1939 The CHALLENGER Crash Mail to South Africa

May 1 1939 Lumbo Mozambique Aircraft: Short S.23 C Class Challenger (G-ADVD) Imperial Airways. Route: Great Britain – South Africa. Pilots: Acting Captain Frederick D. Smith First Officer W. G. N. Saunders First. Officer J.E. Gavshon Radio Operator Tom Webb and Flight Clerk George Knight The flight had taken off from Dar es Salaam Tanganyika at 2:35 a.m.. On landing at 7:10 a.m. the flying boat struck a small boat and sunk in shallow water. Even though Captain Smith had previously made several landings at Lumbo on this occasion the wind direction necessitated a landing in the opposite direction to the previous landings. The radio operator and flight clerk were both killed. The remaining crew members and three passengers were saved. The mail was recovered and forwarded on the flying boat Canopus. Mail to the Transvaal Province and Cape Town was put onto a train at Lorenco Marques. Six different cachets were applied to the mail as shown. Mail to Rhodesia was not cacheted. Proud reported mail to Nyasaland Mozambique and South Africa posted in the UK between 21.4.39 and 25.4.39. A cover is known from Tabora Belgian Congo to Durban South Africa. Field reported mail also to Southern Rhodesia and Southwest Africa. A cover is also known from Entebbe Uganda to Johannesburg and another one is known from Tanganyika to Durban. Covers are also known from New Zealand and Australia to South Africa. Hopkins also reported mail to Nyasaland and Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique).