Early Seychelles Air Mails 1926 - 1971

A Display by Keith Fitton FRPSL

February 8th, 2001

Dispatched, March 13 1945, by sea to Kenya where "BY AIR TO LONDON" cachet applied; thence by air to UK where AIR MAIL etiquette was cancelled as 56 cents was the air mail rate for 10 grms to UK only; the civil censor handstamp is from Seychelles,

type H.VI (LL/1) of which only 3 examples are recorded.

Mahé - the largest of the 115 islands in the Seychelles group - is situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean; 1000 miles east of Mombasa and north of Mauritius, 1400 miles south of Aden and 1750 miles southwest of Bombay, it measures no more than 5 miles wide at its broadest and is 16 miles long.

The total land mass of all the Seychelles islands - which are grouped into 4 major clusters located between 3 and 10 degrees south of the equator and between 45 and 60 degrees east and between the furthest apart of which stretches nearly 700 miles of sea - amounts to a mere 175 square miles. This is roughly equivalent to 2.5 times the area of Washington D.C. Hence, the Republic of Seychelles exercises sovereignty over a surface area of 500,000 square miles of which more than 499,800 are open sea.

The total population amounts to some 74,000, with over 95% of the population concentrated on the three main islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. The only town - and the capital - is Victoria in Mahé.

In view of its history it will be no surprise that its population represents a blend of many nationalities and an amalgam from many sources including immigrants from Mauritius, refugees from France, freed slaves, traders from India and China and settlers from France, the United Kingdom and its colonies.

Although the first airport in Seychelles did not open for another 45 or so years, the very first cover to be carried by air (albeit briefly!) and arrive in Seychelles did so in 1926. It was first flown on the inaugural return flight of the Unites States Contract Air Mail (CAM) 15 between Norfolk, Virginia, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Frame 1/Sheet 1).

Almost 6 years later the formal introduction of an air mail service from Seychelles, with rates reflecting the usual surcharges over surface mail, took place in September 1932. (1/2).A limited number of destinations was identified with air mail routed, initially, by sea via Bombay or Mombasa. Since mail still had to await the arrival of the monthly (Mombasa) or bimonthly (Bombay) sailings, acceleration times were not so great with a reduction compared with surface mail to the UK of only 5 days via Bombay but 14 days via Mombasa.

The first air mail surcharges to the UK - 36 cents via Bombay/Karachi and 45 cents via Mombasa/Nairobi - were 3 to 4 times the surface rate of 12 cents and for only half the weight allowance at 10 grms. (1/3 & 1/4). It wasn't cheap and in 1932 only 37 items of mail were dispatched by air mail of which 36 were to Europe. In 1933, nearly 400 items of air mail were handled in Seychelles of which half were sent and half received.

In September 1935, the surcharge via Mombasa was reduced to 43 cents (why, is not certain) while that via Bombay was increased to 37 cents and these rates continued in force until the introduction of the Empire Air Mail Scheme in 1938. (1/5 & 1/6).

Seychelles was included in the 2nd stage of the Empire Air Mail (All-Up) Scheme which came into operation on 23 February 1938. First day of use covers are shown together with a 1939 commercial cover from Seychelles featuring the correct rate of 12 cents for 15 grms but air mail still left by sea via Bombay or Mombasa. (1/7 & 1/8).

In June 1939, a Consolidated PBY-2 flying boat, "GUBA 2" (a forerunner of the Catalina flying boats used by the RAF in WW ll) carried out a survey flight from Australia across the Indian Ocean calling at Cocos Islands, Diego Garcia, and Seychelles arriving at Mombasa on 21 June 1939. It then returned to California, whence it had departed a year or so earlier. Mostly unofficial, much of it souvenir, mail was carried but a significant proportion of this carries adhesives cancelled at stops along the way before entering genuine air mail service in, typically, Kisumu, Kenya or New York, USA. A very small amount of genuine commercial mail was carried from Seychelles to Kenya, then onwards to India via Egypt and an example is shown. (1/9 & 1/10).

At this time, the first air mail flights were beginning across the Atlantic between USA and UK and mail to Seychelles was carried on several of these first flights. (1/11 & 1/12).

With the advent of WW ll, the Empire Air Mail Scheme was an early casualty and air mail surcharges were increased, that to the UK rising to 1 rupee for 10 grms, and the air mail still left by sea. (2/1). Royal Air Force flying boats visited Seychelles in the early 1940's while an RAF Station was established there in 1943. Catalinas from 209, 259 and 265 squadrons - and later Sunderlands - visited Seychelles on operational or communication flights and from time to time, small detachments of 'boats were based there. They were not authorised to transport civilian mail but did fly out mail for servicemen based in the islands and some civilian mail if it had been correctly censored.

Mail was also received in Seychelles from Seychellois units abroad serving with the Allies, much of it from Egypt where the Seychelles Pioneers started their war service. Some of this was partly flown by air and partly transported by surface. (2/2). Among the mail sent by servicemen and servicewomen based in Seychelles are examples of Air Mail Letter Cards (AMLCs) and Air Letters. (2/3, 2/4 & 2/5).

