Page 48 - Cameo 83

I have to say first that I agree with Rob May's analysis of the route for the cover at figure 1: by air to Lagos,
ship to UK, air to Lisbon. And with Bob Picirilli's analysis of the rates: lfr basic domestic postage, 6fr per
5gm airmail fee. However this fee was for local airmail only: 6fr was the rate for the BOAC and Sabena
services flying between Belgian Congo, AEF, Cameroun and BWA (Refs 4 & 5). There was no airmail rate
for all-the-way-by-air service between AEF and France until 1944 (Ref. 6). I may also say that I think this
cover was lucky to get OAT treatment in London, and would like to offer another cover from AEF to France
in evidence (Fig. 2).

The endorsement on the cover shown at figure 2, 'via Accra - Lome - Cotonou', also raises the question of
why such covers were not just handed over to the French in West Africa: the sender clearly hoped that this
cover would go by the Sabena service to Accra and then be transferred into the French airmail system. We
know that mail was transferred from Lome to Accra and from Cotonou to Lagos (Ref 7). Fig 3 shows a
cover from Bourgoin to Aboudéia via Fort Archambault in May 1941 at 4fr 50 made up from 1fr basic
domestic postage plus 3fr 50 airmail fee - the rate to AOF (Ref. 8): it came with the original letter, which
starts out with words to the effect that the sender has just heard it is now possible to send letters from
unoccupied France to AEF via Dakar. It went by air from Marseille to Dakar, where it was censored,
reached Cotonou in July, was passed onto Lagos where it was again censored, then to Brazzaville where it
was again censored, and finally reached Fort Lamy in September - clearly the journey from Cotonou (and
possibly Dakar) to Fort Lamy was by surface.