Flying into the future
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The Coronation Aerial Post service was due to run from 11 September to 15 September, with a single return trip on 16 September from Windsor to Hendon.
However, these early planes flew very much at the mercy of the weather, and delays to the service meant that there was a backlog of the commemorative cards and envelopes being carried. The service finally ended on 26 September 1911. This photograph shows Gustav Hamel posting a Coronation Aerial Post letter, September 1911.
In 1918, an overseas air mail was organised by the Royal Air Force and the British Army Post Office, who co-operated in an experimental Folkestone-Cologne service to serve British troops in occupation there after WW1. The Royal Air Force also operated a mail and passenger service for delegates from London to the Paris Peace Conference. This service ended in August 1919.
On 14 June 1919, John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown completed the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic, carrying with them 196 ordinary letters and one letter packet. Ross and Keith Smith carried the first air mail from England to Australia from 12 November to 10 December 1919. On 11 November 1919, the first public overseas air mail service began, flying between London and Paris. The service was extended to Holland, Belgium and Morocco the following year.
