Indian Airmails

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  • Home
  • Pre-1953 Airlines
    • 1911 1st Aerial Post NIC
    • Indian State Air Services >
      • 1929 Karachi - Delhi via Hyderabad & Jodhpur
      • 1931 Last Flight Karachi-Delhi
    • Delhi Flying Club >
      • 1931 Emergency Flight by Delhi Flying Club
      • 1932 Karachi - Delhi
    • Indian Trans-Continental Airways >
      • 1933 Karachi - Calcutta >
        • 1933 Eastwards: Karachi - Calcutta
        • 1933 Westwards: Calcutta to Karachi
      • 1933 Calcutta - Rangoon via Akyab >
        • 1933 Eastwards: Calcutta - Rangoon via Akyab
        • 1933 Westwards: Rangoon - Calcutta via Akyab
      • 1933 Karachi - Singapore Extension
      • 1934 Karachi - Australia Extension
      • 1936 Rangoon - Hong Kong
    • Indian National Airways >
      • 1933 Calcutta - Dacca
      • 1933 Rangoon - Calcutta
      • 1934 Karachi - Lahore
      • 1938 Delhi - Lahore
      • 1939 Karachi - Delhi
      • 1940 Karachi - Calcutta
      • 1947 Calcutta - Rangoon
    • Air Services of India Ltd >
      • 1938 Bombay-Kathiawar
      • 1940 Bombay-Amreli
      • 1940 Kolhapur - Bombay
    • Madras Air Taxi Service
    • Experimental & Survey Flights. >
      • 1931 England - Australia Flight >
        • 1st Experimental Flight
        • 2nd Experimental Flight
      • 1938 Flying Boat Coogee
    • Dalmia-Jain Airways Ltd
    • Orient Airways Ltd
    • Starline / Indian Overseas Airline >
      • 1948 - Nagpur - Lucknow
      • 1949 First Indian Night Mail Flight
      • 1949 All Up Internal Air Mail
    • Bharat Airways >
      • 1949 - Calcutta - Hong Kong
      • 1950 - Calcutta - Singapore
    • Himalayan Aviation
    • Aviation Related Events >
      • 1938 Karachi Airport
      • 1940 Hyderabad Air Service
    • WW2 Flights
    • Unknown Airlines
  • Tata Airlines
    • 1931 - Karachi - Madras: Route Survey Flight
    • 1932 - Karachi - Madras >
      • Official Southbound
      • Official Northbound
      • Other Southbound
      • Other Northbound
      • Other Material
    • 1933 - Karachi - Madras via Poona
    • 1935 Karachi - Madras via Hyderabad >
      • 1935 - Karachi - Madras via Hyderabad
      • 1935 Bombay-Hyderabad Errors on Stamp
    • 1935 - Bombay - Calcutta demonstration flight
    • 1935 - Bombay - Travancore via Goa & Cannanore
    • 1936 - Madras to Colombo via Trichinopoly
    • 1937 - First Flight to Bhuj
    • 1937 - Delhi - Bombay via Gwalior, Bhopal & Indore
    • 1938 - Karachi - Madras extension to Colombo via Trichnopoly
    • 1938 - Trichinopoly - Trivandrum extension
    • 1938 - Mansoon halt at Poona
    • 1946 - Bombay - Calcutta via Nagpur
  • Air-India
    • 1948 Air-India International Bombay - London Flight >
      • Postage Stamps - Errors
      • The Postage Stamp
      • First Day Covers
      • DG's Circular & Postal Notices
      • Official Covers
      • Air-India Covers
      • Special Flight Cachet
      • Postage Rates gallery
      • Local Cancellations
      • Private Covers Gallery
      • Interesting Places of Origin & Destinations >
        • Interesting Destinations
        • Interesting Places of Origin
        • Interesting Places of Origin & Destinations
      • More interesting covers
      • Return Flight covers
      • Other Philatelic Curiosities
      • Award winning exhibit
    • 1948 - 1953 Early Route Expansion
    • 1954 - 1959 Early Route Expansion
    • 1960 - 1965 Air-India Boeing 707 Era.
    • 1966 - 1970 Air-India Boeing 707 Era.
    • 1971 - 1975 Boeing 747 & Other Aircraft Era
    • 1976 Onward Boeing 747 & Other Aircraft Era
    • Crash Mail Covers
    • Postal Meter panels
  • Indian Airlines
    • 1960 - 1964
    • 1965 - 1969
    • 1970 - 1974
    • 1975 - 1979
    • 1980 - Onward
    • Crash Mail Covers
    • Meter Panel & Stationery
  • Foreign Airlines
    • Air Ceylon
    • Air France
    • B.O.A.C. >
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 1 Jetliner Service London to Colombo August 1952
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 1 Jetliner Service London to Singapore October 1952
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 1 Jetliner Service London to Tokyo April 1953
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Sydney March 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Tokyo July 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Britannia Turbo-Prop Airliner London to Colombo August-September 1957
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Tokyo April 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Singapore June 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Sydney November 1959
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Manila November 1961
      • B.O.A.C. Comet 4 Jetliner Service London to Auckland April 1963
      • B.O.A.C. Boeing 707 London to Nandi November 1965
      • B.O.A.C. VC 10 40th Anniversary of Regular Airmail
    • Trans - Australian
    • TWA
  • Others
    • Zeppelin & Catapult >
      • LZ-10 Schwaben
      • LZ-13 Hansa
      • LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin
      • LZ-129 Hindenberg
      • LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin II
      • Catapult Mail
      • Ephemera
      • Fakes & Forgeries
    • Rocket Mail >
      • Indian Rocket Mail
      • Sikkim Rocket Mail
    • Astrophilately >
      • Indian Astrophilately
      • Astro Ephemera
    • Pigeon Mail
    • Balloon Mail
    • Air Mail Societies
    • Airship R 101
    • Indian Air Force
    • Modern Airlines >
      • Star Air
      • Vayudoot
      • Vistara
    • Misc. Airmails
    • Not in Collection (NIC) >
      • World War 1
      • World War 2
      • Slogan Cancellation
      • FDC
      • FDC (as Fake)
      • Zeppelin & Catapult
  • Resources
  • Useful Links
  • Contact us