Following the introduction of airgraphs for both civilians and servicemen in Seychelles in 1942, completed forms were carried by the RAF 'boats to the processing centre in Nairobi for onward dispatch to the UK. In addition to the standard airgraph forms, of which 4 different types are recorded used in Seychelles, there was a commemorative version made available for the Christmas 1944/New Year 1945 year end. Only a single airgraph is recorded arriving in Seychelles from UK during these years and, surprisingly, there is little sign of censorship on most of the airgraphs seen. The more usual air letters and covers from Seychelles were however usually censored in the islands both by the Army and the RAF. (2/6 - 2/8).

Given the limited opportunities for civilian mail to go by air during WWII and the high cost of acceleration by air, it is not surprising that little has survived. Several examples are recorded and these have been censored in Seychelles with locally produced resealing labels and handstamps, and in Mauritius (2/9 - 2/12).

The RAF closed its station in June 1946 and it was nearly 7 years before another aircraft was seen in Seychelles air space. Air mail rates were reduced and the inclusive rate to the UK for 10 grms fell to 56 cents until May 1947 (3/1), then 45 cents until April 1949. Despite the then Governor's attempts to establish air links with some mainland territory, both the RAF and BOAC remained disinterested and unwilling to help. Nonetheless, the number of countries for which air mail rates were published increased steadily during the late 1940s and the early 1950s (3/2 - 3/7) until 1954 by which time, virtually the entire world was covered. The use of civilian air letter forms also started at the end of the 1940s, (3/8).

With the increase in the number of countries for which air mail rates were published, air mail usage expanded quickly, (3/9 - 4/2). East African Airways made a valiant attempt in 1953 to establish a regular air service between Mombasa and Mahé, operating, inevitably, a Catalina flying boat. Only a single return flight was made which proved uneconomic. It did however offer the Seychelles Post Office the opportunity to issue a pink cachet "First Air Mail/From Seychelles" and a large philatelic, with some commercial, mail was carried on the flight back to Mombasa, (4/3).

Despite the fact that transportation facilities to and from Seychelles were still limited to the occasional passage by steamer, the Government decided to promote tourism by means of slogan cancellations in the late 1950s. In a modified form, some of these are still in use today with measurably more success, (4/4).

Meantime, air mail usage continued to expand during the 1950's and 1960's and still more new destinations were added to the traditional colonial ones of pre-war. These included USA and most of Europe; but it was another 11 years before the next aircraft arrived and the air mail continued to start its journey by sea, still via Mombasa or Bombay for the most part.

The construction of a USAF Satellite Tracking Station in 1963, with a role to play in the Moon Landing flights, led to the arrival of the next aircraft - a Grumman Albatross Amphibian - in April 1964. Based in Mombasa, it flew a weekly service for the USAF and as a gesture to the Seychelles people it carried a limited amount of air mail both ways, though not registered air mail which continued to start its journey by sea! This service remained in operation until December 1971, several months after the opening of the International Airport, (4/5 - 4/7). One of these features the rare "O.A.T." handstamp, recorded only 4 times on mail from Seychelles.

1In 1968, a contract was let by the British Government, to Costains, to construct an airport on Mahé island. Before it was completed, Wilkenair, later Air Kenya, opened up an interim air service in May 1970 operating a land plane - a Piper Navajo - between Mombasa and Mahé. This was the first official, regular air mail service (4/8 - 4/9).

The International Airport was opened in July 1971 and the first flight by a major long haul carrier was made by BOAC operating a VC 10, G-ASGH routing London, Nicosia, Seychelles and return, (4/10). A commemorative set of 6 stamps was issued by the Seychelles Post Office to mark the occasion. They featured not only the Piper Navajo and the Grumman Albatross but also an RAF Catalina and the BOAC "G" class flying boat "Golden Hind" which had made several flights into and through Seychelles in late 1944 - all of which had carried air mail in the past. The other two stamps featured a Royal Navy Wessex helicopter which had assisted in the clean up operation after a Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker had been sunk in 1970 and a Walrus amphibian which operated off Royal Navy cruisers in Seychelles waters during WW ll, one of which crashed on Mahé in March 1941. In addition, the Seychelles postal authorities also commemorated the event by issuing the first air letter form to carry Seychelles identification - a picture of the very rare indigenous Black Parrot and the Seychelles Coat of Arms, (4/10 & 4/11).

Air mail had come of age at last and, for a brief while during the latter half of 1971, it could have been carried on the Albatross, the Navajo or the VC 10 depending on which day of the week it was posted! (4/12).

Bibliography:

Seychelles Air Mail History, 1938 - 1971, Handbook no. 3 of the Indian Ocean Study Circle,

Seychelles Civil Censor Markings, 1939 - 1945, Handbook no. 7 of the IOSC,

Seychelles Military Censor Markings, 1939 - 45, and Related Air Mail Services Handbook no. 9 of the IOSC,

"IO", various articles from the bulletin of the IOSC.