Description:

1918 (Nov 30) Egypt-India RAF Survey Flight per General Borton and Major-General Salmond endorsed "HO Carroll/Major/.../B'Abbas/S Persia" at lower-left, India ½a tied by a largely very fine 'CARRIED BY FIRST AERIAL MAIL/CAIRO-DELHI/DECR 1918' cachet in violet & signed on the reverse "As Borton/Brig Gen/RAF", 'MUSSOORIE/18DEC18' arrival b/s. [An important flight that resulted in a regular service from February 1919. Crewed by Ross Smith, JM Bennett & WH Shiers who 12 months later won the 'Daily Mail' prize of £10,000 for the first England-Australia flight. The enclosed letter from Major Hubert Carroll to his wife states "...this is being carried by General Salmond himself...Keep it carefully as it will be worth a lot of money..." Eustis states 30 letters were carried. Pradip Jain states at page 64 that 43 were carried but he gives the same number for the England-India flight in the same month so his figure may be an error. Nelson Eustis' stampless cover also from Major Carroll with the cachet on the reverse sold for $9775]