Page 50 - Cameo 83

Lome to Accra? On the evidence of the few covers available for study, I would suggest that the rule seems to
have been that the originating country would carry the mail as far as it could in its own system, and that
transferred mail was not entitled to onward air transport in the receiving country's system: ie mail from Free
French AEF to France entering the British system was carried by air to Lagos and ship to UK and Lisbon,
and mail from France to Free French AEF entering the French system was carried by air to AOF and by
surface from Cotonou onwards.

Rob May also enquires about evidence for the BOAC service being opened (or not) to AEF mail to UK at the
same time as British West Africa mail: I don't think this happened immediately. Fig 5 shows a cover from
Port Gentil to London in late May 1942 at 14fr 50 (2fr 50 basic foreign postage plus 12fr airmail fee), carried
by air to Brazzaville and Lagos, with the addressee's receiving date-stamp of 29 July. The weight was
between 5 and 10gm, which is still less than ½ oz. I used to think that the routing endorsement 'Par Avion
"Clipper" via Leopoldville' had in fact been obeyed, but the rate is clearly inadequate for the PAA double-
Atlantic service. However, a year later, the cover shown in Fig 6, from Douala to London between 4 and 21
May 1943, must have gone all the way by air. Unfortunately it is missing an adhesive so we can't tell what
the rate was!