COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA continued...

A box containing mainly c. 1990s-2000s first day covers (hundreds), in addition to a quantity of prepaid postcards and envelopes.

June 1914 (AAMC.2) Melbourne - Sydney, special card prepared for the first official airmail flight, to be piloted by "Wizard" Stone; with 1d adhesive tied by SYDNEY roller cancel; Sydney address; manuscript notation in message panel.

6 August 1919 (AAMC.20a) Adelaide - Minlaton, un-numbered special card carried by Harry Butler across St. Vincent Gulf; with hand-written message, sending "a souvenir postcard by Aerial post. Hope you get it all right..." Rare.

August 1919 (AAMC.22a) Minlaton - Adelaide, flown special postcard with hand-written message headed "Minlaton 9th August 1919" with the message "Dear Dulcie, This card I am sending you with the second aerial mail to cross St. Vincents Gulf per your Uncle Harry, With Love from Auntie Sis"; a few bends and chips, but the return flight is rare.

6 August 1919 (AAMC.22aa)  a specially printed Souvenir Aerial Post Card prepared for Captain Harry Butler's Adelaide - Minlaton flights; unused.

"The Sir Ross Smith Flight" official souvenir programme produced for Union Theatres to accompany their screening of the documentary of the London - Darwin flight, titled "The Great Flight"; printed by Evans & Son., Castlereagh St., Sydney. Attractively bound in brown hard covers with gilt titles. An extremely rare piece of ephemera, only the 2nd copy we have offered.

4 December 1921 (AAMC.56b) (Narrogin) - Perth - Port Hedland cover, carried by W.A.A. to Geraldton and per the S.S.Bambra to Port Hedland, with arrival backstamp of 17th Dec.; "PERTH DERBY AERIAL MAIL" handstamp on front. Cat. $1250+.

Provenance: Frank E. Adams. 

17 April 1922 (AAMC.64) Geelong - Melbourne flown cover, bearing the blue "Herald Air Mail" vignette alongside the two 1d KGV adhesive, all of which are attractively tied by the GEELONG roller cancel.

7 June 1924 (AAMC.72) Sydney - Adelaide registered cover, flown by A.A.S. on their inaugural service via Mildura, Hay, Narrandra and Cootamundra. Cat.$550.

21 July 1925 (AAMC.88) Broken Hill - Sydney flown cover, carried via the Australian Aerial Services inaugural flight.

1927-32 covers all with QANTAS "Western Queensland" red/white vignettes (Frommer.15d) including a 12 Nov. 1927 flown cover with the earliest recorded usage of the "FORWARDED BY AIR MAIL" violet handstamp at  McKINLAY; a Dec.1927 usage of a Lettercard from CAMOOWEAL; and an August 1932 cover, self addressed to Hudson Fysh with 1/- Large Lyrebird & 3d Bridge tied by 'MCKINLAY' datestamp; (3 items).

BERT HINKLER: A book titled "HINKLER : Hyperbole, Hypocrisy and Humbug versus Authenticity and Accuracy in Australian History" by Roy G. Bettiens, [Fyshwick, 1985]; No.34 of 37 self-published, hardcover tomes; with additional later letters and documents loosely inserted. Comprehensive and passionate!

Percival Harry "SKIP MOODY" original pen signature on an autograph page together with an illustration of a bi-plane, and "Barcudgel, Wanko Siding, W.Line. 28. 10. 30". [See AAMC.132-33].

Moody was discharged from the AIF in March 1917 and appointed a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps.  In 1924 he joined the infant Qantas as a pilot flying their planes on Western Queensland services out of Charleville. Wanko Siding is 170km west of Charleville.

2-4 June 1929 (AAMC.137a) Perth - Adelaide and Adelaide - Perth flown covers, carried on the Inaugural flights W.A. Airways Ltd; both covers signed by the chief pilot, Major Norman Brearley, (2).

4 June 1929 (AAMC.137a) A cover endorsed "AIR MAIL" carried on the first flight by W.A. Airways from FORREST W.A. to Adelaide by air; by rail to Sydney; by ship to the USA and then by rail to DELAIR, NEW JERSEY, with the Australian 6d franking covering the whole journey. An early example of internal airmail for a foreign destination. 

19 Feb.1930 (AAMC.152a) Anthony's Lagoon - Camooweal flown cover carried by A.A.S. to link with the newly established Qantas service from Brisbane and signed by the pilot, Frank Neale. Cat.$400+.

19 Feb.1930 (AAMC.152a) Daly Waters - Newcastle Waters flown registered cover carried by A.A.S. to link with the newly established Qantas service from Brisbane; eventually returned to Daly Waters on 25 Aug.1930. Cat.$400+. There was no post office at Newcastle Waters. Ex Nelson Eustis.

CAPTAIN F.R. MATTHEWS original pen signature on an autograph page endorsed "London - Australia - London 22.10.30" in the same hand. [See AAMC.167]. 

Matthews was a British aviator who made an arduous 42-day flight from London to Australia in late 1930, after an initial attempt ended in a crash. (See AAMC.163). He eventually arrived in Sydney, to a rousing reception, bringing greetings from Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia earlier that same year, whom he had previously tutored in flying. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, he established Matthews Aviation, which ran a regular air service from Melbourne to Tasmania. 

RUSSELL B. TAPP original pen signature on an autograph page further endorsed "Qantas 24.10.30". [See AAMC.187]. Captain Russell Tapp joined QANTAS in 1928, when it employed 25 people, including just seven pilots.

CHARLES W.A. SCOTT original pen signature above the words "England - Australia Record" on an autograph page following his record flight in April 1931, arriving in Darwin on 11th April having broken the previous record set by Charles Kingsford Smith. [See AAMC.186]. Scott went on to break this record again when he won the MacRobertson Air Race with Campbell-Black in October 1934.