Sunday, January 31, 2010

Empire Air Mail Cover - From Egland to South Africa 1937

Sent Date : 28 JUNE 1937
Front with MILford Haven ( PEMB -PEMBrokeshire) postmark
Received Date : 6 JUL 1937
Rear with Benoni (South Africa ) Postmark
Highlight :Special Envelope with “Empire AIR Mail” England to South Africa.



Price : USD20.00 (RM60)
Local Registered Mail = RM5
International Registered Mail = USD7


Sending mail by air had become the fastest way for it to reach the far-flung corners of the Empire. The 'Empire Air Mail Scheme' was a government subsidy given to Imperial Airways to enable them to carry first class mail along their routes for the cost of a stamp to the customer. The money the subsidy brought meant Imperial immediately changed its fleet of land planes for an order of 28 Short C Class flying boats.

Milford Haven situated near the mouth of the River Cleddau, at the extreme end of south west Wales ,UK is the largest town in the County of Pembrokeshire, with a population of just under 14,000. In the 9th and 10th Centuries Viking seafarers frequently took shelter here, the name Milford probably coming from a phonic development of two Old Norse words – Melyr/Fyord (sand bank inlet).
There are good road and rail links to other parts of the U.K, a small local airport is based 10 miles away at Withybush, Haverfordwest, whilst Irish Ferries run twice daily package boats from Pembroke Dock to Rosslare in the Irish Republic.


Benoni (bənō'nē), town (1991 pop. 288,629), Gauteng, NE South Africa, on the Witwatersrand. It is the distribution center for a gold-mining district and is part of a large industrial complex known for its iron and steel plants. The chief manufacture is electrical equipment. Benoni was founded in 1904. During the violent Witwatersrand miners' strike of 1922, through which white miners sought in vain to prevent mine owners from employing cheaper black labor, heavy fighting occurred in the town between miners and the South African military.