Saturday, September 30, 2017

AVIATION POSTAL HISTORY FIND IN UNEXPECTED COUNTRY

Correspondents who  roam  about  Asia , knowing  this blog's  interest in ephemera  and  oddities,   keep an eye  out  for us.  Their latest finds include  some  first day  covers  from  a  tiny stall with a range   of offerings  including   stamps and  coins  in  Kuching, Sarawak.  One  , above,  marks  the  40th anniversary of  the re-formation of  the   No.5 Squadron  of the   Royal New Zealand Air Force  in   Fiji on July 10 1944 . Inside was a  printed  card  with  history of  the  squadron  and details of  the versatile  Catalina  aircraft  which did a mighty  job  in the South West Pacific .
 
The squadron  was  formed in Fiji as a maritime reconnaissance unit in November  1941 ,  equipped with four Short Singapore biplane flying boats . Disbanded a year later, it was  reformed  on July 10 , 1944 , its aircraft the  Catalina  flying  boat  , known  as  the PBY by  the Americans .The first four crews  to arrive that  date   were  commanded  by Wing Commander J. W.H. Bray with  Squadron Leader A.L. Cochran  his  Flight Commander . 
 
The aircraft undertook  anti-submarine patrols , escorted  ferry flights, mercy missions  and  dropped food and supplies to  isolated outposts.  RNZAF  squadrons  rescued  more   than  150  downed  aircrew.
Another of the finds is for the   flight  by  chartered accountant  John Fisher , pilot and adventurer , who flew  his   1942   Tiger  Moth   from   London  to  Sydney in 1996 , following the  route  of  aviation  pioneers Sir Ross Smith, Bert Hinkler, Francis Chichester and Charles Kingsford-Smith , to raise  funds  for  CanTeen and  the Marie Curie Cancer Care  Fund . He carried  1000 specially numbered   covers , this  one  of  them .