The 29th May 1948 First Day Cover. (This was not supposed to exist)

Once you read the DG's circular and the Postal Notices listed elsewhere in this website,  you will learn that while the sale of stamps was permitted starting on 29th May 1948 until 5th June 1948 only at various post offices across India, no post office was permitted to cancel these stamps on the date of issue, or even anytime after that, except the G.P.O. at Bombay which was to use the special boxed rectangular cachet on the day of the flight, 8th June 1948. Hence, according to the postal instructions, no covers bearing the First Day of Issue cancellations were supposed to exist. However, a few examples of covers cancelled on 29th May 1948 do exist, and they are much sought after by collectors.
Picture
Picture
Air-India International Souvenir cover with 2 x 12 A Air-India International stamp being sent by registered post from Cawnpore (Kanpur) to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Cancelled CAWNPORE / 29 MAY 48, it bears a rare first day of issue cancellation. The reverse has two clear postal marks. The first is a transit mark,  MONTREAL / CANADA / 5 JUN 48, and the second is the arrival mark, HAMILTON / CANADA / JUN 5 48. Both these marks clearly establish that the 29th May cancellation at Cawnpore was not a favour cancellation obtained at a later date, because in fact the cover needed to be posted in Cawnpore on 29th May in order to reach Canada on 5th June.
 
Deviation: The stamp was not valid for early postal usage, and the Cawnpore P.O. should have sent the cover to Bombay G.P.O. without cancellation and for transmission on the 8th June 1948 Bombay-London flight, and onwards from there to Canada.


Picture
Picture
Cancelled CHURCHGATE STREET / BOMBAY/  29 MAY 48 30 P.M; This makes it a First Day Cover. The cover also has the First Flight cachet, establishing that is was carried on the first flight on 8 June 1948 as well to England, making this cover a very interesting First Day Cover - cum - First Flight Cover.
 
Decviation: Churchgate Street P.O. should not have cancelled the stamp with the 29 MAY 48 datestamp. All the more, given that this was not even a registered cover.


Picture
Picture
Air-India International
First Day Cover (29 May 1948) and Bombay to London, First Flight on 8 June 1948.

​Registered Air Mail cover with the sender address as Agra (U.P.) and addressed to New York, U.S.A. Cover was posted at Bombay G.P.O. And has 2 of the 12 as value stamps issued on the occasion. Contrary to Postal Department instructions, the stamps are cancelled 29 MAY 48, which is the first day of issue of the stamps, thereby making this a First Day Cover. Also bears the boxed rectangular First Flight cachet of 8 June 1948, and Jun 12 1948 and Jun 14 1948 New York arrival and delivery marks.

Picture
Picture
​Registered cover, with 2 x 12 as stamps issued on 29 May and having the first day cancellation, BOMBAY, AIR MAIL, 29 MAY 48. This makes it a First Day Cover. Also visible is the registration label R E 978, BOMBAY G.P.O. The cover also has the First Flight cachet, establishing that is was carried on the first flight on 8 June 1948 as well to London, and onward from there to New York. making this cover a very interesting First Day Cover - cum - First Flight Cover. On the reverse is the senders name and address at Agra. It is apparent that the cover was mailed at Bombay G.P.O., and not at Agra. Also visible on the reverse is the transit mark at New York dated June 12 1948, and delivery mark at Cathedral Street, New York dated June 14, 1948.


Picture
Picture
Picture
Air India 29 May 1948 First Day Cover–both stamps tied by 29 May 1948 Bombaycds. The AirIndia International stamp was issued on 29 May 1948 but was only to be cancelled by the 8 June1948 special postmark. In this case the stamp was erroneously cancelled on the first day of issue.With Bombay GPO registered label and first day notation on front. Rarity.
NIC

Picture
Picture
Cover with the 12 A Air-India International stamp and cancelled with a circular NEW DELHI / 29 MAY 48 cancellation. This is a first day of issue cancellation, and there is no evidence that this cover was postally carried. Hence it could just be a favour cancellation at the post office window. This goes against the departmental rules disallowing post offices from cancelling the stamp locally, and asking for all mail to be sent to G.P.O. Bombay (Mumbai).
 
Deviation: Should not have been cancelled locally as a favour cancellation.
​These stamps were meant to be cancelled by Bombay G.P.O. only.

Picture
Picture
Air-India International, First Flight from Bombay to London
8th June 1948
Correct Postal treatment of attempted First Day cancellation
 
Outfoxed by the Postal Department
The sender perhaps affixed both the 12 anna value stamps and attempted postal cancellation at Madras on 29th May 1948. If he succeeded, the Air-India International issue would have obtained a First Day of Issue cancellation, which was contrary to Postal Instructions. However, the post office at Madras only cancelled the KGVI 12 anna stamp MADRAS / 29 MAY 1948 and passed the cover on to Bombay GPO where the 8th June commemorative cachet was applied and the cover then flown to London.

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