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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0291.PDF
MAY 14, 1925 SIR SAMUEL HOARE ON HIS IRAQ TOUR "An Ordinary Trip in Usual Safety One Would Expect From British Machines." ON Friday of last week, the Secretary of State for Air save an interview to representatives of the press, in which he gave some of his impressions of the tour recently completed by himself and Mr. Amery to Egypt, Transjordania and Iraq. The party, it will be remembered, travelled by train and boat to Egypt, but all their journeys in the East were made by aeroplane. The Air Minister insisted upon the fact that the trip was not a sensational one, and he described it as " an ordinary trip in the usual safety one would expect from British aeroplanes." He did, however, emphasise the fact that this was the first occasion on which two British Ministers had inspected such a large area by aeroplane, and spoke in the very highest terms of the great'advantage he had derived from a personal inspection of the districts visited, the tour having been made possible solely by using aircraft. As a result of the tour, although he had not yet reported to the Cabinet, he saw possibilities for considerably reducing the expenditure on the Middle East vote. The policy of " Control without Occupation " had been a very real success. The actual air journey began on March 25, when the party flew from Egypt to Aman. The Air Minister had formed the opinion that Transjordania was a good deal more settled than it was two years ago, and he considered it a country of great possibilities if settled conditions could be established and maintained, and people be induced to settle there, as doubtless they would do as conditions became better. On March 26, the journey was continued to Baghdad (using Vickers' Vernons), a distance of 530 miles, and the Air Minister pleaded guilty to being rather bored on the flight, the outlook not being very interesting. At Baghdad a number of important conferences were attended and reports received, and on March 31 the party flew up to Mosul, passing over several interesting ancient ruins. At Mosul, he found two battalions formed by the descendants of the Assyrians, who were doing admirable gendarmerie work under British officers. During the War, these descendants of the Assyrians had suffered greatly, and only about 20,000 all told were left. The Air Minister also gave some of his impressions of a journey in D.H.9A's to Kirkuk and to the pass leading into Persia. Sulimanjeh, a Kurdish town, was also visited, andthe party experienced one of the local dust storms, which, Sir Samuel Hoare said, had to be seen to be realised. Thedust was very fine, and appeared to be formed from the mud of the great rivers. During the visit to the north, theweather had been extremely cold, and as the amount of personal luggage that could be tarried was not large, it wasdifficult to arrange for a suitable wardrobe. On returning to Baghdad, it was very hot, as also at Busra, the next portof call. Here the R.A.F. were doing a great deal of photo- graphic survey work, which was found extremely useful,and it had been discovered that some of the old maps were as much as 50 or even 100 miles " out." Visits were alsopaid to the Anglo-Persian oil fields, and the Air Minister was astonished at the magnitude of the undertaking. Atthe end of the pipe line one came to Darquain, where it was interesting to see the port filled with oil tankers. On the return journey across the desert, a head wind wasencountered, and the machines had to refuel on the way. Sir Samuel stated that replenishment of the tanks (buriedin the ground) was carried out partly by road transport and partly by air, some of the larger types of aeroplanes beingused as tankers. Asked as to the possibilities not only of airship services,but also of aeroplane services, Sir Samuel said he was very- keen to get a section of the route going, and that at presentoperated across the desert as far as Baghdad or Busra should present no technical difficulty. The Air Minister also referred to the projected flights fromEgypt to South Africa and Nigeria, and expressed the opinion that such nights, which would be undertaken as soon asconditions were suitable over the whole route, would be of more use to the British Empire than fresh attempts to circlethe globe. His flying tour in the East had covered something like3,500 miles, and occupied no more than 50 flying-hours, and the whole tour went off without a hitch, thanks to the excel-ence of the British machines and engines and to the excellent organisation of