321 C. MAY - JUNE 1938: THE W.R.CARPENTER FLIGHTS TO PAPUA & NEW GUINEA 30 May - 5 June 1938 (AAMC.808-812a) Sydney - Rabaul; Rabaul - Sydney (signed); Wewak - Salamaua - Sydney; Cooktown - Port Moresby; Cooktown - Salamaua and Port Moresby - Cooktown. Flown covers (6) carried on the first contract airmail flights by W.R.Carpenter Airlines. Sir Walter Randolph Carpenter [1877–1954] was an Australian-Canadian pearl hunter, trader, merchant, ship- owner, airline industry leader and philanthropist of American ancestry active in the western Pacific from the 1890s through the 1940s. In 1914 he formed the firm of W. R. Carpenter & Co. Ltd. in Sydney, and began establishing plantations, stores, trading stations, shipping services in the Southwest Pacific. When World War I erupted, his company expanded into New Guinea when the Australian government expropriated German property. The company branched out as major storekeepers, traders, and property owners in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. In New Guinea, Carpenter took advantage of the development of the Morobe gold fields to acquire hotels in Wau and Bulolo, set up electrical power plants and cold storage facilities, and operated a fleet of inter-island steamers. In 1933 he established the first air service between Salamaua and Wau with two De Havilland Fox Moth aircraft, followed in 1934 by a direct shipping line between Australia, the Western Pacific, and European ports. In 1936 he expanded his airline through a government-subsidized route between Rabaul and Australia. ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� $200–250 322 328 322 C. 18 Jan.1939 (AAMC.843) “Koranga” crash cover with label affixed from F .W.Arnold, Deputy Director, Perth, advising the sender of the fate of the aeroplane, a Lockheed 14 Electra, which had crashed at Katherine killing all aboard.������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ $250–300 323 C. 24 March 1939 (AAMC 845) Noumea (New Caledonia) - France flown cover, carried by French aviator Henri Martinet in his Caudron “Le Aiglon”; all 4 adhesives with the semi-official handstamp “1er Courier 100%aerien/ Nelle-Caledonie-France/via Australia” . Most attractive. Cat.$450.������������������������������������������������������������ $250–300 324 C. 22 July 1939 (AAMC.874) Adelaide - Darwin - Dili (Timor) - Adelaide flown cover, carried aboard the Guinea Airways survey flight to Portuguese Timor; this example signed by the on-board radio operator, E.D.Scott. Very few covers flown; all were addressed to Nelson Eustis. Cat.$300.������������������������������������������������ $200–250 325 C. 21 October 1939 (AAMC.879b) Fiji - Tonga flown cover, carried by Tasman Empire Airways Ltd “Aotearoa” Short Empire Flying Boat on a survey flight in the Pacific while en route from England to Australia. Only 25 covers flown on this leg! Cat.$350.������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� $200–250 326 C. 23 Oct.1939 (AAMC.879d) Tonga - Auckland, New Zealand cover, flown aboard the “Aotearoa” Flying Boat on the delivery flight from England, via Australia and other Pacific ports. Cat.$150 (but rarely seen!).��������$100–150 327 C. 21 Dec.1939 (AAMC.887) Sydney - Mornington Island cover, flown for QANTAS and signed by the pilot, R.B.Tapp; the mail, comprising of 70 letters was delivered to the island by parachute. On receipt, the covers were endorsed by the missionary, John Dougherty. Urgent supplies were also dropped.����������������������$100–150 328 PC. A TWICE FLOWN POSTCARD - December 1933 and July 1940 July 1940 (AAMC.905c) registered special postcard (previously flown as AAMC.348) signed by Ulm, Allen & Boulton on their Dec.1933 Trans-Tasman flight; carried back to New Zealand by RMS “Niagara” and then flown by PanAm Clipper to HONOLULU in July 1940, the flight having been delayed since Sept.1939 due to the outbreak of war; signed for the 2nd flight by Captain J.H. Tilton. Cat.$450.������������������������������������������� $300–350 329 C. 17 January 1941 (AAMC.912) Australia - Dili (Portuguese Timor) flown cover, carried and signed by Captain H.B.Hussey for Qantas on the first flight to include Dili as an intermediate on the route to Singapore. Only 54 items flown. Cat.$400.�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� $300–350 330 C. 4 April 1945 (AAMC.1003) Lae (New Guinea) to Sydney flown cover, carried for QANTAS and signed by the pilots, H.H. Deignan & A. Jacobson on the DC3 re-opening service following the defeat of Japan in the Pacific. Cat.$275.������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� $150–200 50