 1 pm | Hugh Feldman | Britain’s Mail Coach Era 1784 – 1840 |
| 19 Nov 26 | 1 pm | Rex Dixon | Axis expansion in Europe from the 1935 Saar plebiscite through to Stalingrad |
| 10 Dec 26 | 4 pm | Peter Chadwick | Early postal routes and Post Offices of Scotland |
| 17 Dec 26 | 1 pm | Atef Sarian | Egypt |
| 14 Jan 27 | 1 pm | Thames Valley Philatelic Federation | Group Display by members from the Thames Valley Philatelic Federation |
| 28 Jan 27 | 4 pm | Darryl Fuller | The Revenues of the State of Israel |
| 11 Feb 27 | 1 pm | Chris Harman | The work of Perkins, Bacon – Security Printers – Bank Notes and Stamps – 1819 to the 1880s |
| 25 Feb 27 | 1 pm | West Indies Philatelic Study Group | Group Display by the West Indies Philatelic Study Group |
| 4 Mar 27 | 4 pm | Adriano Bergamini | Two important parts of the Austrian Empire: Croatia and Czechia |
| 11 Mar 27 | 1 pm | Bo Ivanovic | British Post Offices Abroad |
| 25 Mar 27 | 4 pm | Angelo Terruzi | The postal relations between the Kingdom of Sardinia/Italy and the Austrian Empire |
| 8 Apr 27 | 4 pm | Jan Berg | Pre-colonial Samoa |
| 22 Apr 27 | 4 pm | Terje Heskestad | The Evolution of the Norwegian Postal System, 1719 to GPU |
| 6 May 27 | 1 pm | Laurence Kimpton | Airmails across the Middle East and India, 1918-1932 |
| 20 May 27 | 1 pm | Railway Philatelic Group | Display by the Railway Philatelic Group |
| 3 Jun 27 | 1 pm | President | Dominica |
| 17 Jun 27 | 1 pm | Jack Zhang | Aspects of Great Britain Postal History with Focus on Sir Rowland Hill and the Penny Black |
| 24 Jun 27 | Annual General Meeting | ||
| 8 Jul 27 | Devonshire Bowl |
Last updated 17 Aug 2026