the R.A.F. AIR MAILS THE Postm aster -General announces that letters may now be posted for transmission by new air mails to Switzerland (serving also Italy) and to the western parts of the United States, and by certain additional or resumed air mails to France, Germany and Denmark (serving also Norway and Sweden). Particulars of these mails are given below. Letters intended for transmission by air mail may be registered, but not insured, and may be posted in any of the ordinary ways of posting. Each letter should bear in the top left-hand corner of the cover a blue official "Air Mail " label (obtainable free at any head or branch office), or be very plainly marked " By Air Mail " ; and it must be prepaid with a special fee in addition to the appropriate ordinary postage. Air Mails to the Continent : The latest times of posting for the respective mails at the General Post Office, London—in the public letter box each week-day, unless otherwise stated— the chief countries served, and advantages offered, are : A.—At 6.15 a.m. to France, Switzerland and beyond ; offering delivery in Paris the same afternoon, at Bale and Zurich the same evening (if an express fee is prepaid), and in most of Switzerland by first post next morning. By connecting at Bale with the night mail train thence to Italy, this air mail also offers earlier delivery of letters throughout Italy, e.g., at Milan by first post on the morning after departure from London. Night mail postings from the Provinces and late night postings from London should benefit by this air mail. B.—(1) At 6.15 a.m. to Germany (Hamburg and district) ; offering delivery at Hamburg the same evening (if an express fee is prepaid) or by first post next morning. (2) At 6.0 p.m. (except on Saturday) for onward transmission by air from Rotterdam next morning to Germany (Hamburg and district), Denmark, Norway (east) and Sweden : offering delivery at Hamburg next afternoon, in Copenhagen next evening, in Stockholm and in Oslo during the forenoon and the afternoon of the second day after posting. Letters to Hamburg and district posted in all parts throughout the 24 hours should benefit from the use of these air mails. The evening mail offers advantage for letters to the three Scandinavian countries posted in time for the night mail in London or in the morning in the nearer Provincial towns. C.—At 6.15 a.m. to Morocco and Western Algeria (addi- tional to the existing 6.0 p.m. despatch), offering delivery at Tangier, Casablanca and Oran on the morning of the second day after posting. The special fee payable (in addition to ordinary postage) is as follows :—On letters to France, Id. per oz. ; to Germany (unoccupied), Switzerland and Italy, 3d. per oz. ; to Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Ad. per oz. ; to Morocco and Western Algeria, 3d. up to \ oz., 6d. up to 3J oz., 3d. additional for each additional 3J oz. Air Mail to the Western United States : Beginning on May 9 last, a new air mail will be closed at the General Post Office, London, simultaneously with each ordinary mail to New York, usually at 2.0 a.m. each Saturday and Wednesday, for onward transmission from New York by the New York- San Francisco Air Mail Service, the present timing of which is understood to be as follows :—Depart New York 9.30 a.m. daily; arrive Chicago, 5.40 p.m.; Omaha, 11.0 p.m.; Cheyenne, 4.15 a.m. ; Salt Lake City, 10.05 a.m ; San Francisco, 5.0 p.m. (31 \ hours from New York). A direct air mail will similarly be made up at Southampton, and at Liverpool when there is a direct ordinary mail thence to New York. There will be no late fee posting of air mail letters for the United States by boat train at Waterloo or Euston Station in London. The air mail route from New York to San Francisco is divided into three zones terminating at Chicago, Cheyenne and San Francisco respectively. The amount of the special fee payable, and the minimum transit time from London to the places in question, assuming conveyance to New York by fast steamer and regular flight afterwards, are as follows :— First zone (New York-Chicago): Special fee 6d. per oz. Minimum transit time London-Chicago about 8 days. Second zone (beyond Chicago to Cheyenne): Special fee lid. per oz. Minimum transit time London-Cheyenne about 9 days. Third zone (beyond Cheyenne to San Francisco): Special fee, Is. 3d. per oz. Minimum transit time London—San Francisco about 9 days. Letters not prepaid in British postage stamps with the correct amount of fee (in addition to ordinary postage) will not be included in the air mail. 291
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